Li Dazhao Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Li Dazhao (1889–1927), also known as Li Ta-Chao, was the cofounder of the Chinese Communist Party and the mentor of Communist leader Mao Zedong. After studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Li became an editor of the magazine Hsin sch’ingnien (New Youth). In 1918 he was appointed chief librarian of Peking University and in 1920 he became concurrently professor of history. Inspired by the success of the Russian Revolution in 1917, Li became a Marxist and hailed the Bolsheviks in his 1918 articles “The Victory of Bolshevism” and “The Victory of the Masses.” In turn Li influenced many of his students, one of whom was Mao Zedong, who was then employed by Li as his library clerk.

When the Marxist study groups he led evolved into the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, Li was instrumental in carrying out the orders of the Communist International and acting as the liaison with the Kuomintang. He was also one of the leaders of the May Fourth Movement, the followers of which sought reform of China’s traditional culture. Li’s leadership role was limited to North China. In 1927 he was seized at the Soviet Embassy in Beijing, where he had taken refuge, and he was hanged by Manchurian warlord Chang Tsolin.

Li was more of a theoretician than a strategist. He was intensely nationalistic and was unwilling to wait for the international proletarian revolution to liberate China. Therefore, he played down the doctrine of the proletarian class struggle. The communist revolution, in Li’s thinking, was a populist revolution led by the peasantry against the exploitation and oppression of foreign imperialism. His ideas formed the core of the communist philosophy that inspired Mao Zedong’s successful struggle against the Kuomintang. After his death Li became a venerated martyr in communist hagiography.

Bibliography:

Dirlik, Arif. The Origins of Chinese Communism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Meisner, M. J. Li Ta-Chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967.
Saich,Tony. New Perspectives of the Chinese Communist Revolution. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1995.

This example Li Dazhao Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.