Fan Changjiang

Fan Changjiang (simplified Chinese: 范长江; traditional Chinese: 范長江; Wade–Giles: Fan Ch'ang-chiang; 6 October 1909 – 23 October 1970), born Fan Xitian (范希天), was a Chinese journalist and writer. Fan was born in Sichuan Province and educated at Peking University. Fan was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and committed suicide in 1970.

Fan started his career as a journalist in 1933. He was sent to the northwest of China by Da Gong Bao as a string correspondent in 1935. At that time, he editorialized a series of news which sensationalized the public. These pieces of news were later anthologized in a book called The North Western Part of China (中國的西北角). In this book, he described the Communist Party of China (CPC), the activities of Red Army and the Long March. Besides that, Fan Changjiang showed his determination and strong animosity towards feudalism warlords, rich landowners and bad scholars in this book. Meanwhile, he concerned with the development of China’s future and also sympathized those who suffered from the political turmoil.

In 1936, when the political scene became chaotic and the first Chinese civil war (1928-1937) started, he went to the Inner Mongolia for observation. In December, when the famous Xi'an Incident broke out, Fan grasped the opportunity to interview Zhou Enlai at the risk of life. Zhou was amazed by his studies and analyses when he read his journals.

Later on, he went to Shaanxi province Yan'an to have a personal conversation with Mao Zedong It paved the way for Fan's future career as a journalist. When he returned to Shanghai, he published his viewpoints on the anti-Japanese movement and it was generally accepted by the mass. At that time, he was the first journalist who reported the red terror in China.

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