The Story of Liu Shaoqi

Author: Feng Shiping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: On November 24, 1898, Liu Shaoqi was born into a family of ordinary farmers in Tanzi, Huaminglou Township, Xiaoningshang County, Hunan. He loved reading from a young age and was eager for innovation. At the age of 14, he cut off his to show his break with the Qing Dynasty. During his time at Yutan School at 17, Liu Shaoqi participated in the struggle against Yuan Shikai accepting the "Twenty-One Demands." He later joined the movement to overthrow Yuan Shikai and changed his courtesy name from "Weihuang" to "Wei Huang," symbolizing his aspiration and determination to protect the Chinese nation. In 1919, the May Fourth Movement broke out, and Liu Shaoqi was deeply influenced by it. He rushed to Beijing during the summer vacation to participate in the struggle to rescue the patriotic student Ma Jun. That autumn, he enrolled in the preparatory class for studying in France at Baoding Yude Middle School, preparing for the study-abroad program of working and studying. However, due to the high cost of studying abroad, it did not come to fruition. In October 1920, Liu Shaoqi joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League in Changsha and was introduced to the Shanghai Foreign Languages Study Society for further study. At this time, he began reading the classic works of Marxism, including the newly translated "The Communist Manifesto" into Chinese.