A Stalwart Fighter for New China All Her Life

The Spring Festival had just ended when I received a phone call from Lu Lanqin to tell me that her mother had passed away. I was saddened by this sudden news， even though she had lived a remarkable 101 years. And she will always live in our hearts.

The mother of Lu Lanqin was our beloved Comrade Lu Cui， an outstanding woman who worked hard for New China all her life. I got to know her through my work at the China Society for People’s Friendship Study （PFS）.

Through reading books about Edgar Snow and Helen Snow， I learned that they sympathized with the Chinese revolution and supported the student movement. When Edgar was teaching in the Department of Journalism at Yen-

ching University and Helen was attending lectures there， student leaders such as Huang Hua from Yenching University， Huang Jing from Peking University and Yao Keguang （also known as Yao Yilin） from Tsinghua University often had meetings at Snow’s home， analyzing the situation in China， planning strategy and organizing publicity activities.

The Snows understood the great significance of their activities. Under the leadership of the underground Communist Party of China （CPC）， the students in Beijing took to the street to promote a mass petition in December 1935， which became the famous December 9th Movement to Resist Japan and Save the Nation.

Edgar Snow， as a foreign journalist， covered the event. He noticed Lu Cui， a Tsinghua University student， walking in the front of the parade. She was a member of the university’s student committee for national salvation. Valliant and heroic in bearing， she spoke to the masses through a megaphone in her hand. The students were barred from entering the city as the

Xuanwu Gate was closed.

Lu Cui spotted a gap under the gate large enough for a slim person like herself to get past. Risking her life， she wormed her way through to the other side and drew the door bolt. The two huge gates which had been tightly tied with iron wires refused to open. Just at this moment， the police came， arrested her and took her to the detention house.

When Edgar Snow learned about her arrest， he went to visit her at the detention house and was admitted as he was a foreigner. Lu Cui talked with him in English， a language the policemen could not understand. She told him that she made the call that all Chinese should unite to resist Japanese aggression and that Chinese should not fight fellow Chinese and should never be conquered people.

The American journalist was touched by the call for justice made by this 21-year-old Chinese young lady and her courage and determination. He filed a news report to New York Herald Tribune， calling her China’s “Joan of Arc”， which appeared on December 17， 1935.

Helen Snow was also very sympathetic with the student movement. She supported and cooperated closely with Edgar in his work in every way. Later when the Kuomintang Government promulgated the “Emergency Measures of the Kuomintang Government for Maintenance of Social Security” and sent army troops and police to arrest patriotic students. Yao Keguang， head of the underground CPC committee of Tsinghua University managed to get Lu Cui to the Snow home at No. 13， Huijiachang （site of the Zhong’an Hotel today）， where she stayed for over a dozen days.

Later， Lu Cui received instructions to go to Shanghai. The Snows drove her to Qianmen Railway Station and only left when they saw her boarding the train safely.

Lu Cui had always kept contact with the couple. Helen said more than once that Edgar and Lu Cui were the first and lifetime builders of the bridge of friendship between the people of China and the U.S. Lu Cui had given Helen a woolen sweater. She liked it very much and only wore it on formal occasions when she had visitors.

Helen died in her wooden house in Madison， Connecticut in 1997. Comrades Huang Hua， He Liliang and Gong Pusheng went to the United States specially to attend her memorial service. Lu Cui asked them to convey her remembrance and prayers.

During her student years at Tsing-hua University， Lu Cui absorbed progressive ideas and started her revolutionary career. In 1936， the All-China Student Federation of National Salvation was founded in Shanghai and she headed its publicity department. In this capacity， she attended the World Youth Congress held in Geneva and New York. When she arrived in New York， the Workers’ Daily published on Nov. 12， 1936 her photo and an article with the title China’s Joan of Arc in New York on the mission of peace and the sub-title “22-year-old student leader says her country’s fight to rid itself of Japanese shackles is vital to the peace of the world”.

Afterwards， she toured the Americas and Europe， making speeches on Chinese people’s resistance against Japanese aggression to save the country. In 1939， she visited Canada where she made speeches in 27 cities and raised funds for the aid-China medical mission headed by Dr. Norman Bethune and the International Peace Hospital. Upon returning home， she worked in the Central China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in Yan’an， the headquarters of the New Fourth Army and Jiangsu-Anhui border area successively.

From 1947 until the founding of New China， she worked as China Secretary in the Secretariat of the Women’s International Democratic Federation （WIDF）， representing the women’s federation of China’s liberated areas. During this period， she also attended the World Congress of Women and the World Peace Congress held respectively in Bucharest， Copenhagen， Paris and Warsaw.

After the founding of New China， she actively participated in the work of the All-China Women’s Federation and was the head of its international department. After the “cultural revolution”， she served as a vice president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. In 1991， when the China Society for People’s Friendship Study was set up under the leadership of Huang Hua， she and her husband Zhu Ziqi both became its advisors. I also joined the PFS after retirement and got to know them at its functions.

In November 2009， at the invitation of Gerald R. Sherratt， Mayor of Cedar city and President of Southern Utah University， I， on behalf of the PFS， went there to attend activities in celebration of the city’s 158th anniversary and the unveiling ceremony of the statue of Helen Snow.

Lu Cui could not go for health reasons. She dictated a letter over the phone， in which she talked about the Helen she had known and expressed her gratitude. She said in the end， “I think it is of great significance to erect a statue of Helen Snow. It shows people’s affirmation and praise of her high moral character， her pursuit of ideal and her outstanding contribution， as well as their lasting memory of her as a staunch woman. It will also inspire more people， especially young successors， to make continuous efforts to enhance understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American people.” I handed this letter to Mayor Sherratt.

