Li Ch’iu-shih

1903 (age 27)

Hubei, China

Although he is said to have been influenced by the “new thought” before 1919, Li’s first real revolutionary experience came after the May Fourth Incident when he was 16. At this time he became active in the Wuhan “student patriotic movement” led by Yun Tai-ying. This was apparently the first of Li’s many associations with Yun. With Lin Yii-nan, Yun and Li founded the Social Benefit Book Store in the fall of 1919 to provide revolutionary literature for young people in the area (see under Yun Tai-ying). They also wrote and sold a newspaper to inspire the youth, it is reported that Li’s revolutionary determination was further encouraged in the early summer of 1920 when one of his three older brothers was killed by warlord Wang Chan-yuan’s troops and a second was forced to commit suicide. His third brother fled, leaving Li responsible for the family. It is probable that Li’s first contact with the Socialist Youth League came in the late fall of 1920 when a branch was organized in Wuchang. At approximately this same time he left home and went north to Huang-p’i hsien where he taught in a village primary school. Communist sources assert that he took the post to participate in the revolution without endangering his family and that while there he awakened the consciousness of poor peasants and began to organize them. However, considering his family’s financial position, one reason was probably his need for an income. When the Communist Party was established in July 1921 several activists from the Social Benefit Book Store, including Li and Yun, joined it. Soon after, Li accompanied Yun to Lu-chou in Szechwan where they set up the Lu-chou Associated Normal School. This was a training center for young cadres, which was attended by students from Szechwan, Yunnan, and Kweichow (see under Yun Tai-ying). Yun and Li also established branches of the Party and Youth League at the school. When the school was closed by a Szechwan warlord in 1922, Li was forced to return to Wuhan. He registered at Wuhan University, but this was a cover for his Party activities. As editor of the Wuhan Jih-jih hsin-wen (Daily news) he propagandized Party proposals. He also collaborated with Ouyang Yii-ch’ien, who later became a noted playwright, in editing a play condemning feudalism and im-perialism. In Wuhan, Li had worked with laborers as well as students, but by 1923 he was primarily involved in the workers’ movement. He helped organize the Peking-Hankow Railroad Workers’ Union in the early part of the year and then spent the rest of it in the mining areas of Hunan and Hupeh. In late 1923 or early 1924 the Youth League sent Li to study at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East in Moscow. He also served as a representative of the League in Moscow. After the May 30th Incident in 1925, Li returned home to become a district secretary in Honan. Early the next year he was transferred to Canton to become propaganda chief of the League’s Kwangtung Committee and editor of Shao-nien hsien-feng (Youth vanguard). Because the League branch at Sun Yat-sen University was directly subordinate to the League’s Provincial Committee, Li regularly took part in its meetings. He also lectured at the University and was particularly active there after the Chung-shan Incident of March 20, 1926, when Chiang Kai- shek took control of Canton and arrested many Communist political workers among his forces (see under Chou En-lai). Li was transferred again in late 1926 when the armies of the Northern Expedition occupied Hunan and Hupeh. This time the League sent him to Changsha to be secretary of its Hunan Provincial Committee. He lived with Shih Hsun- ch’uan, the Committee’s propaganda chief, and T’ien Po-yang, a youth leader who apparently succeeded Li as secretary in 1927.1 The Committee set up a cadre training class for which Li organized lectures. Having gone to Wuhan in April 1927, he participated in the League’s Fourth Congress in May and was elected a member and propaganda chief of the Central Committee. This trip probably saved his life because Shih and T’ien were both killed in the wake of Hsu K’o-hsiang’s May 21 coup against the Communists in Changsha. In the late summer or fall of 1927 Li went to Shanghai with the rest of the League Central Committee where they made plans to continue their struggle clandestinely. He then returned to Canton, becoming secretary of the League’s Provincial Committee. He was active in the preparations for the Canton Commune in December (see under Chang T’ai-lei) in which his long-time colleague Yun Tai-ying played a major role. After the failure at Canton, Li began to work in factories to reorganize the rank and file, which had been severely shaken by the Communist defeat. In the process he became ill and went to Shanghai to recuperate. It was during his illness that Li had the opportunity to write. He also translated some Russian literature into Chinese. Among his pen names were Li Kuo-wei, Li Pei-p’ing, and Li Wei-sen. At the Fifth Youth League Congress in 1928 Li was re-elected as a member of the Central Committee and as its propaganda head. He also became chief editor of the League’s organ, Chung-kuo ch'ing-nien (China youth). By 1929 he had become the propaganda chief of the Party’s Central Committee, apparently his first CCP post. In this capacity he is credited with having started the Shang-hai pao (Shanghai news), a Party organ later renamed Hung-ch’i pao (Red flag news). The Shanghai General Labor Union’s Kung-jen jih-pao (Worker’s daily) was also published under his direction. Li’s career came to an abrupt end in early 1931 shortly after the Fourth Plenum when he and 35 others were arrested in a Shanghai hotel by the British police on January 17. This occurred at a meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the All-China Congress of Soviets (see under Ho Meng-hsiung). The British turned them over to the KMT and they were put in the Lung-hua prison. After a summary trial most of them, including Li, Ho Meng-hsiung, Lin Yti-nan, and Hu Yeh-p’in (the husband of Ting Ling) were executed on February 7, the anniversary of the strike on the Peking-Hankow Railroad in which many of them had participated. Li died when he was only 28.

