愛潑斯坦是個具有傳奇色彩的記者，1915年出生于波蘭華沙，父親曾因反對沙皇暴政而坐牢，母親也曾流放西伯利亞，1917年父母帶著年僅兩歲的愛潑斯坦來到中國居住。后來天津的一家英文報紙《京津泰晤士報》見少年愛潑斯坦讀書廣博又善于觀察，很具記者潛質，便聘15歲的愛潑斯坦當記者。

延安采訪毛澤東

1937年日本侵略中國，此時已是合眾社記者的愛潑斯坦當即奔赴抗日前線和淪陷區(qū)，臺兒莊、冀中平原、廣州、香港等等，到處都有他的身影。

1944年夏天愛潑斯坦來到延安和晉西北，在簡陋的窯洞里，毛澤東單獨接見了他，長談了3個小時。事后愛潑斯坦說：“毛主席挺隨便，他接受采訪有個特點，要么干脆不見你，要么抽出半天時間來談，既回答你的問題，也向你提問，了解一些事情。國際問題、戰(zhàn)爭問題、國共兩黨問題……他談的都是些大事。后來時局的發(fā)展，完全證實了他所作的預見。然后，他就問我世界和美國的情況。他耐心地聽你說，不會打斷你的談話。有的地方你說完了，他為你作糾正。我對他的印象是很健談，很樸素，聲音和風度都像個老師。當時的延安也是個很樸素的地方，高級領導在滿是灰塵街上散步，也不見什么警衛(wèi)，讓人感到親近而不是隔閡?！?/p>

臨別時，毛澤東把親筆簽名的石印畫像贈送給愛潑斯坦，這幅畫至今仍然完好地掛在他家中進門可見的位置上。

在延安的90天訪問，愛潑斯坦廣泛地接觸了中國共產黨年輕的領袖們：朱德、周恩來、賀龍、王震、鄧發(fā)等等，他把見聞寫成許多文章，發(fā)表在英美及澳大利亞等國的大報上，向世界介紹解放區(qū)的面貌。他還幫助新華社改寫英譯稿，1944年新華社用手搖發(fā)電機從窯洞發(fā)向全世界的第一條英文稿便是愛潑斯坦訂正的，冼星?！饵S河大合唱》歌詞的英譯，也是愛潑斯坦和翻譯家葉君健共同完成的。

東方最完美的女性

宋慶齡健在時，曾有人提出為她寫傳記，但宋慶齡沒有同意，然而從1975年起，宋慶齡曾3次寫信給愛潑斯坦，請他客觀地寫她的一生。1981年的一天，宋慶齡懇切地對愛潑斯坦說：“傳記要寫的話，艾培（愛潑斯坦的昵稱）還是你來完成吧?！睈蹪娝固拐f：“這可能是我比其他作者更熟悉她、更立體了解事實的原因吧，我們相識、共事有40多年了。”宋慶齡提到寫傳記，當時她已患上白血病，臉色蒼白，但她仍像往常那樣，把頭發(fā)整齊地盤髻腦后，那高雅形象，與她畢生從事的偉大事業(yè)顯得那么協(xié)調。愛潑斯坦說：“她是我認識的東方最完美女性！”

他們認識于1938年初，那時愛潑斯坦才23歲，但8年的記者經歷，早使他顯得老成持重。早在見面之前，“保衛(wèi)中國同盟”主席宋慶齡就已讀過他不少文章，后來他應宋慶齡邀請，赴香港參加“保衛(wèi)中國同盟”，從此他們建立了長達數十載的友誼。1951年，宋慶齡又邀請他出任對外英文刊物《中國建設》（現名《今日中國》）雜志總編輯，并一直把他視為可信賴的摯友。

愛潑斯坦也很敬仰宋慶齡：宋慶齡出身在一個很闊的家庭，少年時代就到美國讀書，受到純西方教育的熏陶，又深愛自己的國家，是一位赤誠追求真理的革命者。孫中山先生逝世時，她還那么年輕，卻能面對各種嚴峻的考驗，奮斗不已，她是一個非常了不起的人！他還懷念說：“宋慶齡起草文件，特別是英文信件，總是坐在打字機前工作。當我們?yōu)榘寺奋娞峁┚仍镔Y時，她還親自參與打包?！闭f起生活中的宋慶齡，愛潑斯坦回憶說：“宋慶齡的秀逸嫻雅，與生俱來。閑暇時，她會畫畫花草，做做小繡品。除美術、女紅外，她對音樂、衣著都有品位。她不會花很多錢去打扮，但在任何場合都修飾得體，舒適大度。即使在病重期間她穿著病員服，依然是那么潔凈素雅，頭發(fā)梳理得整整齊齊，不失精神。見到她，不安也可以化作怡然?！?/p>

