Red Star Over China early editions unveiled in Shanghai to mark WWII anniversary
Exhibition includes first Chinese version of the seminal book by American journalist Edgar Snow, the first Westerner to meet Mao Zedong
In 1936, Snow visited Yanan, the party’s headquarters following the Long March, which had concluded the previous year. He documented the months he spent embedded with the Red Army in the remote hills of northwestern Shaanxi province during China’s civil war.
His book featured interviews with Mao as well as Zhou Enlai, who would go on to become the first premier of the People’s Republic of China, army commander Peng Dehuai, and Red Army warriors, guerillas and ordinary people.
At the Shanghai Mass Art Centre, three versions of the book are on display – the original 1937 English edition, the first US edition from January 1938 and the earliest Chinese translation published in March 1938. The exhibition will run until September 21.