Chen Boda - Early Life

Early Life

Chen Boda was born Chen Shangyu in 1904 to peasant parents. During his childhood, his family moved to Jimei, likely to facilitate young Chen's enrollment at the Jimei Normal School. In 1925, Chen enrolled at Shanghai Labor University, and in 1927 he joined the Communist Party of China. After returning to Fujian, he was hired as the personal secretary of General Zhang Zhen, helping to prepare for the 1926–1927 Northern Expedition from the CCP side of the First United Front. When the Front collapsed, Chen fled and was eventually arrested in Nanjing. He was released after a month on General Zhang's recommendation. Shortly thereafter, Chen was selected to study at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow for four years.

In 1931, Chen Boda returned to China, and married Sichuan native Zhu Yuren, who had also studied in Moscow. Chen began teaching ancient Chinese history in Beijing while writing articles under the pen names Chen Zhimei and Chen Boda. Most of these articles focused on the dispute between advocates of "national defense literature" such as Lu Xun, and more nationalist authors. Chen also did underground work for the Party in Tianjin. From 1937 on, he lectured at the Central Party School in Yan'an. He soon became personal research assistant and secretary to Mao Zedong. Chen believed that dialectical materialism was the greatest cultural achievement in human history, and could be sinicized through the use of Chinese vernacular. Chen published the first collection of Mao's writings in 1937, and an official history of the Party in 1945.