The film "1942" makes the name of baishoude quickly enter people's vision from the depth of history. Due to the strict censorship of news and the obstruction of the national government, the report of the great famine from 1942 to 1943 was not smooth. The American journalist Bai Xiude overcame all kinds of difficulties and went deep into the disaster area to interview. His report soon caused a sensation in the United States and indirectly exerted relief pressure on the national government.
关于1942年发生在中国中原地区河南的那场并不为人熟知的大饥荒，白修德在后来的回忆录《探索历史》(InSearch ofHistory:APersonal Adventure)中这样描述：
In his later memoir in search of history: personal adventure, Bai Xiude described the unknown famine in Henan Province, the Central Plains of China in 1942 as follows:
According to the statistics of counties and villages one by one, it seems that there are still 8 million residents in the 40 most affected counties. Next are some marginal counties, where many people are dying. According to our sightings and the death figures provided by local officials, we can speculate that 23 million people have fled from their homes and another 2 million have died of hunger. At that time, it was March. We estimated that if the crops grew normally, the new grain would not mature until May and June, so 23 million people would starve to death. My last week in the disaster area focused on statistics. My most reliable estimate is that five million people have starved to death or are dying of starvation - a figure that may vary by 20% in any way. But the most accurate figures are usually statistics, so they are easily forgotten. What impressed me most was not the numbers I collected, not even the apathy we had when investigating the disaster, but the sight of two people lying crying in the field when we rode out one evening. They are a couple, lying in the field hugging each other and snuggling up for warmth. I know that they are dying, and I can't stop; but in my opinion, facing the cold wind and the cold world, he and his wife curled up together on the hard snow when they were dying, which was a tragic scene, but they loved each other deeply and deeply.
-- exploring history, Beijing: Sanlian bookstore, 1987 Edition
Deeply influenced by Fei Zhengqing and interested in China
Baishoude is the Chinese name of Theodore Harold white (1915.5.6-1986.5.15), a famous American journalist. One of the representatives of the American journalists in China during the World War II was interested in China, an oriental country, and had made in-depth reports on China during the World War II. As a skilled political news reporter and novelist, he also recorded and analyzed the process of American presidential election in different election periods from 1960s to 1980s, so as to be better known and won the Pulitzer Prize for news.
In May 1915, he was born into a Jewish family in Boston. His father, David white, was a local lawyer. According to his later growing up experience described in the history of exploration, he grew up in a Jewish community in Boston, went to a Hebrew teaching school, and became interested in the Jewish holy book Tanah there. Even decades later, he could recall some Hebrew holy books. His father died when he was very young. When he was 16, he had to stop studying and sell newspapers on the street to support his family. He suffered from the pain and bitterness of the great depression in the 1930s.
In his early years of study, he also participated in the organization of an early Zionist School Association. In 1932, he graduated from the free Boston Public Latin School. Because of his outstanding performance, he won a Harvard Scholarship of $220 in 1924. At that time, he also received a $180 Newsboy fund. These two sums of money can pay his tuition fee for a semester in Harvard University. Therefore, he entered the History Department of Harvard University and later transferred to the Oriental Institute of the university to study Chinese history.
乔伊斯·霍夫曼(Joyce Hoffman)在《新闻与幻象——白修德传》(The odore H.White and Journalism As Illusion)中这样描述白修德的哈佛生涯：他在哈佛读书时候，发现“哈佛的共产主义者多如虱子”，他曾站在图书馆宽阔的阶梯上，将一只拳头挥向天空，宣称道：“我主修历史!我要领导一次革命!”他将自己描述为“温和的主义者”。
Joyce Hoffman described his Harvard career in the story of the odore h. white and journal as illumination. When he was studying at Harvard, he found that "Harvard Communists are more than lice." he stood on the broad steps of the library, waved a fist to the sky and declared: "my lord practices the calendar Shi! I want to lead a revolution! "He described himself as a" moderate. ".
在哈佛大学期间，白修德是后来成为著名汉学家和历史学家的费正清(JohnK.Fairbank)的第一位弟子。白修德很早就对中国这个东方国家充满兴趣，他在哈佛期间修读了中国历史。在费正清的影响下，他开始尝试着以政治化的眼光看待中国。在师生关系之外，两人也是毕生挚友，白修德离开哈佛后一直与费正清保持紧密关系。他甚至以费正清的姓Fairbank为儿子大卫·费尔班克·怀特(David Fairbank White)命名。
During his time at Harvard, he was the first disciple of John K. Fairbank, who later became a famous Sinologist and historian. Bai Xiude was very interested in China, an oriental country. He studied Chinese history during his time at Harvard. Under the influence of Fei Zhengqing, he began to try to see China from a political perspective. Besides the relationship between teachers and students, they are also lifelong friends. After leaving Harvard, Bai Xiude has kept close relationship with Fei Zhengqing. He even named his son David Fairbank white after Fei Zhengqing's family name Fairbank.
In 1938, he graduated from Harvard University with outstanding achievements. Among his classmates who graduated at the same time were Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. ）The brother of John Kennedy, the later president of the United States. After graduation, Bai Xiude applied for an overseas travel bonus. With the money and Fei Zhengqing's letter of introduction, he set foot on the land of China and came to Chongqing, the capital of the Kuomintang at that time.
