Literature and History | Smedley Fighting Side by Side in Shanghai | International Friends | Smedley

We always remember their valuable contributions to the Chinese revolution, construction and reform and their sincere friendship to the CPC and the Chinese people. Among this large group of international friends, undoubtedly includes Agnes Smedley.

Short stop in Beiping

At the end of 1928, American Smedley entered Northeast China as a correspondent for the German liberal newspaper Frankfurt Daily in the Far East. He then traveled south, passing through Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, and Shanghai.

Smedley, who had just arrived in China, did not understand Chinese and did not have a suitable Chinese name. In Beiping, in order to visit Hu Shi, Smedley specially invited someone to make a business card, with the front printed with "German journalist Smedlian" and the back printed in English with "Correspondent, Frankfurter Zeitung, Frank Fustalm, Germany". Through Hu Shi's introduction, he got to know some Chinese literati.

At a roast duck restaurant that Smedley referred to as "welcoming distinguished guests", Xu Zhimo and a group of Chinese friends invited Smedley to drink and taste roast duck. Smedley wrote, "Bring me paper, eraser, and ink, and begin to conceive a Chinese name for me.". I don't like names like "plum blossom" or "lotus". Finally, he gave me a surname from an old-fashioned Chinese family - "Shi", and added two syllables - "Meilin". When I rejected the latter, he just spelled the name in Latin "Shih Mei Di Li" for me to hear. It is obvious that Smedley did not understand the Chinese meaning of "Smedlian" or "Shimelin" at this time, but it may have been this gathering that indirectly contributed to her later well-known Chinese translation as Agnes Smedley.

Then, she crossed the Yellow River and headed straight for Nanjing. In March 1929, Smedley arrived in Nanjing. She wrote a long article here reporting on the grand occasion of Sun Yixian being reburied in a huge tomb on the outskirts of the city. Smedley realized that his actions in the center of Chiang Kai shek's rule would be greatly constrained, so he boarded the train to Shanghai.

First time in Shanghai, a famous celebrity from Guangzhou Jiaotong University

In early May 1929, Smedley took a train from Nanjing to Shili Yangchang Shanghai and rented the second floor of L ü ban Apartment at 85 L ü ban Road as the office of the Frankfurt Daily, starting her 7-year career in Shanghai. At the end of 1929, Smedley moved out of the Luban Apartment and temporarily stayed in the staff quarters of the British Consulate on Lane 41, Cadre Road. Smedley lived in a large room on the second floor facing south, with a bedroom that also served as a reception room. Due to her extensive social network, visitors came in a constant stream. Smedley received many Chinese and foreign friends here and then introduced them to each other, becoming a pivotal figure for a while.

A few months after arriving in Shanghai, Smedley visited Song Qingling at 29 Moliere Road in the French Concession as a journalist for the Frankfurt Daily, and presented her with a recently published book "The Daughter of the Earth". On the title page, he wrote an enthusiastic gift: "To Comrade Song Qingling, a loyal revolutionary whom I unreservedly respect and love. On September 17, 1929, in Shanghai, Agnes." This token, which witnessed the beginning of the great friendship between two centuries of women, is still preserved in Song Qingling's former residence in Shanghai.

On December 27, 1929, Smedley, accompanied by Dong Shaoming and Cai Yongshang, editors of the World Monthly, visited Mr. Lu Xun. The two were surprised to find that they both understood German and instantly became closer. According to Lu Xun's Diary, on the 27th day, there was a light rain. I received a letter from Yang Weiquan in the afternoon. In the afternoon, Ms. Smedley, Ms. Cai Yongshang, and Mr. Dong Shaoming will come. Dong Ziqiushi, from Jinghai, Ms. Shi is the correspondent for the Frankfurter Daily. She requested four photos to be taken. Afterwards, they frequently exchanged letters, and Smedley was accompanied by Soviet TASS reporter Lefen in Shanghai and American journalist Edgar Snow to visit Lu Xun. In February 1930, Smedley gifted the German version of his autobiographical novel "The Daughter of the Earth" to Lu Xun and inscribed on the title page, "To Lu Xun, showing respect for his life and work for a new society."

Interactions with left-wing writers in Shanghai

Smedley's first documentary work reflecting Chinese society, "The Fate of the Chinese People," was also completed at this time and published by Pioneer Publishing House in New York, USA in 1933. It mainly reflects the turbulent social life, class contradictions, and surging revolutionary struggles in China in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Through his investigation of the social situation at that time and his understanding of people from all walks of life, Smedley exposed the social drawbacks of old China with the sharp eyes of a journalist, and expressed infinite sympathy and support for the revolutionary struggle of the Chinese people. There are 30 features in this work. In addition to reflecting the life of Chinese workers and farmers, describing the unfortunate fate of Chinese women and exposing the oppression of imperialists, there are also some articles extolling the birth of the CPC and the Red Army.

Smedley often visited Lu Xun, who lived in Ramos Apartment, with people such as Roushi, Feng Xuefeng, and Neishan Wanzao. In early 1931, Smedley wanted to leave China for recuperation due to health reasons. Before leaving Shanghai, Lu Xun, along with three young writers, Roushi, Hu Yebin, and Feng Kengte, visited Smedley's residence on Cadre Road and had a long afternoon of conversation. In late 1931, Smedley moved to 70 Gloucester Road. Here, Smedley warmly received Ding Ling and provided safety protection until she was secretly sent out of Shanghai.

In August 1931, Smedley and Song Qingling engaged in various activities to rescue the Niu Lan couple, who were sent by the Communist International to China to carry out secret work. In the summer and autumn of 1932, Song Qingling, Smedley, and others began to prepare for the establishment of a new organization. On December 17th, they officially launched the establishment of the "Chinese Civil Rights Protection Alliance". Song Qingling was elected as the chairman, and Smedley served as her English secretary. On January 17, 1933, the Shanghai Branch of the Chinese Civil Rights Protection Alliance was established, with Song Qingling serving as the executive committee member and Smedley being one of the members of the Shanghai Branch. On February 17, 1933, George Bernard Shaw, who had traveled around the world and arrived in Shanghai, was warmly welcomed by Soong Ching ling and the Chinese Civil Rights Protection Alliance at the Song Yu residence at 29 Moliere Road. Smedley also attended the meeting. They talked for several hours on the cruise ship, on the small boat transporting them to and from the dock, and in the Song family. The attendees of the conversation included Lu Xun, Cai Yuanpei, Smedley, Yiluosheng, and Lin Yutang. Smedley acted as a recorder and recorded the conversation in detail. On March 1, 1933, Smedley published an article titled "A Tale of George Bernard Shaw's Conversations in Shanghai" under the name "Jing Han".

Help rescue Communist Party members

Smedley used his identity as an American and German journalist to participate multiple times in the rescue efforts of Communist Party members and progressive individuals. On the morning of May 13, 1933, in protest against the persecution of German progressives and Jews by German fascism, Song Qingling, Cai Yuanpei, Yang Quan, Lu Xun, Lin Yutang, Smedley, and Yiluosheng submitted a protest letter to the German Consulate in Shanghai. The Deputy Consul of the German Consulate, Beilianjian, stated that he will convey the message to the Ambassador of the country to China on his behalf.

Taking the rescue of Niulan as an opportunity, on January 13, 1932, with the support of the underground party of the Communist Party of China and the help of Soong Ching ling, the American Eloshen and Smedley founded the English weekly China Forum in the French Concession of Shanghai, which was closer to the CPC in political orientation. After Iroson turned to Trotskyism, the China Forum ceased publication in 1934, and the Communist Party's propaganda base was lost. Song Qingling and Smedley began preparing for a new publication. In 1935, Smedley was specifically responsible for the preparation of the publication and requested the assistance of the Granwich couple sent by the Communist Party of the United States. On March 15, 1936, a new English semi monthly magazine called "China's Voice" was officially released in Shanghai. Undoubtedly, Smedley played an important role in the establishment of this publication. As a continuation of the China Forum, the Voice of China is also a left-wing publication led by the Communist International and one of the channels for the CPC to contact the masses in the Kuomintang controlled areas.

In late May 1933, Smedley left Shanghai for the Soviet Union to recuperate and then returned to the United States. Until October 23, 1934, Smedley returned to Shanghai on the USS Coolidge from San Francisco. Soong Ching ling specially sent someone to pick her up and arrange accommodation for her. Later, Smedley was hospitalized in Shanghai Sanatorium for treatment due to illness.

Starting to gain a deeper understanding of the Communist Party

At this time, China was at a time when the Red Army was forced to carry out the Long March and revolutionary defeatism was spreading. Under the care of Soong Ching ling, the foreign progressive young people living in Shanghai gathered in the form of study groups. While learning Marxism Leninism together, they learned about the people in real struggle in China and the great CPC full of self sacrifice spirit. The first meeting of this study group was held on the second floor of Xiafei Road Pain Apartment, the residence of Smedley.

