Presenting a Vibrant Red China to the World

During the period of the All-Out War of Resistance against Japan, the Communist Party of China continuously strengthened its internal and external propaganda. An increasing number of British and American journalists, through various channels, came to Yan’an and other anti-Japanese revolutionary base areas to conduct on-the-spot investigations and news interviews. This group broke through the news blockade of the Nationalist government, using the perspective of “the other” to provide comprehensive reports on the political propositions, revolutionary goals, spiritual outlook, and daily life of the Chinese Communists. They concretely and vividly recorded their understanding of the Chinese Communists from different angles, presenting a complete and authentic image of the Chinese Communists to the world. As the main group of foreign journalists in China at the time, British and American journalists in China provided an important perspective for the international community to approach, observe, and understand the Chinese revolution. Their reports further corroborated the indisputable historical fact that the Communist Party of China was the mainstay of the All-Out War of Resistance against Japan.

全民族抗战时期，中国共产党不断加强对内对外宣传，越来越多的英美记者通过各种途径，来到延安和其他抗日革命根据地开展实地考察和新闻采访。这一群体冲破国民党政府的新闻封锁，以“他者”的视角对中国共产党人的政治主张、革命目标、精神面貌、日常生活等方面进行了全方位报道，从不同角度具体生动地记录下他们对中国共产党人的认识，并把一个完整真实的中国共产党人形象展现在世人面前。作为当时外国在华记者的主要群体，英美在华记者为国际社会走近中国革命、观察中国革命、读懂中国革命提供了重要视角，他们的报道进一步佐证了中国共产党是全民族抗战的中流砥柱这一无可争辩的历史事实。

“We saw with our own eyes that the Eighth Route Army is fighting”

“我们亲眼看到八路军是作战的”

Due to the long-term news blockade by the Nationalist Party and its extensive propaganda that “the so-called Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army both resist without fighting and roam without striking,” British and American journalists in China first focused on whether

由于国民党长期实施新闻封锁，并大肆宣传“所谓八路军与新四军均抗而不战，游而不击”，因此英美在华记者首先关注的就是中共是否真正坚持抗战。1944年，国民党政府迫于国内外舆论压力，派出一个经过挑选的有中外记者共同参加的“中外记者西北考察团”，美联社记者冈瑟·斯坦（Gunther Stein，又译作冈瑟·斯坦因）名列其中，从而有机会实地深入延安和晋绥根据地开展详细的采访考察。经过长达数月的调查走访，冈瑟·斯坦亲身体验到了抗日根据地军民的抗日激情，发现这与国民政府对中国共产党人的恶意诽谤完全不同。次年离开延安归国后，冈瑟·斯坦出版了《红色中国的挑战》一书，书中用大量具体翔实的数据和事例，对中国共产党人领导的抗日战争进行了全面客观的报道。冈瑟·斯坦指出，“从1937年战争开始到1945年3月，中共总共打仗115120次，主要是小规模的，有许多规模较大的防御战，发生在日军对各个抗日根据地的647次主要‘扫荡’中”，中国共产党领导的革命力量也为此付出了巨大牺牲，据不完全统计，“在华北，八路军指战员死112245人，伤211381人；在华中，新四军指战员死47993人，伤73886人”。美国记者福尔曼目睹晋绥军区第八分区将士们的英勇战斗，震撼人心的场面令他热血沸腾，直言“我们亲眼看到八路军是作战的”，有力回击了国民政府污蔑中共领导的抗日军队“游而不击”的谎言。

“Organized, trained, and armed for the current struggle”

“为了当前的斗争组织了，训练了，武装了起来”