Journalists' career in China during the Second World War
Baishoude is a miniature of Western journalists' activities in China during the Second World War. He came to Chongqing in 1939 and began to report on China to the West. At first, Bai Xiude worked as a consultant in the Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang in Chongqing. With the deepening of his understanding of China, he gradually became a free reporter of China's war situation and political situation. Bai Xiude has been following the national government since 1939, observing the changes of China's political situation and experiencing a series of major events of Chongqing national government. Therefore, in terms of time, he went to China earlier than other Western journalists to report on World War II and the struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
Later, another American who was interested in China, Henry R. Luce, the founder and publisher of time magazine in the United States, learned about the news vision and keen catching ability of Whitehead and invited him to contribute to time magazine. As a result, he became a correspondent of time magazine in China during the Second World War.
In 1942, Bai Xiude broke through many obstacles to report the great famine in Henan Province. This experience greatly increased his influence and his disappointment with the national government. In his opinion, although there were natural factors such as "the most serious drought since the emperor ruled in 1893" and external factors such as Japanese invasion of China, what made him "most indignant" was that the anarchy in China at that time led to the man-made disaster.
"If the government takes action, it will not cause so many people to die of starvation. This kind of death is man-made," he later wrote in the history of exploration. "The Chinese 'government' is letting these people die, or inadvertently starving them to death. The government is at war with Japan. For the sake of war, it has collected money. However, it did not trust its own currency. The army on the battlefield was ordered to collect food and materials to maintain supplies. What the army does in Henan is to collect a large amount of grain, which exceeds the output of the land. They run out of food in the countryside; they do not bring in food from areas where there is surplus food; they do not care about the lives of the people at all. " (exploring history, Beijing: Sanlian bookstore, 1987)
At that time, the Kuomintang government had strict censorship of the news, and the editors of time magazine often asked him to revise his manuscripts because of their differences of views and reporting angles. All this bothered Bethune. Although he still has great respect for Luce, he resigned as a correspondent for Time magazine and returned to a state of free writing and reporting.
1947年，白修德和另一位美国驻华记者贾安娜(Annalee Jacoby)合作撰写出版了《中国的惊雷》(Thunder Out of China)一书，记录了他们眼中处于战争年代和危急时刻的中国，包括国民党政府的无能和腐化以及共产党力量的逐步兴起。作者还呼吁美国重视中国国内政治力量的变化。在这本书的引言中，作者告诫：“在亚洲，10亿人对世界的现状感到厌倦，他们生活在情况如此恶劣的奴役中，除了身上的枷锁，已经无所可失去……不到一千年前，欧洲也经历了这样的过程并走向反抗……今天的亚洲人民也走在同样的道路上。”
In 1947, Bai Xiude and another American journalist in China, Annale Jacoby, CO authored and published the book thunder out of China, recording what they saw as China in the era of war and crisis, including the incompetence and corruption of the Kuomintang government and the gradual rise of the Communist Party. The author also calls on the United States to pay attention to the changes in China's domestic political power. In the introduction of the book, the author cautions: "in Asia, 1 billion people are tired of the status quo of the world. They live in such a terrible slavery, and have nothing to lose but their shackles Less than a thousand years ago, Europe also experienced such a process and went to revolt Today's Asian people are on the same path. "
"The birth of the president" series and American election
Although "China's thunder" has great repercussions, it also affects the journalism of baishoude. Peter Rand, an American writer, later analyzed in his work "into China: Adventures and tribulations of American journalists", which reflected the ecology of journalists in China: "after the publication of" China's thunder ", he completely abandoned China. Although the catastrophe of complicity was avoided, New York abandoned him
此后，白修德担任了海外通讯社(Overseas News Agency)的欧洲通讯员。1948年，他举家迁居巴黎，报道马歇尔计划的执行情况。他在这个时期的著作有描写战后西欧的《灰烬中的火焰》(Firein the Ashes)。
Since then, he has served as a European correspondent for the overseas news agency. In 1948, his family moved to Paris to report on the implementation of the Marshall Plan. His works in this period include "fire in the ashes", which describes Post-war Western Europe.
In 1953, he returned to the United States after more than ten years of wandering abroad, but his life after returning home was not satisfactory. He was persecuted by McCarthyism and his passport was revoked, like many progressive Americans who spoke Fair for the Communist Party of China. A magazine that hired him went bankrupt, and he became an unemployed man without an office. So he spent a year writing the mountain road, a novel about China, and reviewed his World War II reporting career. This work recounts the past of the retreat of US troops in China in the face of the Japanese attack, as well as the internal conflicts of the US troops at that time, as well as the negative attitude towards China. The novel was well received after its publication, and was made into an anti war movie in 1960. It also earned enough money for the whole family to keep spending for several years.
After experiencing the setbacks and success after returning home, Bai Xiude decided to realize a major career change in his life and devote himself to professional writing. He pioneered in the history of American journalism and devoted himself to the professional coverage of American presidential election. The United States holds an election every four years to produce a president. He also plans to write a monograph on the birth of the president every four years.
Since the 1960s, Whitehead has successively launched his series of "the birth of the president", observing and analyzing the American presidential elections in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1980 respectively. His rich overseas experience and keen analytical ability made him handy in his political writing in this period. The series