In her international activities， Lu Cui had close contact with many international friends who supported China in anti-fascist war and the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and became good friends with them. Beside Edgar and Helen Snow， she also maintained close interactions with Anna Louise Strong. Since they first met in Yan’an， contacts between them never ceased. When she returned to the United States， Anna Louise left her fighting weapon she always carried wherever she went — a silver colored typewriter — with Lu Cui in Shanghai. Later， Lu Cui took it to Yan’an and handed it to the Party organization.

Anna Louise came to China for the fifth time in 1958 and spent her last 12 years in the country. Lu’s family and she lived in the compound of No.1 Taijichang Street， the present site of the CPAFFC. Living close by， they met almost every day. They shared with each other their past stories and enjoyed the fruit of their struggle.

Another couple was Max and Grace Granich. They were in China in1936 and 1937. They started a publication Voice of China in Shanghai to publicize the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. When she escaped from Beijing to Shanghai， Lu Cui received a lot of help from the Granichs and their home became her refuge. They met again in the autumn of 1979 and that was their last encounter.

Lu Cui visited the United States as a member of a delegation headed by CPAFFC President Wang Bingnan. In Boston， the Granichs hosted a reception with an attendance of over a hundred people. This reunion moved Lu Cui very much and left a deep impression. She said， “When they gave me， their silver-haired ‘Chinese little sister’ warm hugs with slightly trembling hands， I was so moved that I could not hold back my tears.”

Dr. Hervert K. Abrams was another of her friends. He was an army doctor working with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Between 1945 and 1946， he went to work twice in the liberated area in Shandong. He had an intense struggle with the KMT government in the distribution of relief materials in China and was successful in getting a batch of wheat flour and other goods for the liberated area. He also saved a wounded American pilot.

Lu Cui got to know him in Linyi， Shandong in 1946. She was suffering from spinal disease and was confined to bed. When Dr. Abrams learned of this， he immediately arranged for flights to carry her and Zhou Shunying， her sister-in-law who was taking care of her， from Linyi to Qingdao for treatment.

Lu Cui described the flight in an article， “The two small planes were flying side by side in the sky， just like two boats sailing on the sea. I and my sister-in-law could see and wave to each other through the window of the planes. It took half an hour to reach Qingdao. Dr. Abrams came to the airport to greet me.”

During their sixth visit to China in 1991， Dr. Abrams and his wife met Lu Cui again. Dr. Abrams donated a large number of photos of the Chinese army and civilians he had taken in Shandong and other precious historical materials to the Museum of Chinese Revolution. Lu Cui repeated Chairman Mao Zedong’s words that we should not forget all those who have done something good for us.

The international friends that Lu Cui had kept lifetime friendship with also included Dr. Samuel Rosen， his wife Helen and their family. In this family friendship is passed on from generation to generation. In the 1930s， Dr. and Mrs. Rosen showed concern for and supported the Chinese people in their struggle against aggression and oppression for national liberation.

They collected medical supplies and sent them to the liberated area through the China Defense League set up by Soong Ching Ling in Hong Kong. Dr. Rosen was a famous otologist who had made breakthroughs in the treatment of the deaf and cured numerous patients. He had visited China nine times on study tours， for visits or lectures to carry out exchanges with the Chinese medical circles.

It was arterial aneurysm that brought his sudden death in Beijing during his visit to China in November 1981. With the help of Dr. Wu Weiran， his ashes were buried under a tree in the Beijing Friendship Forest. His son John， a pediatrician， John’s wife Margaret and daughter Judy are also very friendly towards China. They have contributed to the medical and women exchanges between China and the U.S. They often come to China and visit the strong and tall tree under which the ashes of their father had been buried.

Lu Cui had contact with so many international friends that it is impossible for me to name them all.

No. 13， Huijiachang in Beijing was where Mr. and Mrs. Snow lived from October 1935 to November 1937. They had organized many activities in this courtyard house and most significantly， they respectively set out from here for northern Shaanxi to interview Chairman Mao Zedong and other leaders of the CPC and learn about the life of the military and civilians there.

They sorted out their notes and reorganized the interviews and other material upon returning. Edgar then wrote the famous book Red Star Over China and Helen Inside Red China. The old house had been taken down after liberation and a new building， the Zhong’an Hotel， stands in its place.

Hao Guangning， manager of the hotel， is a thoughtful woman. She attaches great importance to the history of this place and has turned the hotel into a revolutionary education base. In the lounge， books by Edgar and Helen Snow are on display and videos about them are broadcast on the big screen. Photographs of them are hung in the corridors and rooms. Those Chinese and foreign guests who have lived here all learned about the contributions these two Americans made to the friendship between the people of China and the U.S.

The hotel manager paid particular attention to Lu Cui’s experiences with the Snows. In December 2011， she wished to make a special call on Lu Cui at her home and asked me to take her there. She told Lu Cui of her efforts in restoring the old site in commemoration of the Snows. Lu was happy at the news and took out a piece of paper， on which she wrote her congratulations.

She gave each of us a copy of her book Morning Stars republished by the People’s Daily Press， and autographed it. Her signature， expansive， vigorous and forceful， was just like the person herself. On May 15， 2014， we visited her at the Beijing Hospital accompanied by her daughter Lanqin， and had a picture taken with her. The smile on her face has convinced us that she had lived a happy life. Her extraordinary life， reflected on her smiling face， will always be remembered.

March 1， 2015

The author is a vice president of China Society for People’s Friendship Study