The War of Resistance Against Japan concerned the very survival or extinction of the Chinese nation. At this moment of crisis, Chinese Communists clearly recognized that the masses of the people were the source of strength for the resistance; only by mobilizing and uniting the people of all ethnic groups across the country could an impenetrable bulwark against the Japanese aggressors be formed. In order to unite and consolidate as much resistance strength as possible, the Chinese Communists implemented extensive war-resistance mobilization. According to the observations of British journalist James Bertram, the Chinese Communists’ war-resistance mobilization was broad in scope and deep in degree: “Young and old, women and children, were organized, trained, and armed for the current struggle.” [1]1 James Bertram, *North China Front* (London: Macmillan & Co., 1939). This kind of nationwide mobilization that reached down to the grassroots and covered all sectors effectively awakened the people’s will to resist and their sense of family and country, enabling them to maintain high morale even amid material shortages and to support the war effort in various forms, gathering a mighty force for national salvation. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Chinese Communists adopted a rich variety of mass mobilization strategies, stimulating the people’s enthusiasm for resistance through multiple channels such as organizational building and propaganda education. For example, the popular anti-Japanese national salvation associations established in various places became important links connecting the Chinese Communists with the masses, while vivid propaganda slogans were widely used on prominent locations such as village residential walls and public buildings. American journalist Agnes Smedley observed on the ground that the Eighth Route Army had painted a large number of rousing slogans on village walls and temple exteriors in North China, such as “The people must unite with the army to fight the Japanese” and “Arm yourselves and fight until the Japanese are all driven out of China.” [2]2 Agnes Smedley, *Battle Hymn of China* (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1943). These concise and powerful written propaganda efforts complemented systematic organizational work, constructing a mobilization system for nationwide resistance from the two dimensions of policy implementation and ideological education. Moreover, the Chinese Communists actively innovated propaganda forms, using vivid methods popular among the masses such as theatrical performances and street lectures to spread the revolutionary truth of resisting Japan and saving the nation in simple and accessible terms, to the extent that Gunther Stein exclaimed: “It created an atmosphere that helped to further all the efforts made by other educational activities for promoting the new democracy, turning the masses in the right direction of progress.” [3]3 Gunther Stein, *The Challenge of Red China* (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1945). The British and American journalists who penetrated the war zones at the time recorded, through on-the-spot observation and first-hand materials, the outstanding achievements of the Chinese Communists in organizing the masses and establishing the Anti-Japanese National United Front. These reports not only presented a vivid picture of the unity between the military and the people in the anti-Japanese revolutionary base areas behind enemy lines, but also objectively presented to the international community the key role of the Chinese Communists in the national salvation effort against Japan.

抗日战争事关中华民族生死存亡。在此危难之际，中国共产党人清醒认识到人民群众是抗战的力量源泉，只有动员和团结全国各族人民，才能形成抗击日本侵略者的铜墙铁壁。为了尽可能多地团结凝聚抗战力量，中国共产党实行了广泛的抗战动员。据英国记者詹姆斯·贝特兰观察，中国共产党人的抗战动员范围广、程度深，“青年和老人，妇女和儿童，都为了当前的斗争组织了，训练了，武装了起来”。这种深入基层、覆盖各界的全民动员，有效唤起了民众的抗战意志与家国情怀，使他们在物资匮乏的困境中仍能保持昂扬斗志，以各种形式支援抗战，汇聚起民族救亡的磅礴力量。中国共产党人在抗日战争期间采取了丰富多样的群众动员策略，通过组织建设和宣传教育等多种途径激发民众的抗战热情。例如，各地成立的民众抗日救国会成为联结中国共产党和群众的重要纽带，而形式生动的宣传标语则被广泛运用于村庄民居墙面、公共建筑等醒目位置。美国记者史沫特莱曾实地观察到，八路军在华北地区的村落墙壁和寺庙外墙刷写了大量“人民要和军队联合起来打日本”“武装起来，战斗到日本人全部滚出中国去”等富有号召力的标语。这些简洁有力的文字宣传与系统的组织工作相辅相成，从政策落实和思想教育两个维度构建起全民抗战的动员体系。不仅如此，中国共产党还积极创新宣传形式，通过群众喜闻乐见的戏剧演出、街头宣讲等生动方式，深入浅出地传播抗日救国的革命真理，以至于冈瑟·斯坦发出“它创造了一种气氛，有助于为促进新民主主义的其他一切教育活动所作的努力，使群众向进步的正确方向转变”的感叹。当时深入战区的英美记者通过实地观察，以第一手资料记录了中共组织民众、建立抗日民族统一战线的突出成就。这些报道不仅展现了敌后抗日革命根据地军民团结的生动图景，更向国际社会客观呈现了中国共产党在抗日民族救亡中的关键作用。

“This truly represents a revolution in China”

“这真正代表了中国的一种革命”

