The Seagulls of Salt Lake City:Helen Foster Snow and China

He Yan

T wo seagulls， one ready to soar higher， the other ready to land， were hovering high and low over the top of a monument. Their graceful posture showed rhythmic beauty in the golden sunshine of October. Seeing the scene， I felt like going back more than 30 years. In the English class of the third grade of junior middle school in Hangzhou， my hometown， my classmates and I read The Seagulls of Salt Lake City.

The text tells such a story： Over 100 years ago， the first eastern settlers traveled a long way to Salt Lake City， Utah， in the United States. They worked hard to claim the arid land. The harvest season was coming. All of a sudden， the locusts came down from the sky like dark clouds covering the sun. The crops were devoured， and the farmers despaired. Then a flock of seagulls flew in from the direction of the Great Salt Lake and ate all the locusts. The people were thankful for the seagulls and thus built a monument at Temple Square in the city. The monument was right in front of me！

Helen Foster Snow was a beautiful woman born in Utah who forged a deep bond with China.

Traveling alone to China

Helen’s ancestors were English Puritans. In 1635， they sailed across the Atlantic to America in a ship. In the mid-19th century， Helen’s greatgrandfather Solon Foster led his entire family to escape religious persecution. Together with Mormon pioneers， they trekked more than 1，500 miles on foot， on horseback， in ox carts or pushing handcarts across the Western Great Plains from Eastern US to the Great Basin.

Helen’s father， John Moody Foster， was a successful lawyer； her mother， Hannah Davis Foster， was an industrious and capable woman. She was also an active member of the Mormon Church， serving as head of the church’s welfare organization for many years， engaged in education， service and charity work.

In June 1906， Helen’s parents got married in Farmington， Utah. The couple had their first child， Helen， on September 21， 1907， in Cedar City， Utah.

The Mormon family background and education had a profound influence on Helen. When she was a child， her mother told her about her ancestors’history of exploring the West， taught her how to create a family tree and a biography of a family member and emphasized the importance of family roots. The Puritan ethics embodied in her ancestors， such as frugality， diligence and courage， as well as dedication to the truth， had long been integrated into her blood and become the core of her spirit.

Helen finished elementary school in Cedar City. In 1923， she went to West High in Salt Lake City， where she lived with her grandmother and aunt. In high school， she was vice president of the Student Union and deputy editor of the school yearbook. She had blossomed into a talented and beautiful young woman. Not only did she excel academically， but also show great leadership and organizational skills.

After graduation， Helen attended the University of Utah. Later， she joined the American Federation of Mining， the backbone of the Silver Lobby in Congress， as assistant permanent secretary. She worked and studied at the same time. She did so well at work that she got handsome pay and built up considerable savings. She also passed the examination for Diplomatic Civilian Service.

During her tenure in the mining federation， one of Helen’s jobs was to collect and edit information about Asia from newspapers and magazines. She found that most of the articles about China published in American newspapers and magazines were written by a correspondent in China under the byline Edgar Snow. She was deeply moved by his literary talent. As she sat at her desk， picking up her scissors and preparing to cut newspapers， she often wondered： “Why can’t I do interviews and write articles like these？”

Helen had wanted to be a great writer ever since she read The Wizard of Oz at the age of eight. She had also read an Edith Wharton book and admired one of her quotes： “You have to stay abroad in a foreign country to get perspective before you can write about your own American experience. Let cultural contrasts strengthen your intelligence and talents.”

She said： “I know I have to go abroad and stay there a while， about a year or so. Otherwise， I would never become a great writer. But I didn’t jump on the bandwagon and rush to Paris. Ever since I was a child， I’ve been a stickler for rules. I’ve always identified with my ancestors who were Puritans. They came to Massachusetts in 1635. China is different and has a higher exchange rate for the dollar.”

Reed Smoot was one of the leaders of the American Federation for Mining where Helen worked. He was a senator from Utah and a leader in the Mormon Church. He was senator for 30 years and longtime chairman of the Senate Finance and Legislation Committee. One of Helen’s missions when visiting China was to write a report for the US Silver Lobby， led by Smoot. The report would provide evidence for the silver currency standard bill that the substitution of silver for gold proved profitable.

On July 14， 1931， Smoot wrote a letter of recommendation for Helen： “To whom it may concern： this letter will introduce Miss Helen Foster from Salt Lake City， Utah， who is visiting abroad for business and educational purposes. Miss Foster is a young lady of unquestionable integrity and character. She is an exceptionally intelligent girl. Any courtesies extended Miss Foster will be greatly appreciated by her many friends among whom I count myself.”

