Li Dazhao

Biography of a major figure in modern Chinese history.

Biography of a major figure in modern Chinese history.

As one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party, Li Dazhao (1889–1927) was a key figure in China's transition from empire to republic, from tradition to modernity, and from imperial rule to turbulent revolution. Patrick Fuliang Shan's biography of Li, the first English-language study in over half a century, draws on a wealth of Chinese-language primary and secondary sources to examine Li's early life, family, education, and career; his endeavors to introduce Western civilization to the Chinese; his switch to communism and his leadership role in the early Communist movement; his political maneuvers and revolutionary activities; and his tragic death at the hands of the warlord Zhang Zuolin. While its focus is on Li's personal odyssey and extraordinary journey, the book also presents an in-depth analysis of China's broad national experience and its march towards modernity.

Patrick Fuliang Shan is Professor of History at Grand Valley State University. He is the author of Taming China's Wilderness: Immigration, Settlement and the Shaping of the Heilongjiang Frontier, 1900–1931 and Yuan Shikai: A Reappraisal.

Patrick Fuliang Shan is Professor of History at Grand Valley State University. He is the author of Taming China's Wilderness: Immigration, Settlement and the Shaping of the Heilongjiang Frontier, 1900–1931 and Yuan Shikai: A Reappraisal.

"Shan's detailed and insightful narrative of Li's life-long political activities is impressive … Shan's book sheds much new light on his entire political journey and reappraises Li's position in the context of China's search for modernity. It is a major contribution to the expanding historiography on early Chinese communist movement." — The China Quarterly

"…a meticulous, fact-oriented biography." — CHOICE

"This book makes a huge contribution to the study of the early history of the Chinese Communist movement and the field of modern Chinese history in general, by chronicling in great detail the life of Li Dazhao as an intellectual, a professional revolutionary, and a cofounder of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). English-language scholarship on Li Dazhao has been very limited, and this book will be indispensable reading for anyone who is seriously interested in the early history of the CCP and the origins of both the National Revolution and the Communist Revolution. This book will be indispensable reading for anyone who is seriously interested in the early history of the CCP and the origins of both the National Revolution and the Communist Revolution." — Huaiyin Li, author of The Making of the Modern Chinese State, 1600–1950