The first time I studied was the first chapter of the Communist Manifesto, titled "The Bourgeois and the Proletariat.". A CCP liaison also brought a large map of Jiangxi Province, pointing out the places where Chiang Kai shek carried out encirclement and subsequent struggles. The underground organization also entrusts them with some tasks or requires them to transmit information. Once, it was necessary to set up an underground radio station in Shanghai to maintain communication with the ongoing Long March. For safety reasons, the transmitter was installed in the rooftop room of the group member Louis Ellie's house. Engineer Gan Pulin, who is also a member of the group, directly connected the power supply from the main line without using an electricity meter and managed to send and receive telecommunications at night. At that time, the radio station had to move frequently to avoid being detected, so it persisted in working there for a long time. Through this radio station, Song Qingling was able to maintain uninterrupted communication with the outside world.

For a period of time from 1934 to 1935, due to some reasons, Smedley stayed with Lu Xun's family in a new village on the mainland. Xu Guangping specially vacated the room where his son Haiying used to live on the second floor and converted it into her bedroom and study. The location of the new village on the mainland is an area of "crossing the border to build roads", which has a semi concession nature. Lu Xun named his study "Gejie Pavilion" with half of the word "concession" and compiled a collection of "Gejie Pavilion Miscellaneous Writings" under this name. Smedley is here to help translate Lu Xun's works, and Lu Xun also translates her works.

The idea of interviewing the Soviet area before Mengsheng's death

It was in Lu Xun's home that Smedley met some communists. In the summer and autumn of 1932, Red Army general Chen Gong went to Shanghai for medical treatment due to injuries. Lu Xun met and received him at the Ramos Apartment, accompanied by Feng Xuefeng, to discuss in detail the anti encirclement and suppression struggle in the Soviet area. He continued to eat and talk in his kitchen room until the evening. Smedley must have also seen Chen Gong and heard some stories about the Red Army. In early May 1936, Smedley went to Lu Xun's house to listen to Feng Xuefeng from northern Shaanxi telling the story of the Long March. It was this meeting that sparked Smedley's idea of conducting on-site interviews in the Shaanbei base area.

Smedley took advantage of the valuable opportunity to interact with revolutionaries and learned about the struggle of the Red Army in the revolutionary base areas of Jiangxi, accumulating materials for writing works on the Red Army. For example, it was learned from Zhou Jianping's oral account that the Red Army was fighting against "encirclement and suppression". In 1934, Smedley's second book on China, "The Chinese Red Army is Advancing," was first published in Moscow under the Russian name "The Red Storm in China," and has since been reprinted in the West.

Smedley introduced the history of the birth and growth of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army from 1927 to the early 1930s to readers around the world through 22 reports. It recounts the heroic deeds of the Central Red Army led by Zhu De and Mao Zedong, including several attempts to crush enemy encirclements and establish revolutionary base areas. The deeds and spirit of the Red Army inspired Smedley greatly. At this moment, she no longer looked at China with despair, but with hope, saw the unstoppable progress of the Red Army, and saw the "Red Star" shining in a dark China. Smedley became the first foreign journalist and writer to report on the Chinese Soviet and its leaders to the world.

In February 1936, Smedley read from an International News that the Chinese Red First Army was crossing the Yellow River to the north and was about to complete the Long March. She immediately informed Lu Xun and suggested that he send a congratulatory telegram to the Red Army. As a result, there was a famous congratulatory message from Lu Xun and Mao Dun to the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army. The congratulatory message is filled with revolutionary passion: "Brave Red Army generals and soldiers! Your brave struggle, your great victory, is the most glorious page in the history of the liberation of the Chinese nation!" This congratulatory message was published in full in the official newspaper "Struggle" of the Northwest Central Bureau of the Communist Party of China, becoming an important document of China's red history. Shortly afterwards, Lu Xun expressed his sincere admiration for the Communists: "Those who are down-to-earth, have their feet on the ground, and are bleeding and struggling for the survival of the Chinese people today, I must regard them as comrades, and think it is glorious." Lu Xun and Smedley regard the revolutionary struggle led by the CPC as the same cause.

In Shanghai, apart from the Lu Xun family, the place where Smedley visited the most was the residence of Song Qingling. They developed a deep fighting friendship during the establishment of the Chinese Civil Rights Protection Alliance and the establishment of revolutionary publications. In September 1936, Smedley left Shanghai for Xi'an, ending her career in Shanghai.