100th Birthday Anniversary of Preeminent Journalist Celebrated

May 4 2010 celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Zhao Chaogou (1910-1992)， a preeminent journalist. Writing in the penname of Lin Fang， Zhao published more than 10，000 essays in his career. Chairman Mao met with him seven times. People’s Daily once published a comment saying that Zhao’s pen could defeat one million enemy troops.

On the anniversary day， a bronze statue of Zhao was unveiled in Wencheng， a county in southern Zhejiang Province where Zhao was born. On the same day， a memorial get-together was held in Shanghai where Zhao worked as a journalist for Xinmin Evening News and later served as its chief executive and as chairman of China Association for Evening Newspapers Journalists. The memorial event in Shanghai was attended by a group of friends and colleagues and high-ranking officials.

Zhao Chaogou traveled in Japan in the autumn of 1929. In 1930 he began studying finance in the college section of China Public School in Shanghai. After graduation in 1934， he worked as a journalist for a newspaper in Nanjing for three years before he began publishing daily essays for Xinmin News， a Shanghai-based newspaper and the predecessor of Xinmin Evening News. These essays criticized the seamy side of the society and wrongdoings of the KTM government in a humorous yet incisive way.

The turning point of his career occurred in the spring of 1944 when he and other Chinese and foreign journalists visited Yan’an， the headquarters of the Communist Party of China. The Xinmin News had not planned to send Zhao onto this adventure. Pu Xixiu， a woman journalist of the newspaper， was the first choice of the newspaper， but she was vetoed by the government for her well-known left leaning. Another choice was Zhang Hengshui， a famed journalist and novelist， but he happened to be engaged in family affairs. So Xinmin News chose Zhao Chaogou， a not well known journalist with defective hearing.

The journalists stayed in Yan’an for more than a month. The journey around the revolutionary base opened Zhao’s eyes. He wrote a series of reports entitled “A Month in Yan’an” in more than 100，000 words. The reports were serialized in Xinmin News and became sensational among readers in the KMT-ruled areas. Later the reports were published in a book under the same title and were reprinted several times. The book is recognized as a Chinese counterpart of “Red Star over China” by Edgar Snow. In the history of the 20th century journalism in China， this book plays a key part.

The reports and the book made Zhao Chaogou famous. In September 1949， he attended the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference， a session that decided the important matters of the new China. He then attended the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China. After returning to Shanghai he worked as the director and editor-in-chief of Xinmin Evening News. He served as a deputy of the national people’s congress for five terms and then a member of the standing committee of the sixth and seventh CPPCC. He also served as a top leader for some national journalists organizations. In addition to “A Month in Yan’an”， he also published five collections of essays. “Selected Works of Zhao Chaogou”， a six-volume collection， was published posthumously.

Zhao was a great journalist， but in the eyes of his daughter Zhao Liuba， he was just an intellectual who read a lot and a conventional father. She reminisces that he spent a lot of time reading after supper in the evening while she did her homework. He loved to read aloud some of his favorite poems in his Wencheng dialect. He chain-smoked， averagely two packs a day. He was gentle to people and took no interest in fame or wealth.

Zhao Chaogou met with Mao Zedong on January 6th， 1958. Mao said he wished that Zhao could go back home in southern Zhejiang and take a look at changes taking place in his hometown. Starting in June 1958， Zhao Chaogou spent two months visiting southern Zhejiang. He visited Rui’an， Lishui， Qingtian， and Longquan. He also took photographs. He published a long reportage on his home visit. Unfortunately， he did not visit Wencheng County during his two-month stay the southern Zhejiang. It was his lifelong regret.□