At the end of July 1931， Helen left Salt Lake City for Shanghai， China. She boarded the “President Lincoln”steamboat from Seattle. This beautiful seagull， flying from Salt Lake City across the Pacific Ocean， was about to write an immortal story in the history of China-US relations.

Supporting December 9th Movement

In August 1931， the steamer entered the Huangpu River. Helen raised her camera and took pictures of the Bund. Before coming to China， her mother gave her the Kodak camera. Over the next 10 years， she used this camera to take pictures of many important historical events in China.

On her first day in Shanghai， Helen met Edgar Snow， who was then a correspondent for China Weekly Review， at Sullivan’s Cafe on the Bund. Among the foreigners at the time， Snow was in fact persona non grata. He sympathized with the Chinese revolutionary movement and was known for his pro-China stance. In an almost threatening tone， an influential foreign national said to Helen： “Don’t associate with Edger Snow and J. B. Powell. They are pro-China.” Helen disagreed with him： “I don’t want to be influenced by the prejudgment that ‘pro-China’ is a scary thing. I’ve always had independent academic ideas and opinions.”

At the US consulate， Helen was promoted to personal secretary and social secretary of Edwin S. Cunningham， consul at Shanghai. She became a hot figure in society. On Christmas Day 1932， Helen married Snow at the US consulate in Tokyo， Japan. In 1933， on their honeymoon， the Snows went to Cuiheng village， Xiangshan county， Guangdong province. They visited the former residence of Sun Yat-sen， forerunner of the Chinese revolution. Then they boarded a steamer from Kowloon， Hong Kong， and made a brief stopover in Shanghai before heading for Peiping.

After the September 18th Incident in 1931， Japan occupied Northeast China. The situation in North China was precarious. The ancient city of Peiping appeared calm on the surface， but in fact anti-Japanese sentiment was surging.

At first， the Snows lived at No. 21 Meizha Hutong. In March 1934， they moved to a village in Haidian in a suburb of Peiping， not far from Yenching University. Snow taught at the university’s Department of Journalism. The next autumn， they moved to No.13 Kuijiachang street in the Chongwenmennei area. In Helen’s words： “Our experience in China was unique and mysterious， at the corner of the Arrow Tower of the Beijing city wall. As two foreigners around here， we formed a two-man party and a two-man people’s diplomatic corps， alone in the face of the Japanese and all the fascists， as well as their local minions. The December 9th Movement blossomed here.”

On an autumn day in October 1935， a group of university students gathered together in Snow’s living room. They were Yu Qiwei （Huang Jing） from the Mathematics Department of Peking University， Yao Yilin （Yao Keguang） from the History Department of Tsinghua University and students from Yenching University Zhang Zhaolin， Chen Hanbo， Wang Rumei（Huang Hua）， Li Min， Gong Pusheng and others. A dozen days earlier， the Snows entrusted the American writer Agnes Smedley to deliver a letter to Madame Soong Ching-ling when she went to Shanghai. The letter was drafted in English by students from Yenching University Wang Rumei and Chen Hanbo， and typed by Helen. The main content of the letter asked， “What should we do when our country is in crisis？”

Snow took out the letter he had just received from Madame Soong and read it out： “Dear students， I admire your patriotic spirit very much. Chiang Kai-shek’s traitorous behavior is shameful. You young men on the northern front can’t just be depressed or bury yourselves in your books. You have to do something！ You need take action！” The letter caused heated discussion.

Helen spoke fast and intensely and came up with an idea： “You go out on the street to protest！ Tie a dummy with straw and write the Chinese characters ‘Hua Bei’ on it. Place it on the coffin and carry it away for burial. This is the way to tell the public that North China is going to perish！” Chen Hanbo said it was a good idea， but too American. Helen’s face flushed a little， but she insisted that her way made sense. Yu Qiwei suggested： “First， we should fight for freedom of the press， speech， assembly and association. Otherwise we cannot go out on the street to protest.”