他為宋慶齡寫傳的工作開始于1983年，1987年正式動筆。他是個注重實際、嚴謹負責的記者，他極力反對杜撰，也反對壟斷材料。在歷時數年的寫作過程中，他采訪了數十人，收集了不少資料，同時還有幾十年積累的親身經歷。他說：“像宋慶齡這么偉大的女性，讓越多的人越早知道她的事跡、學習她的典范越好。”1992年年底，愛潑斯坦的《宋慶齡——20世紀的偉大女性》的中、英文版同時出版。

以獨特視野見證西藏

愛潑斯坦很早就關注西藏的對外宣傳，他以新聞記者的敏銳，希望世界能了解真實的西藏，可以說幾乎沒有一個外國血統(tǒng)的記者，像他那樣始終如一地關注西藏的變化，并身體力行地肩承起報導西藏歷史使命。

還在西藏和平解放才三年多的1955年，愛潑斯坦第一次進藏。他從四川成都出發(fā)，沿著剛鋪就的川藏公路走了12天才到達拉薩。他說：“顛得我骨頭都快散架了，但一路景色如畫，瑰麗多彩，難以描述。”

首次進藏，他用第一手的材料和獨特視野，寫就了《西藏從10世紀到20世紀之路》《西藏的新方向和新人》《西藏富裕的開端》等報道，刊載在美國的《新時代》刊物上，把西藏現狀系列地介紹到國外。

1965年經歷平叛后的西藏成立自治區(qū)政府，這年愛潑斯坦第二次進藏。他說：“在新中國我看到的所有變化中，世界屋脊上的變化是最引人注目的。西藏跨越了1000年，從農奴制和奴隸制一下子跳到了建設社會主義階段?！彼J為由本民族的人談自己的生活經歷，這很有說服力的，于是他著重采訪了許多翻身當家作主的農奴。他看到昔日的奴隸當上各級政府干部，肩負起建設新西藏的重任，愛潑斯坦欣然寫成《農奴出身的藏族干部》《拉薩工人拉珠一家》等報道，除在《中國建設》發(fā)表外，還在美國《東方地平線》等雜志發(fā)表。

愛潑斯坦第三次赴藏是剛剛結束“文革”的1976年。那時他剛從被關押了5年的冤獄走出。十年動亂給西藏造成破壞使他深感痛心，與前兩次一樣，他在西藏呆了兩個多月，回京后他用大量的第一手資料和西藏史料，歷時數年完成了堪稱巨著的《西藏的變遷》。該書不僅讓世人看到西藏和西藏人民的真實面貌，同時也看到了西藏已經發(fā)生和正在發(fā)生的深刻歷史變遷，成為世人了解西藏的經典著作。

愛潑斯坦最后一次進藏是1985年，年近古稀的他這次作為西藏人民的老朋友應邀參加西藏自治區(qū)成立20周年慶典。盡管有高原反應，他仍然興致勃勃地與當年采訪過的老朋友相聚，人們稱贊他是個愛國主義者，他說：“我走的是一條奇特的道路，從國際主義到愛國主義，而不是慣常的愛國主義到國際主義。”

來生仍愿當記者

人生百年如在旅途，記者生涯充滿顛簸和挑戰(zhàn)。然而愛潑斯坦說：“如果有來生，我還是想做記者?！?/p>

幾十年來，他的采訪筆記裝了幾大箱，這些筆記幫助他撰寫了《人民之戰(zhàn)》《我訪問了延安》《未完成的革命》《從鴉片戰(zhàn)爭到解放》《中國勞工札記》《西藏的轉變》《見證中國——愛潑斯坦回憶錄》等許多反映中國革命、建設、改革的新聞報道和專著。他說：真正的新聞工作者，意味著報道事實，不要為了錢什么都干。作為記者本身，還是要講職業(yè)道德，要維護自己的尊嚴，固守職業(yè)的神圣。

愛潑斯坦1957年加入中國籍，1964年加入中國共產黨，是六、七、八、九、十屆全國政協(xié)委員，在很多人安享晚年的時候，他仍不停地觀察，不停地思考，不斷地閱讀，不斷地寫作，依然是個勤奮的記者和作家。

1937年他的父母移居美國，但愛潑斯坦堅決要留在中國，最終父母還是理解了這個獨生子的意愿。

“您不在父母身邊，常去看望過他們嗎？”筆者問。

“幾十年來只去過幾次，現在也看不到了。我母親1972年去世，父親1979年去世，他們去世時，我都不在身邊。只是后來去掃墓。我不是他們的好兒子。”愛潑斯坦深愛著自己的父母，盡管他有著鋼鐵般的意志與精神，說起這些他還是眼閃淚花。

