Shi Cuntong (; 1899 – 29 November 1970), also known as Shi Fuliang () was an academician and an early leader of the
Communist Party of China
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
.
Biography
Born in 1899 in
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...
, he enrolled into the Zhejiang First Provincial Normal School in 1917.
Following the
May Fourth Movement
The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chin ...
in 1919, he participated in the founding of the magazine "Zhejiang New Trends", and received recognition for his essay "Non-filial" that was published in its 2nd issue regarding the closed family culture of Chinese society.
He traveled to Beijing in 1920 to pursuit his anti-government agenda but returned to Shanghai after a few months. When he returned, he met up with the editor of "
New Youth
''New Youth'' (french: La Jeunesse, lit=The Youth; ) was a Chinese literary magazine founded by Chen Duxiu and published between 1915 and 1926. It strongly influenced both the New Culture Movement and the later May Fourth Movement. Publishi ...
"
Chen Duxiu
Chen Duxiu ( zh, t=陳獨秀, w=Ch'en Tu-hsiu; 8 October 187927 May 1942) was a Chinese revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with Li Dazhao in 1921. From 1921 to 1927, he ...
upon the liaison from
Yu Xiusong, taking up the
Marxist ideology and joining the
Communist Party of China
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
as one of her founding members. In August 1920, he participated in the founding of the
Chinese Communist Youth League
The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...
, and established the Tokyo Marxist Study Group whilst he was away in
Japan for further studies.
However, he was expelled in 1922 and he came back to attend the
2nd National Congress. In the same year, he was elected as the First Secretary of the
Chinese Communist Youth League
The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...
. In January 1924, he left the Central Committee to become the CPC's Chairman for the Shanghai Region, and taught at
Shanghai University
Shanghai University, commonly referred to as SHU, or colloquially Shangda (), is a Public university, public research university located in Shanghai. The 555-acre main Baoshan District, Shanghai, Baoshan campus is situated in the north of Shang ...
,
Zhongshan University
Sun Yat-sen University (, abbreviated SYSU and colloquially known in Chinese as Zhongda), also known as Zhongshan University, is a national key public research university located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1924 by and nam ...
,
Whompoa Military Academy and
Guangzhou Peasant Movement Institute
The Peasant Movement Training Institute or Peasant Training School was a school in Guangzhou (then romanized as "Canton"), China, operated from 1923 to 1926 during the First United Front between the Nationalists and Communists. It was based i ...
. At the beginning of 1927 he was the policitcal director at the Central Military and Political School of Wuhan. Following the
Shanghai massacre of 1927
The Shanghai massacre of 12 April 1927, the April 12 Purge or the April 12 Incident as it is commonly known in China, was the violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations and leftist elements in Shanghai by forces supportin ...
and the KMT-CPC split, Shi left the Communist Party. The systematic killing of communist leaders and the breakdown of the communist movement in Shanghai were precipitating factors that made Shi denounce his party membership.
He became a professor at
Guangxi University
Guangxi University (), known as Xida (), is a provincial research university located in Nanning, Guangxi and the oldest and largest university in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The university helped pioneer higher education in central a ...
and
Shanghai University
Shanghai University, commonly referred to as SHU, or colloquially Shangda (), is a Public university, public research university located in Shanghai. The 555-acre main Baoshan District, Shanghai, Baoshan campus is situated in the north of Shang ...
. After 1929, he was involved in translating Marxist works, revolutionary and economic theories and during the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was one of the few people who advocated for the protection of Chinese culture. At the end of 1945 he joined
Huang Yanpei
Huang Yanpei (; 1 October 1878 – 21 December 1965) was a Chinese educator, writer, and politician. He was a founding pioneer of the China Democratic League.
Life
Huang was born in Neishidi, Chuansha, Jiangsu (now part of Pudong, Shanghai) dur ...
and
Zhang Naiqi in launching the China Democratic National Construction Association (Democratic National Construction Association). At one point he was elected to the Central Committee and vice chairmanship of the Democratic National Construction Association.
In 1949, he attended the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) as a representative of the People's Political Consultative Conference, and was elected as a Standing Committee Member and Deputy Secretary-General of the First CPPCC. Later he became the first Deputy
Minister of Labor.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Cuntong
1899 births
1970 deaths
Politicians from Jinhua
Republic of China philosophers
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Zhejiang
Political party founders
Members of the 2nd Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang