Michael Lindsay (1) (1909–1994)

In 2003, The Foreign Languages Press (外文出版社) started with the publication of a 50-book series under the general title of "Light on China". All of these books were written in English by foreigners who lived and / or worked in China and witnessed historic moments in Chinese history over the past 150 years. I have never seen a complete overview of the series, and do not know whether all 50 volumes have appeared. While many authors were professional writers and journalists, not all were. Most of these volumes have been published in various foreign countries, but are usually no longer available there, and have a very limited readership. That is a pity, because all books in the series have undiminished value as primary sources, relating first-hand and eye-witness experience of the modern history of China and the People's Republic of China.

The irony of revolutions is, of course, that many revolutionaries of the first hour were in fact middle-class bourgeois students, and many of the foreigners who joined the revolutionary movement in China were either middle- or upper class. For instance, Michael Lindsay the author of this book is otherwise known as Michael Francis Morris Lindsay, 2nd Baron Lindsay of Birker, although he had not yet inherited that title at the time he was in China.

Michael Lindsay came to Beijing in 1937 as a lecturer at newly-founded Yenching University. The book relates, albeit very concisely, parts of the early history of the school, including the person of Dr. J. Leighton Stuart, its president. Shortly after taking up residence in Beijing, the Second World War starts with the invasion of China by the Japanese and the occupation of Beijing. In the Spring of 1938, the author and two other teachers travel to central Hebei where "an interesting organisation was developing" (p.32), later described as the "Central Hopei People's Self Defence Army". At first, crossing from Japanese occupied territory to Chinese held areas was no problem, but later became a clandestine action. In subsequent chapters, the author describes the gradual development of his involvement with the Chinese guarrillas, from repeated trips to and fro Beijing, to their settlement in the guarrilla controlled area. Lindsay makes a considerable contribution to the resistance through his skill of building radios. The book describes the war in China as a personally experienced report, and is richly illustrated by (rather small) B-W photos of the war.Living in the unoccupied territories, Michael Lindsay meets many of the other iconic foreigners who played a part in China's war of resistance and subsequent civil war leading to the revolution in 1949. Besides, the author met many important Chinese revolutionaries, especially between May 1944 and November 1945, when he stayed at the revolutionary base in Yenan.

The book was mostly a rather boring read, as the events are never at the fore-front of historical events, and mostly describes everyday life in backwater areas. Some illustrations are so small, that they are not very clear. Interesting, but rather specialist.… (more)