Chen Duxiu’s Followers (4)

Chen Duxiu

Born

in Anqing, China

October 09, 1879

Died

May 27, 1942

Genre

Politics, Poetry, Philosophy

Influences

Leon Trotsky, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx ...more

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Chen Duxiu, Wade-Giles romanization Ch’en Tu-hsiu, original name Chen Qingtong, courtesy name (zi) Zhongfu, literary name (hao) Shi’an, was a Chinese revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP; 1921) with Li Dazhao, serving from 1921 to 1927 as its first General Secretary. Chen was a leading figure in both the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and the May Fourth Movement for scientific and democratic developments in early Republic of China. He was removed from his position of leadership in 1927 and was expelled from the Communist Party in 1929.

A fearless protester, Chen rejected China’s traditional values and saw Marxism as a means to achieve a “mass democracy” Chen Duxiu, Wade-Giles romanization Ch’en Tu-hsiu, original name Chen Qingtong, courtesy name (zi) Zhongfu, literary name (hao) Shi’an, was a Chinese revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP; 1921) with Li Dazhao, serving from 1921 to 1927 as its first General Secretary. Chen was a leading figure in both the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and the May Fourth Movement for scientific and democratic developments in early Republic of China. He was removed from his position of leadership in 1927 and was expelled from the Communist Party in 1929.

A fearless protester, Chen rejected China’s traditional values and saw Marxism as a means to achieve a “mass democracy” with the broad labouring masses as its base. He recognized, however, the significant role played by the bourgeoisie in the Chinese revolution that he hoped to achieve. During the last years of his life, Chen, still a socialist, denounced Joseph Stalin’s dictatorship and defended such democratic institutions as an independent nonpartisan judiciary, opposition parties, the free press, and free elections.

During childhood, Chen was educated in the Chinese Classics and traditional literature in turn by his grandfather, several private tutors, and, finally, his brother. In 1896 Chen passed the first civil service examination summa cum laude in Huaining and the next year passed the second in Nanjing. His experience in the examinations, however, convinced him of the irrelevance of the traditional educational and governmental systems in the 20th century and prompted him to become a social and political reformer. Consequently, he entered the renowned Qiushi (“Truth-Seeking”) Academy in Hangzhou, where he studied French, English, and naval architecture.

The period of Chen’s greatest influence on Chinese thought and politics began on his return to China in 1915, when he established the monthly Qingnian (“Youth Magazine”) in Shanghai, later renamed Xinqingnian (“New Youth”). In its pages he proposed that the youth of China undertake a vast intellectual, literary, and cultural revolution to rejuvenate the nation. Many of the young writers who contributed to the monthly—among them Hu Shi, a liberal promoter of the vernacular literature, Lu Xun, a leading short-story writer and essayist, Li Dazhao, Chen’s chief collaborator in the Chinese Communist Party, and Mao Zedong—were later to become important intellectual and political leaders.

Chen’s revolutionary mission assumed even greater importance; when, in 1917, he was appointed dean of the School of Letters at Peking University, he took care to gather around him many liberal and progressive professors and students. With their help, he established the short-lived radical Meizhou Pinglun (“Weekly Critic”) in December 1918. Their “new thought” and “new literature” dominated the May Fourth Movement, named after the date of the massive student protests in 1919 against the Chinese government’s weak policy toward Japan and the Shandong resolution of the Versailles Peace Conference, which was going to transfer German rights in China to the Japanese. In the fall of 1922, Chen established the influential Xiangdao Zhoubao (“Guide Weekly”) as a successor to the “New Youth,” which he had converted into a communist organ two years earlier. ...more

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Chen Duxiu’s books

Average rating: 3.65 · 48 ratings · 12 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	Poets of the Chinese Revolution by Chen Duxiu, Chen Yi, Zheng Chaolin 3.67 avg rating — 45 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chen Duxiu's Last Articles and Letters, 1937-1942 by Chen Duxiu, Gregor Benton (Editor/Translator) 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1998 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Literary Classics of Chen Duxiu 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Collection of New Youth (Simplified and Horizontal Version in 12 Volumes) (Chinese Edition) by Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Qu Qiubai 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Chen Duxiu’s Followers (4)

Chen Duxiu

Combine EditionsChen Duxiu’s books

Combine Editions
Chen Duxiu’s books