Later， on Oct 22， the Student Union of Yenching University held a general meeting of all students. After the meeting， Chen Hanbo and other leaders of the Student Self-Government Association of Yenching University， entrusted Gao Mingkai， a graduate student of philosophy of Yenching University， to draft a declaration， called the Declaration of Freedom for AntiJapanese and National Salvation by Student Self-Government Associations of 10 Universities and Schools in Peiping and Tianjin. It was issued on Nov 1， 1935， and secretly circulated among students in Peiping and Tianjin. The mimeograph copy of the leaflet was taken to Snow’s home， translated into English by Wang Rumei and others， and handed over by Helen to United Press International for broadcast to the rest of the world.

On Dec 3， the Peiping Students’Federation held a meeting and decided to contact all universities and middle schools in Peiping and launch a largescale petition to the highest authorities in North China. On Dec 6， the Student Self-Government Association of Yenching University led the drafting of the Telegram to All Universities and Schools in Peiping， saying that“The only way to survive today is to mobilize the whole nation to stand up to resist the invaders.”

On the same day， the Peiping Students’ Federation was officially founded. On Dec 8， the Students’Federation held a general meeting of representatives from all universities and schools， and determined to gather in Tian’anmen Square before 10 o’clock on Dec 9， and then go to the Xinhua Gate to present a petition to He Yingqin， representative of the Kuomintang government， and state the demand of “resolutely resisting the Japanese aggression and opposing surrender”.

Wang Rumei brought back the news and said to students of Yenching University： “The protest will take place tomorrow！” Students of Yenching University also told the Snows the news. On the day of the protest， the Snows invited foreign correspondents from The Associated Press， United Press， The Times and Chicago Daily News， to follow the protesters all the way and do live coverage. That night， Snow sent a piece of exclusive news to The New York Sun. On December 28， Helen also published a long report in China Weekly Review， along with photos of the police crackdown on the student movement in Peiping.

Soon after arriving in Peiping， Helen became acquainted with the great Chinese writer Lu Xun and many other left-wing writers. She said： “My initial interest in the Chinese revolution was more aesthetic than political. I was surprised to find that left-wing artists， writers and students were intellectual leaders. They had more personal appeal than others.”

Encouraged by Lu Xun， the Snows translated and edited a collection of short stories by left-wing Chinese writers， Living China， which was published in London in July 1936.Among the articles， Helen wrote the first English essay on the New Literary Movement， entitled The Modern Literary Movement in China， under the pseudonym Nym Wales. It is a lasting contribution to the Chinese people.

Going to Yan’an for news

It was a year when China’s domestic situation changed dramatically. In June 1936， introduced by Soong Ching-ling， Snow set off from Peiping through Xi’an to reach the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border area under the administration of the Communist Party of China， regardless of hardships and danger. He became the first Western journalist to report the Red districts.

Helen wrote： “In June 1936， Edgar Snow made his famous trip to Bao’an county in northern Shaanxi. There he collected material for his book Red Star Over China. He also interviewed CPC leaders Mao Zedong， Zhou Enlai， etc. Ed’s book was the only one on Bao’an. Mine， Inside Red China， was the first one on Yan’an. Because Yan’an was not taken back from the Kuomintang until after the Xi’an Incident.”

On Oct 22， Snow returned to Xi’an from Bao’an， then returned home to Peiping， just before the Xi’an Incident broke out. Helen helped sort the interview materials and did all the chores around the house， so that Snow could concentrate on his writing. Every afternoon at tea time， Snow read his work to Helen and listened to her suggestions. “The most important thing that Ed had brought back was Mao Zedong’s own account of his life. It would be a surprise for many people. Ed asked me to condense Mao’s account. He said he was going to rewrite some of it anyway， in his own words. I disagreed. These contents would be the core of Ed’s book.”

A f t e r t y p i n g u p M a o’s biographical material on a typewriter， Helen realized： “At any cost， I would have to make a trip to the Red districts and get all the biographies that Ed had left out， especially the ones about women and children.” On Nov 14， 1936， Mao’s long conversation with Edgar Snow was first published in China Weekly Review. Along with this article， Snow also published a photo featuring Mao in his Red Army cap.

In early 1937， Yu Qiwei （Huang Jing） told Helen that a Communist Party congress would be held in Yan’an in early May. Shortly after Snow’s return， the Second and Fourth Front Armies of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army also completed the Long March. They joined forces with the First Front Army led by Mao Zedong in Northern Shaanxi. The capital of the Red districts moved from Bao’an to Yan’an. The Kuomintang and the Communist Party were negotiating to establish a united front against the Japanese aggression. Helen was acutely aware： “Most of the Communist leaders would be together and who knew when they would be together again， if ever.” On April 21， Helen left Peiping for Yan’an via Xi’an. The trip was a turning point in her life.