Li Ch’iu-shih

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politician

Background

Bom in 1903, Li spent his early childhood in Chin-k’ou, south of Wuhan.

Education

He was one of nine children and his father’s income as a teacher and petty official was scarcely sufficient to support the family. To better their financial situation the family moved to Wuchang when Li was still very young. At 14 he entered the Wuchang Commercial High School (Wu-ch’ang kao-teng shang-yeh hsueh-hsiao) and is reported to have done well.

Career

Although he is said to have been influenced by the “new thought” before 1919, Li’s first real revolutionary experience came after the May Fourth Incident when he was 16. At this time he became active in the Wuhan “student patriotic movement” led by Yun Tai-ying. This was apparently the first of Li’s many associations with Yun. With Lin Yii-nan, Yun and Li founded the Social Benefit Book Store in the fall of 1919 to provide revolutionary literature for young people in the area (see under Yun Tai-ying). They also wrote and sold a newspaper to inspire the youth, it is reported that Li’s revolutionary determination was further encouraged in the early summer of 1920 when one of his three older brothers was killed by warlord Wang Chan-yuan’s troops and a second was forced to commit suicide. His third brother fled, leaving Li responsible for the family. It is probable that Li’s first contact with the Socialist Youth League came in the late fall of 1920 when a branch was organized in Wuchang. At approximately this same time he left home and went north to Huang-p’i hsien where he taught in a village primary school. Communist sources assert that he took the post to participate in the revolution without endangering his family and that while there he awakened the consciousness of poor peasants and began to organize them. However, considering his family’s financial position, one reason was probably his need for an income.

When the Communist Party was established in July 1921 several activists from the Social Benefit Book Store, including Li and Yun, joined it. Soon after, Li accompanied Yun to Lu-chou in Szechwan where they set up the Lu-chou Associated Normal School. This was a training center for young cadres, which was attended by students from Szechwan, Yunnan, and Kweichow (see under Yun Tai-ying). Yun and Li also established branches of the Party and Youth League at the school. When the school was closed by a Szechwan warlord in 1922, Li was forced to return to Wuhan. He registered at Wuhan University, but this was a cover for his Party activities. As editor of the Wuhan Jih-jih hsin-wen (Daily news) he propagandized Party proposals. He also collaborated with Ouyang Yii-ch’ien, who later became a noted playwright, in editing a play condemning feudalism and im-perialism.

In Wuhan, Li had worked with laborers as well as students, but by 1923 he was primarily involved in the workers’ movement. He helped organize the Peking-Hankow Railroad Workers’ Union in the early part of the year and then spent the rest of it in the mining areas of Hunan and Hupeh. In late 1923 or early 1924 the Youth League sent Li to study at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East in Moscow. He also served as a representative of the League in Moscow.

After the May 30th Incident in 1925, Li returned home to become a district secretary in Honan. Early the next year he was transferred to Canton to become propaganda chief of the League’s Kwangtung Committee and editor of Shao-nien hsien-feng (Youth vanguard). Because the League branch at Sun Yat-sen University was directly subordinate to the League’s Provincial Committee, Li regularly took part in its meetings. He also lectured at the University and was particularly active there after the Chung-shan Incident of March 20, 1926, when Chiang Kai- shek took control of Canton and arrested many Communist political workers among his forces (see under Chou En-lai).