During the period of the nationwide War of Resistance, although the weapons and equipment of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were crude, they repeatedly repelled fierce Japanese offensives. What exactly was the reason that an army relying on “millet plus rifles” could frequently prevail? This attracted widespread attention from British and American journalists in China at the time. Theodore H. White, chief correspondent in the Far East for *Time* magazine, after arriving in Yan’an and interacting with Chinese Communists, summed up one important reason: “There was only one point in the policy of the Chinese Communist Party that was certain: their interests were bound up with those of the poverty-stricken, deeply suffering peasant masses, and from them they received the greatest support.” [4]4 Theodore H. White and Annalee Jacoby, *Thunder Out of China* (New York: William Sloane Associates, 1946). In Yan’an and other anti-Japanese base areas, democracy was not an empty slogan but a solid guarantee of the people’s rights and freedoms, a concrete action and a practical implementation. The masses could, through the ballot in their hands, elect representatives they trusted to participate in the management of local affairs. Nym Wales recorded the election situation in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in 1937: “On July 15, the election of village representatives began. The elections concluded in August, followed by the election of district representatives by the village representatives, and the elected district representatives then elected county representatives.” [5]5 Nym Wales, *Inside Red China* (New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1939). British female journalist Freda Utley, in addition to affirming that “the county magistrates and village heads were all elected by the people,” further pointed out that the “salaries of the leading cadres were not higher than the wages of the workers.” [6]6 Freda Utley, *China at War* (London: Faber & Faber, 1939). This rigorous and orderly electoral process ensured that representatives at all levels could broadly represent the will of the people, fully reflecting the democratic and scientific nature of the elections in the base areas. Polish-born journalist Israel Epstein highly praised this grassroots electoral method, believing that “this truly represents a revolution in China.” [7]7 Israel Epstein, *The People’s War* (London: Victor Gollancz, 1939). The governance measures of the Chinese Communists in the anti-Japanese base areas were a concentrated expression of their political wisdom and mass line; they “had already widely implemented democracy,” thereby winning “the warm support of the people of all strata.” [8]8 Ibid.

全民族抗战时期，八路军和新四军的武器装备虽然简陋，却能屡屡击退日军的凶猛攻势。究竟是什么原因，能让一支依靠“小米加步枪”的军队频频胜出，这引起了当时英美在华记者的广泛关注。美国《时代》周刊驻远东首席记者白修德到了延安后，在与中国共产党人的相处中，总结出一个重要原因，那就是：“中国共产党的政策只有一点是确定不移的：他们的利益是和那些为穷困所迫、深受苦难的农民群众的利益结合在一起的，从那里他们得到最大的支持。”在延安和其他抗日根据地，民主并非空洞的口号，而是人民权利与自由的坚实保障，是实实在在的行动和具体落地的实践。人民群众能够通过手中的选票，选出自己信任的代表，参与地方事务管理。尼姆·威尔斯记录了1937年陕甘宁边区的选举情况：“7月15日开始选举村代表。8月份选举结束，接着由村代表选举区代表，当选的区代表再选举县代表。”英国女记者弗雷达·阿特丽除了肯定“县长和村长都是由人民选举的”外，还进一步指出领导干部的“薪水并不高过工人的工资”。这一套严谨有序的选举流程，确保了各级代表能够广泛地代表民众的意愿，充分体现了根据地选举的民主性与科学性。波兰裔记者爱泼斯坦高度评价了这一基层民选方式，认为“这真正代表了中国的一种革命”。中国共产党在抗日根据地的施政举措，是其政治智慧和群众路线的集中体现，“已经广泛实行了民主”，从而赢得了“各阶层人民的热烈拥护”。

“The Communist Party, in comparison with the Kuomintang, shone with dazzling brilliance”

“共产党在和国民党相形之下是光耀四射的”

