Foreword I
Fang Dazeng: Disappearance and Reappearance, a biography written by Feng Xuesong, reveals the stories of Fang Dazeng, a distinguished journalist and photographer buried in oblivion for over 80 years. Making his name known to the public is a great contribution to the research on China’s history of journalism and war photography.
Fang Dazeng took a large volume of news photographs about the Lugou Bridge Incident and the military activities in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. These photographs present a truthful account of the great resistance war of all the Chinese people. They embody the national spirit of the soldiers and civilians in the war who fought against their foreign enemy. These photographs raised their morale and stimulated their fighting will. Many precious scenes were taken onsite and preserved in these photographs, so they possess the important value of historical literature. We are proud that there was such an outstanding news photographer in Chinese history who will live in our heart forever.
Fang Dazeng stands parallel to Fan Changjiang: They are like two soaring peaks, or two raging torrents, in the landscape of the Chinese history of journalism. One of them was an outstanding photographer and the other an outstanding writer. These two peaks in the history of Chinese journalism will stand parallel both in history and print.
Fang Hanqi
Scholar of the history of Chinese Journalism,
Founding president of the Chinese Association for History of
Journalism and Communication,
Professor at Renmin University of China
Foreword II
He Was the Robert Capa of China
If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.
— Robert Capa
Many people say they know this story. After the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937, Fang Dazeng was dispatched by Ta Kung Pao, in Shanghai, to the frontline in northern China as a battlefront correspondent. In a period of over two months, he published a number of battlefront reports under the penname “Xiao Fang.” But, at 25 years old, he soon disappeared forever. According to present historical records, he was the first journalist who died on the front in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. This book is not merely a reminiscence of the past. Next year, the 70th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression will be celebrated. Over 800 photographic negatives left by Fang Dazeng have been permanently collected by the National Museum of China as precious relics of the war, highlighting the value of this book.
Last year, I went to Shanghai to meet my old friend Mr. Zhang Zhongyu, who was still the manager of a publishing house. I mentioned the story about Fang Dazeng. He immediately indicated that he would make this a publication theme for his publishing house. He was a man who always talked shop. I was excited about his suggestion and moved by his professionalism. Immediately afterwards, I thought about Feng Xuesong at China Central Television, who was the director of In Search of War Correspondent Fang Dazeng, a documentary shot by the station more than 10 years earlier. In addition to his talent as a writer, he invested great passion and time in interviewing people about the story of Xiao Fang. So, he was the best candidate for this topic.
In the history of war photography in China in the 20th century, there were two very important people related to Shanghai. One was Sha Fei, who was not only an admirer of Lu Xun, a revolutionary Chinese literary master, but also the man who took the funeral portrait of Lu Xun. Later, Sha Fei joined the Eighth Route Army and became a war correspondent and news publisher. The other was Fang Dazeng. Fang Dazeng was a war correspondent active during the early period of the resistance war. After the Lugou Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937, he left his home in Beiping and went to the frontline of the war. He published news as a battlefront reporter for Ta Kung Pao upon the recommendation of Fan Changjiang. The two photographers, Sha Fei and Fang Dazeng, were both born in 1912 and the style and conception of their works were comparable to those of war correspondents in the west. But, their historical values are different. Although both were fervent youth who devoted themselves to the frontline of the resistance war, Sha Fei joined the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi Province. He witnessed the entire process of the revolutionary war of the Chinese people with his camera and left a large number of narrative works about the troops of the Eighth Route Army and the liberated areas. The value of this can never be understated. Fang Dazeng also went
to Shanxi in 1937. He was never heard from after he published “Changes in the Northern Section of the Beiping-Hankou Railway.” The photographic works of Fang Dazeng focused on descriptions of the frontal battlefield during the early period of the war. He was also an excellent war correspondent in China during the times of war and turmoil.
The legendary story of Fang Dazeng has moved countless people. When I participated in the compilation of the History of Photography in China around 1980, I learned of the name Xiao Fang through the article “In Memory of Xiao Fang” written by Fan Changjiang. I also learned that Mr. Wu Qun, a predecessor in the study of the history of photography and also my mentor and friend, once wrote an article about the study of Xiao Fang. Unfortunately, he did not have the chance to examine all the works and materials left by Xiao Fang due to limitations in conditions and opportunities at the time.
In 1989, I had a chance to form my own connection to FangDazeng. In early winter, Li Huiyuan, a friend of Fang’s family, came to Beijing from Shanghai to visit Fang Chengmin. Entrusted by Fang’s family, Li Huiyuan came to Mr. Chen Changqian, one of his comrades who he had worked with in underground revolutionary matters in Shanghai. Chen was then the leader of the China Photographers Association and also my superior. I met with Mr. Li
only once in my office. The next day, Chen Changqian and I visited Fang Chengmin, Fang Dazeng’s sister, three years younger than him. Two or three days later, Fang Chengmin came to me. In the reception office of my workplace, she took out a small wooden box that contained over 800 negatives that Fang Dazeng had taken. She said she would give them to me so I could do my research. She attached a note to the box, which read: “Today, I present 837 negatives taken by Fang Dazeng.” She insisted that I did not need to write a receipt for it. The small box and negatives stayed with me for about 10 years, until I returned them to their owners in 2000. From that day on, the old lady met me in the reception office each time she came to my workplace. She always declined my invitation to come to my office on the excuse that she might affect the work of my colleagues.
The negatives that Fang Dazeng left were contained in negative bags with serial numbers written by him. The numbers started with single digits and continued to about 1,200, a four-digit number. After all of them were developed and printed into sample photographs, we found that works about themes of the resistance war constituted the largest portion. These included two special topics: “The First Anniversary of the East Hebei Puppet Government” and “The Suiyuan Campaign.” These matched news reports published when he worked at the Zhung Wai Journalism Study Society. Later, I selected about 200 pictures I believed were of most importance. In the darkroom of a publishing house where my former schoolmate Wu Peng worked as director, I printed two sets of blowups: one set for me and the other for Wu to preserve. Most works I used in my writing and study were selected from those, which were thus the works of Fang Dazeng that gradually became known to the public.
In 1993, Taiwanese photographer Juan I-Jong came to Beijing. I showed him the samples printed with all the negatives. Mr. Juan was adept in darkroom techniques. After seeing the samples, he said he wanted to borrow some negatives to enlarge and print them into photographs. Juan had established a magazine called Photographers International in Taiwan and he intended to publish a special issue on Fang Dazeng. So, I took him to the home of Fang Dazeng’s sister and obtained the consent of Fang Chengmin. He borrowed about 50 negatives and went back to Taiwan to enlarge and print. Soon after he returned to Taipei, he published Fang Dazeng’s album in the 17th volume of Photographers.
During the 50th anniversary of the victory of the resistance war in 1995, I visited Fang Chengmin’s home and recorded a special interview. It was the only original sound material of Fang Chengmin. Several years later, her husband, Mr. Zha Shiming, passed away and she became paralyzed due to disease. She also developed a speech impediment......