Li was transferred again in late 1926 when the armies of the Northern Expedition occupied Hunan and Hupeh. This time the League sent him to Changsha to be secretary of its Hunan Provincial Committee. He lived with Shih Hsun- ch’uan, the Committee’s propaganda chief, and T’ien Po-yang, a youth leader who apparently succeeded Li as secretary in 1927.1 The Committee set up a cadre training class for which Li organized lectures. Having gone to Wuhan in April 1927, he participated in the League’s Fourth Congress in May and was elected a member and propaganda chief of the Central Committee. This trip probably saved his life because Shih and T’ien were both killed in the wake of Hsu K’o-hsiang’s May 21 coup against the Communists in Changsha. In the late summer or fall of 1927 Li went to Shanghai with the rest of the League Central Committee where they made plans to continue their struggle clandestinely. He then returned to Canton, becoming secretary of the League’s Provincial Committee. He was active in the preparations for the Canton Commune in December (see under Chang T’ai-lei) in which his long-time colleague Yun Tai-ying played a major role.

After the failure at Canton, Li began to work in factories to reorganize the rank and file, which had been severely shaken by the Communist defeat. In the process he became ill and went to Shanghai to recuperate. It was during his illness that Li had the opportunity to write. He also translated some Russian literature into Chinese. Among his pen names were Li Kuo-wei, Li Pei-p’ing, and Li Wei-sen. At the Fifth Youth League Congress in 1928 Li was re-elected as a member of the Central Committee and as its propaganda head. He also became chief editor of the League’s organ, Chung-kuo ch'ing-nien (China youth). By 1929 he had become the propaganda chief of the Party’s Central Committee, apparently his first CCP post. In this capacity he is credited with having started the Shang-hai pao (Shanghai news), a Party organ later renamed Hung-ch’i pao (Red flag news). The Shanghai General Labor Union’s Kung-jen jih-pao (Worker’s daily) was also published under his direction.

Li’s career came to an abrupt end in early 1931 shortly after the Fourth Plenum when he and 35 others were arrested in a Shanghai hotel by the British police on January 17. This occurred at a meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the All-China Congress of Soviets (see under Ho Meng-hsiung). The British turned them over to the KMT and they were put in the Lung-hua prison. After a summary trial most of them, including Li, Ho Meng-hsiung, Lin Yti-nan, and Hu Yeh-p’in (the husband of Ting Ling) were executed on February 7, the anniversary of the strike on the Peking-Hankow Railroad in which many of them had participated. Li died when he was only 28.

Politics

The League of Left-wing Writers (see under Ch’ii Ch’iu-pai and Chou Yang) was established in Shanghai in March 1930. Li participated in its work and was especially active in trying to involve the membership in political activity among workers and peasants. During these months Li also had primary responsibility for the preparations for the Conference of Delegates from Soviet Areas held in Shanghai in May 1930. The conference was designed to reaffirm the leadership of the cities over the countryside and to prepare for urban insurrections (see under Li Li-san). Li’s leading role in this conference, which was initiated by the Li Li-san leadership, suggests that despite Communist allusions to the contrary, Li Ch’iu-shih was one of Li Li-san’s supporters. Li Ch’iu-shih’s role at the Fourth Plenum in January 1931 when Li Li-san was deposed is ambiguous. His biographer condemns the Ch’en Tu-hsiu and Li Li-san lines as deviations and mentions that Li Ch’iu-shih opposed Ch’en. Nothing is said about Li’s attitude toward Li Li-san. It is merely noted that Li Ch’iu-shih was considered unreliable by the “28 Bolshevik” group (see under Ch’en Shao-yti) because he differed with them when the Fourth Plenum’s resolution was discussed. These suggestions of Li Ch’iu-shih’s relationship to Li Li-san arc supported by Shen Tse-min’s assertion that the Li Li-sanists included Li Wei-han, Ho Ch’ang, Wang K’o-ch’Lian, and Li Ch’iu-shih.

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Li Ch’iu-shih

Background

Education

Career

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Born

Died

Nationality

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Political Party

Education

1917

Career

1922

1925

1929