Biography of the Representatives of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China

Author: Zhang Xiaohong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: In 1913, Li Da passed the examination for the Hunan government-funded students to study in Japan. He studied science at Tokyo Imperial Normal School for a year but had to drop out due to illness and returned to China for recovery. In the spring of 1917, he went to Japan again to study science at the renowned Tokyo Imperial High School (preparatory department for the Imperial University). During his time in Japan, he and other Chinese students endured bullying and humiliation, feeling deeply the corruption and incompetence of their own government and realizing that the dream of "saving the country through industrialization" had been shattered again. At that time, he was like a traveler lost in the dark, facing a pitch-black world and feeling utterly bewildered. After the victory of the October Revolution in Russia reached Japan, Li Da saw hope and light in the darkness. He began collecting and reading Japanese publications introducing Marxism, absorbing new ideas and "gaining confidence in Marxism and a yearning for the Soviet Union." From then on, he dedicated his entire life to the study and promotion of Marxist theory.
On May 5, 1918, the Duan Qirui government signed the humiliating "Sino-Japanese Military Agreement for Joint Defense Against Foreign Enemies" with Japan, selling out the interests of Northeast and Shandong China. Upon hearing the news, over 3,000 students studying in Japan were filled with righteous indignation. On May 3, they decided to organize the "China Study Abroad Students' Salvation League" and went on a strike to return to China for a protest. Li Da, as a key member of the league, led some students to Beijing in mid-May and discussed and campaigned with student leaders from Peking University such as Deng Zhongxia and Xu Déhēng. On May 21, over 2,000 students from Japan and students from major universities in Beijing gathered at Xinhua Gate to protest and demand that the government cancel the traitorous treaty. Students in Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjin, and other cities responded in solidarity. Although this large-scale student patriotic movement did not achieve its intended goals, it prepared the ground for the May Fourth Movement the following year. This setback made Li Da deeply realize the corruption and darkness of the government and feel that only by learning from the Russian experience and leading the people to overthrow the current government could society be fundamentally changed. Upon returning to Japan, he abandoned his studies in engineering and devoted himself to literary pursuits, seriously studying Marxism.
On June 18 and 19, 1919, Li Da published two articles, "What Is Socialism?" and "The Purpose of Socialism," in the supplement Guowu of the Minzheng Daily in Shanghai. These articles introduced the basic principles of scientific socialism, explained the differences between socialism, communism, and anarchism, argued for the historical inevitability of socialism, and clarified that the economic and political goals of socialism were to eliminate economic exploitation and restore a state of true equality among humans. To spread Marxism in China and advance the socialist movement, Li Da published nine short articles in the supplement, such as "The Situation of the Socialist Movement in Europe Before the War," introducing the socialist parties in various European countries to the domestic audience. To address the lack of Marxist works in China and accelerate the spread of Marxism, Li Da translated three books during his time in Japan: Karl Kautsky's Marx's Economics, Dutch Guo Tai's Explanation of Historical Materialism, and Japanese Takahiro Tani's Comprehensive Overview of Social Problems. In 1921, the Comprehensive Overview of Social Problems and Explanation of Historical Materialism were published by the Zhonghua Book Company and reprinted 11 and 14 times, respectively, by 1932. Marx's Economics was listed as an important study material by the Marxist Research Society led by Li Da. The publication of these three translations greatly promoted the spread of Marxism in China. P4-5