Son of 'Red Star over China' trumpeter meets author's descendants
- By Chen Boyuan
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 6, 2015
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Blake Anthony, Sheril Bischoff's grandson shares how Edgar and Helen Foster Snow have influenced the entire family on Sept. 4 in Beijing. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn] |
Bischoff's grandson Anthony Blake, who has been learning Chinese since he was 19 years old, was more practical about the family heritage passed on from Edgar Snow. "Without Helen Snow, my involvement with China maybe wouldn’t have happened. So, he [Edgar Snow] gave me some heritage and a means to start studying Chinese and be a part of China," said Blake, now working as a consultant for companies looking to enter the Chinese market.
Also having read the book, Blake said, “Snow wished to tell the Western world that the Communist Party was a strong force to be recognized. Also, that Mao Zedong knew what the best course of action for China was at that time, and that China's only hope was to unite to fight against the Japanese invasion."
"One view states that Mao Zedong allowed World War II to drag on in China because he fought against the Nationalists. However, my first instinct is to completely disagree with this. It was the Communist Party that unified China," said Blake, recalling his first impressions after finishing the book.
As modern China has shifted toward a different society from the one depicted in "Red Star over China," the book has indeed become less important and less discussed in both countries. Young Chinese students today may only hear about Edgar Snow and his book in their history class, while young Americans, except those academically studying China, wouldn’t recognize Snow's name.
"The book did influence a generation of Americans, although it [the influence] didn't last very long," said Blake. But he said it is "conceivable" that "Red Star over China" would become more popular again – more popular in the U.S. than in China – as more and more Americans are becoming interested in China, along with its history.
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