Qu Qiubai - Communist Party Involvement

Communist Party Involvement

Qu worked hard in the language institute, studying both French and Russian, spending his spare time studying Buddhist philosophy and classical Chinese, an interest he had cultivated since childhood, as well as the works of Bertrand Russell whose discussion of physics and perception seemed reminiscent of Buddhism to Qu.

His earliest contacts with revolutionary circles was during his participation in discussions of Marxist analysis hosted by Li Dazhao, head librarian at Beijing University. Mao Zedong was also present at these meetings. Qu later took a job as a journalist for a Beijing newspaper Morning News (晨報) and was stationed in Moscow as a correspondent, even though this would jeopardize the career in civil-service his earlier training was preparing him for. Qu was one of the first Chinese to report from Moscow about life in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, where he observed the harshness of living conditions. While in Russia, he also visited Leo Tolstoy's home at Yasnaya Polyana with his granddaughter Sofya, saw Lenin addressing a group of delegates, heard Feodor Chaliapin sing Alexander Pushkin's poems set to music, and witnessed Pyotr Kropotkin's funeral.

In January 1923, Qu accepted the invitation from Chen Duxiu, leader of the Communist Party of China at that time, to come back from Russia. After returning, Qu was responsible for the propaganda work of Communist Party of China. In 1927 after the fall of Chen Duxiu, he became acting Chairman of the Chinese Politburo and the de facto leader of the party. He organized actions such as the Guangzhou Uprising of December 11, 1927. In April 1928, Qu went to Moscow once again and worked as a delegate of the Chinese Communist Party for two years. In 1930, after being dismissed as Chinese Communist Party representative in Russia, Qu returned to China only to be dismissed from the central leadership. This was all due to an intense argument about the means by which the revolution should be executed. Following his dismissal, Qu worked both as a writer and a translator in Shanghai, fought along with Mao Dun and Lu Xun and forged a profound friendship with leaders of left-wing cultural movement.