“On my second visit to Xi’an in 1937， the friendly forces led by Young Marshal Zhang Xueliang （who was then under house arrest） had already withdrawn from the city. Chiang Kai- shek’s fascist forces returned to avenge their loss of face. It was the result of our news report a year ago. I was told that Edgar’s life would be in danger if he came to Xi’an again， which made me very worried， but also more determined.”

In 1936， when Helen visited Xi’an for the first time， the Northeast Army led by General Zhang Xueliang was ordered to station in Xi’an. On Oct 3， Helen and Zhang Zhaolin took a rickshaw to the Northwest Bandit Suppression Headquarters， for an interview with General Zhang Xueliang. “Since early October， Young Marshal Zhang’s Army had been ready to fight to protect the Red Army from attack. That’s exactly where I wanted to go. As the only foreign correspondent in the area， I was asked by Young Marshal to blow up the situation in Xi’an on The Daily Herald， a London newspaper for which Edgar wrote articles. A small number of Chinese journalists were also invited to the interview， but were not allowed to publish anything.” It happened two months before the Xi’an Incident. Through Helen， Zhang Xueliang’s proposition of “cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and joint resistance against the Japanese aggression” was made public for the first time. One can imagine the shock it caused.

Yu Qiwei， a delegate of the Communist Party of North China to the congress， helped Helen arrange her trip and escorted her to the train for Xi’an. They pretended not to know each other. As soon as Helen got off the train in Xi’an， she was taken by the military police to Xi’an Guest House， where she was watched by the police.

“When Chen Hanbo arrived early in the morning， I was sheltering from the rain between the grain sacks in a warehouse. He planned to help me sneak into Yan’an. A few minutes later， head of the police who had been looking for me all night came. He handed me over to six secret agents and guards who took turns to watch me. Chen was forced to secretly flee to Yan’an. Chiang Kai-shek’s government in Nanjing had recently issued a military order forbidding any journalists from going to the Red districts.”

In the middle of the night of April 29， Helen ignored the official martial law. She risked her life by jumping through a window and got away from the guards. With the help of her friend Kempton Fitch， she fled from Xi’an and headed for Sanyuan， gateway to the Red districts. She arrived in Yan’an on May 3.

Helen recalled： “As soon as I arrived， Mao Zedong and General Zhu De paid me a formal visit and expressed their welcome. It was one of Mao’s few formal visits. I asked Mao a long list of questions and he was happy to answer them. I had quite a few conversations with him. He agreed to provide me with sufficient information to write a booklet on the nature and course of the Chinese revolution. We had our first exchange of views on the booklet on July 7. Unfortunately， this was the day of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. So it was impossible for him to continue our conversation. He introduced me to Luo Fu and Wu Liangping.”

During the four months in Yan’an， Helen interviewed 61 revolutionaries and wrote biographies for 34 of them， including generals of the Red Army， women leaders and “Hong Xiao Gui” — young soldiers still in their adolescence， some even in childhood. In particular， the information on Zhu De’s account of life was collected. It added important content to Snow’s writing of Red Star Over China.

On Sept 20， 1937， Helen finished her trip to Yan’an. On Oct 17， she returned to her home in Peiping. Also in this month， Snow’s famous book Red Star Over China was published in London and caused a big stir. In 1939， Helen wrote another book， Inside Red China， which was published in New York.

In the history of journalism， Helen’s trip to Yan’an can be described as unprecedented. She also witnessed the moments when the Chinese United Front against Japanese Aggression was formed and the Red Army was reorganized into the eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army. As part of the national regular forces， the Eighth Route Army went to the front and fought the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat， winning the first great victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression at Pingxingguan， Shanxi province. This victory greatly inspired all of North China in the fight against Japanese aggression.

Gung Ho movement in China

“On Nov 21，1937， I left Peiping and Tianjin. A few days later， I stood at the window of a Butterfield & Swire coastal steamer， as six years before I had stood on the deck of the S.S. President Lincoln looking out at the harbor of Huangpu. What a different scene met my eyes today，” wrote Helen. “Shanghai was still on fire. Japan had occupied the entire Chinese part of Shanghai.”