Before the outbreak of the All-Out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,[9]9 The All-Nation War of Resistance (1937–1945) refers to China's war against Japanese invasion, which is part of the broader Second Sino-Japanese War. the true face of the Chinese Communists was not well known to the international community. Compounded by the deliberate slander of the Nationalist government, they were often labeled with derogatory terms such as “ignorant peasants” and “literary bandits,” and were stigmatized in terms of their political attributes. After the outbreak of the All-Out War of Resistance, as British and American journalists continuously came to China, they were able to have direct contact and exchanges with the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), gradually coming to recognize that the CPC was a political force that adhered to its faith, dared to take responsibility, and was beloved by the people. Since most of these individuals had previously stayed in Chongqing before going to Yan’an, they had a thorough understanding of the Nationalist Party and often compared the two, even making bold predictions about the outcome of the struggle between the Nationalists and the Communists. In 1944, after arriving in Yan’an, Gunther Stein pointed out: “There is no war-weariness here, only the persistent fighting enthusiasm of a society of pathbreakers.” He also predicted: “The Chinese people have begun to regard the New Democratic system as their own system. When necessary, they will fight to defend the New Democratic system.” In October 1944, Theodore H. White accompanied the delegation of U.S. special envoy Patrick J. Hurley to Yan’an. As the only American journalist, he stayed there for three weeks and had the opportunity to interview important CPC leaders such as Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai, Liu Shaoqi, and Peng Zhen. The different images of the political parties presented by the leaders of the Nationalists and the Communists led White to frankly state: “So far, the Communists are radiant in comparison with the Nationalists. Where the Nationalists are corrupt, they remain clean. Where the Nationalists are ignorant, they are wise. Where the Nationalists oppress the people, they bring relief.” In the eyes of British and American journalists in China, the CPC leaders were hardworking, frugal, selfless, and

全民族抗战爆发前，中国共产党人的真实面貌并不为国际社会所熟知，加上国民政府的有意抹黑，常被冠以“无知农民”“文匪”等蔑称，从政治属性上被污名化。全民族抗战爆发后，伴随着英美记者的不断赴华，他们得以与中共领导人直接接触和交流，逐渐认识到中国共产党是一支坚守信仰、敢于担当、受人爱戴的政治力量。由于这些人士赴延安之前大多驻留过重庆，对国民党有透彻的认识，所以经常会将二者加以对比，甚至对国共两党较量的结局作出大胆预测。1944年，冈瑟·斯坦到延安后指出：“这里没有厌战情绪，只有开路先锋者的社会坚持的战斗热情。”他还预言：“中国人民已开始把新民主主义制度看作他们自己的制度。必要时，他们将为保卫新民主主义制度而战。”1944年10月，白修德跟随美国特使赫尔利的代表团访问延安，作为唯一的美国记者在那里逗留三周，有机会采访了毛泽东、彭德怀、刘少奇、彭真等中共重要领导人。国共两党领导人所呈现的不同政党形象，使白修德坦言：“至今为止，共产党在和国民党相形之下是光耀四射的。在国民党是腐化的地方，它保持洁白。在国民党是愚昧的地方，它是英明的。在国民党压迫人民的地方，它给人民带来了救济。”。在英美在华记者眼中，中共领导人艰苦朴素、克己奉公，“过着简单、洁净和正常的生活”，始终把国家和人民的利益放在首位，并在工作中表现出高度的责任感和奉献精神，甚至出现了“财富对他们可能是无用的”等评价。

In summary, the first-hand reports by British and American journalists in China during the period of the All-Nation War of Resistance[9]9 The All-Nation War of Resistance (1937–1945) refers to China's war against Japanese invasion, which is part of the broader Second Sino-Japanese War. broke through the Kuomintang's[10]10 The Kuomintang (KMT) was the ruling party of the Republic of China at the time, led by Chiang Kai-shek. information blockade, presenting to the world a vibrant red China and greatly changing domestic and international public opinion's perception of the Chinese Communist Party. After comparing the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, these observers keenly pointed out that the Yan'an Model[11]11 The Yan'an Model refers to the political, economic, and social policies implemented by the Chinese Communist Party in its base area centered on Yan'an, Shaanxi Province, during the war period. represented China's direction of development, that the Chinese Communist Party would inevitably lead China's future, and that historical development has fully confirmed these insightful judgments.

总而言之，全民族抗战时期英美在华记者的第一手报道，冲破了国民党的舆论封锁，向世界展现了一个生机勃勃的红色中国，极大地改变了国内外舆论对中国共产党的认知。在对比国共两党后，这些观察者们敏锐指出，延安模式代表着中国的发展方向，中国共产党必将引领中国的未来，而历史的发展也完全印证了这些富有洞见的判断。

(Author: Zhong Zhouming, Researcher at the Chongqing University of Commerce and Industry Sub-center of the Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in Chongqing, and Associate Professor at the School of Marxism, Chongqing University of Commerce and Industry)

（作者：钟周铭，系重庆市中国特色社会主义理论体系研究中心重庆工商大学分中心研究员、重庆工商大学马克思主义学院副教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心