Li Da

Li Da (; 2 October 1890 – 24 August 1966) was an early Chinese Marxist philosopher and founding member of the Chinese Communist Party. He was heavily involved in bringing Marxism into China by translating Marxist literature into the Chinese language, editing, writing books, and teaching, among other things. He subscribed to and spread Orthodox Marxism throughout his life.

Early life Li was born to a tenant farmer family in Lingling, Yongzhou in Hunan. His father, though a farmer, had some schooling and had taught in primary schools as well as engaged in business. He witnessed local resistance efforts against imperial Japan in the post-First Sino-Japanese War era including boycotting and Japanese product burning. The magazine was distributed semi-secretly, using pseudonyms for its writers, printer, distributor, and not disclosing the paper's address. Li subsequently called a meeting to form a national party. At the time, there were 57 members of the CCP. A summation of lectures Li had given in the previous 3 years, it elucidates the materialist conception of historical and scientific socialism, as well as uncovering the development of Marxism in China. Renewed conflicts between the Kuomintang and CCP such as the Shanghai massacre caused Li to flee first to his native Lingling, then to Wuchang where he barely escaped the execution of revolutionary teachers; he soon was in hiding in Shanghai. Despite the personal risk, he founded the Kunlun Publishing House in 1928 with other revolutionaries, and once again was publishing, translating, and editing.

In 1930, Li was invited to teach at the Shanghai Institute of Law and Politics; in 1931 was made departmental head of the Sociology Department of Jinan University. He suffered a broken collarbone and shoulder after being assaulted by right wing political agitators, and in 1932 was dismissed and went to teach a study group formed around the warlord Feng Yuxiang. In August 1932, he moved to Beiping (Beijing; see Names of Beijing) where he taught at the Institute of Law and Commerce at Beiping University for 5 years as the departmental head of the Department of Economics. This was to be one of Li's most productive periods, where he published numerous books (all on Marxist theory, economics, sociology, etc.) in addition to teaching. One of his most well known texts, Elements of Sociology, was published during this period; it cemented Li's ideological position as an Orthodox Marxist, providing Chinese Marxists with up-to-date Marxist philosophy.

Later life

After the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, Li rejoined the Chinese Communist Party. He was heavily criticized and beaten at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and died in 1966. He was posthumously rehabilitated after Mao's death.

Family Li was married to Wang Huiwu and they had three children. Their eldest daughter, Li Xintian , died of an illness during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Their second daughter was Li Xinyi . Their only son was Li Xintian , who helped introduce and develop medical psychology in China.