On Dec 3， 1937， Helen arrived in Shanghai. Earlier， on Aug13， the Japanese army launched a large-scale attack on Shanghai. Snow reported the news for The Daily Herald. The Japanese army wreaked havoc on Chinese industry. Eighty percent of the factories were bombed. Thousands of refugees were left homeless on the streets in poverty and sickness.

Seeing the ravages and horrors caused by the war， Helen recalled her ancestors’ experience of establishing the United Order to explore the American West. She put forward an initiative： “There must be a movement of people’s production. The only way to achieve this is to organize the people so that they can govern themselves and unite their production units. Industrial Cooperatives are the answer！”

Together with their New Zealand friend， Rewi Alley， the Snows launched the Gung Ho movement， which gained bipartisan support from both the CPC and Kuomintang. Helen attributed this to Madame Soong Ching-ling and Sir Archibald Clark-Kerr， British ambassador to China. Without their efforts， “no wheel of ‘Gung Ho’ would have turned.”

Gung Ho is shorthand for Industrial Cooperatives， which means working together. On Aug 5， 1938， the Association of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives was founded in Wuhan. Over the next seven years， under extremely difficult conditions， 30，000 people joined more than 2，000 industrial cooperatives. The refugees started production to help themselves and provided material support for the front line. The Gung Ho movement was carried out throughout the country.

Helen wrote： “Here was the democratic foundation for whatever kind of society the Chinese might decide to have in the future. It was a bridge between the Kuomintang and Communist Party.” Instead of organizing cooperatives in China， as Alley did， the Snows traveled to the US and the Philippines to raise funds for Gung Ho. This was done in close association with the International Committee of Indusco chaired by Soong Ching-ling. Along with Ida Pruitt， Helen helped found and served as vice chairman of the American Committee in Aid of the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives in New York. The US president’s mother， Anna Roosevelt， served as honorary chair， and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a patron. The committee raised $5 million in wartime relief funds for Gung Ho.

In addition， Helen wrote many articles on Gung Ho under the pseudonym Nym Wales. Her book China Builds for Democracy was published in New York in 1940. It was the only monograph on China’s Gung Ho movement.

On Feb 26， 1942， after the attack on Pearl Harbor the previous December， Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her column My Day： “Back at the White House， I had a most interesting talk with Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Snow， who have been back from China about a year. Mrs. Snow was very enthusiastic about China’s Gung Ho movement， which received support from anyone interested in Chinese industry. They built their own machines， and gradually replaced products made entirely by hand. It seemed to be the best foundation on which to build a better standard of living for the people.”

In the same year， Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru republished Helen’s book China Builds for Democracy in New Delhi and personally wrote the preface. It was considered as a textbook on industrial development. Since then， 50，000 cooperatives were set up in India. Nehru wrote： “In today’s wartorn world， the democratic foundation of these cooperatives and their development is of great influence and significance.” In India， Helen was known as the queen of co-ops.

In early 1941， Snow returned to the US to join Helen， who had returned earlier. In the spring of that year， they bought an old farmhouse in Madison， Connecticut. They lived a quiet life until their divorce in 1949.

After the Korean War broke out， China and the US were in isolation from each other. During the time of McCarthyism， Helen was considered a Communist sympathizer and lived in poverty. Snow was kicked out of the US and moved to Switzerland with his second wife. He died in 1972. Helen lived alone in the old farmhouse. She continued to write year after year and eventually finished 64 books and manuscripts， mostly on China. She sees herself as a bridge-builder to build bridges of understanding and friendship between the two countries she loves.

After the thaw in China-US relations， Helen Snow arrived in Beijing on Dec 4， 1972. It was the first time she had visited new China. She was met by Zhu De， chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， Deng Yingchao， Kang Keqing and other CPC leaders. She also met with student leaders of the December 9th Movement， Chen Hanbo， Gong Pusheng， among others. Accompanied by Zi Zhongjun， she visited Shaoshan， Hunan province， Mao Zedong’s hometown. On Jan 31， 1973， Helen returned to the US by plane from Shanghai.

In 1978， Helen visited China again at the important moment of the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US. She revisited the sacred places of the revolution — Yan’an， Bao’an， and other places. After returning to the US， she wrote Travel to the Northwest in 1970s. In Beijing， Helen had a conversation with Deng Yingchao， then vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Deng said： “You have been contributing to the friendship between the Chinese and American people since the 1930s. We are deeply moved by the spirit.” In January 1997， Helen died at the age of 90. A year before her death， the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries awarded her the title of Friendship Ambassador.