70余年的記者生涯，愛潑斯坦敏銳而忠實地記錄了中華兒女爭取自由民主、建設新中國的艱苦歷程，他的一篇篇影響久遠的獨家報道，讓世界知道了一個民族、一個時代正在發(fā)生的大事，為后人留下了歷史見證。他說：“我這一生能夠生活在中國人民之中，能從事新聞出版工作，親歷許多重大事件，深感慶幸。”

Epstein: A Legendary Journalist

By Fang Xiaoning

In the eyes of many Chinese， Israel Epstein (1915-2005) is a legendary journalist. He was born in Poland in 1915. His father was once jailed for his political position against the Czar and his mother was once exiled to Siberia. In 1917， The Epstein family moved to China. They settled down in Tianjin. A newspaper in Tianjin hired the 15-year-old Epstein to be its journalist.

Interviewing Mao Zedong

When Japan invaded China on a large scale in 1937， Israel Epstein， then a journalist for the United Press International， went to the front to cover the war against the invasion. During this period， he went to all the hot places in the war zones. In the summer of 1944， he visited Yan’an and interviewed Mao Zedong for three hours. He recalled the interview later: “Mao would decline an interview request. If he agreed to an interview， he would spend a long time answering questions and asking questions. He talked about important things and his prediction on the general trend proved accurate.?Mao gave him autographed painting as a gift. During his 90-day visit to Yan’an， Epstein met all the important revolutionary leaders. His reports on the Chinese Communists and situations at the revolutionary bases were published in major newspapers in Britain， USA and Australia. He also helped journalists at the Xinhua News Agency polish English versions of some news stories. In 1944， the Xinhua News Agency sent its first English news polished by Epstein to the world.

Writing a Biography for Song Qingling

Madam Song Qingling (1893-1981) had declined on several occasions to get her biography written. But from 1975 onward， she wrote three letters to Israel Epstein， asking him to write an objective biography for her. In 1981， they met and talked about the biography. Epstein had known her for more than 40 decades by then.

Epstein met Madam Song in 1938. Though only 25， he had been a journalist for eight years. Madam Song had read many of his reports on China. Song， then president of China Defense League， invited Epstein to join the league in Hong Kong. Their friendship started that year. In 1951， Epstein became editor-in-chief of China Reconstructs (the predecessor of the present-day China Today)， at the invitation of Madam Song.

Epstein started research for the biography in 1983 and began writing in 1987. A serious and responsible writer， he was firmly opposed to fabrication or monopoly over raw materials. He interviewed dozens of people and read extensively， even though he had personally known a lot about Madam Song. In 2002， Woman in World History: Soong Ching Ling was published in both Chinese and English.

Witnessing the Progress of Tibet

Epstein concerned himself with Tibet at a young age. With the professional sensitivity of a journalist， he wanted the world to know the truth of Tibet. His first visit to Tibet took place in 1955， three years after the peaceful liberation of the autonomous region. The journey started from Chengdu and he traveled along the Sichuan-Tibet highway which was just completed. It took him twelve days to reach Lhasa. The visit enabled him to write several news stories about Tibet. The reports were later published in an American magazine.

Epstein’s second visit to Tibet occurred in 1965. He observed that the most eye-catching changes in China were taking place in Tibet. Leaving the slavery system and serfdom behind， the region had accomplished a historical leap into socialism. He interviewed many people who had been slaves or serfs and asked them to talk about their new lives in building a new Tibet. The stories he wrote on the trip appeared in China Reconstructs and a US magazine.

In 1976， Epstein visited Tibet for the third time after five years in jail for political reasons during the Cultural Revolution. He spent more than two months in Tibet and then spent a few years writing Tibet Transformed.

His last visit to Tibet was in 1985 at the age of 70. He was invited to attend the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region. He met with many old friends he had made on previous visits.

Wishing to be a Journalist in Next Life

For decades， Epstein wrote a number of influential books on China’s revolution， reconstruction and reform， including The People’s War， Unfinished Revolution， From Opium War to Liberation， etc.

Epstein maintained the integrity of a journalist. He became a naturalized Chinese citizen in 1957 and joined the CPC in 1964. He was a member of CPPCC for many years. In 1937， his parents migrated to USA， but Epstein stayed back in China. His mother passed away in 1972 and his father in 1979. Epstein said he was not a good son.

As a journalist for over 70 years， Epstein made truthful records of China’s fight for freedom， democracy and reconstruction. His influential exclusive reports were witness to China’s history. He said he felt fortunate to be living with Chinese and working as a journalist and experience historical events.

(Translated by David)