Klaudio Luarasi
AP Comparative
Feb 14, 2014
Chen Duxiu Biography

Chen Duxiu born in Anhui providence of Anqing China in 1879. He was the youngest of four children, and was born into a rich family where his father who had died when Chen was only 2 years old has once passed in a first degree in civil service examination and served as an official in the military office in Manchuria. For a while Chen was home schooled by his mother where he was educated in the Chinese Classics and traditional literature. After that he was raised by his strict grandfather where he followed the normal course of Confucian Studies and passed the local level of the imperial exams in 1896 at the age of 17 in Huaining, and the following year passed the second exam in Nanjing. But Chen was horrified by the experience. He spend nine days living in a small dorm with the other test takers. He noticed the psychological damage the test was doing to his acquaintances and decided to leave the traditional exam system permanently. After he left tradition behind he decided to become a social and political reformed. He studied English, naval architecture and even French at "Qiushi Academy" which means "Truth Seeking Academy" in Hangzhou.

When Chen was 23 he started giving speeches against the Qing regime in the capital of his home. In the same year which was 1902 he went to Japan and enrolled at the "Tokyo Higher Normal School." The following year in 1903 he helped his peers. They made from the Tokyo with "Guomin Riribao" which means National Daily News in Shanghai. Unfortunenently it was put an end to by authorities in less then a year. During his stay in Japan Chen refused to join the revolutionary party led by Sun Yat-Sen for the reasons that he did not want to accept nationalism, which was one of its tenants. After the overthrow of the Manchu monarchy and the establishment of the republic, Chen became secretary general to the military governor of his hometown in 1912 and dean of he provincial higher normal school. He then decided to take part in the second revolution against President Yuan Shikai in 1913 but was unsuccessful. So Chen fled to Shanghai then a year later to Japan where he helped with the editing for "Jiayin" a liberal Chinese magazine calling for political reforms.

 When Chen returned back to China in 1915 he was the establisher of the months "Xinqingnian" which was a magazine where Chen proposed that the youth of Chine take part of a vast intellectual, literary, and cultural revolution to rejuvenate the nation. The young writers that contributed to Chens magazine such as Hu Shi, Lu Xun, Li, Dazhao, and Mao Zedong became political leaders that were important and knowledgeable 

In 1917 Jen was appointed dean of the School of Letters at Perking University. He gathered as much liberal and progressive professors and students as he can. Together they established "Meizhou Pinglun" which was a weekly critic that only lasted for a few weeks. Their ideas and new ways of literature played an enormous role in the "May Fourth Movement" which was a huge protest of students in May 4, 1919 against the Chinese government's weak policy toward Japan and the Shandong resolution of the Versailles Peace Conference. The goal was to transfer German right in China to the Japanese. Riding China's old culture that led to inactive government and create new values for a "New China." Consequently, since Chen played a lead role int he movement Chen had to resign and was imprisoned for 13 weeks until September of that year.

In July of 1921 the official communist party in China was born with Mao Zedong in attendance who was one of Chen's writers during the Xinqingnian magazines where Chen proposed the May Fourth Movment.

Chen eventually didn't like Stalin's (Russian dictator) Chen became the blame for the failure of the Party to spark revolution in China's cities and was finally expelled from the party in 1929. As a civil war was raging inside of China, Chen decided to not live in the open. He witnessed his two sons killed fighting against Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists. In 1932 Chen was arrested and charged with being a "Trotskyite" Trotskyites were radicals who support Trotsky's theory that socialism must be established throughout the world by continuing revolution. Chen was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but Chen was released on his 7th year for having poor health, and unable to live in the jail. So Chen retreated to an isolated village in the mountain of Sichuan.

As Chen was watching Stalins's evil ways emerge, Chens faith in democracy reemerged. He lived his life regretting so many things he thought he did wrong although he helped instigate one of China's most important protest and founded China's ruling political party. He worried the rest of his life doubting his choices and fearing what would happen to China in the long run hoping it would regain it's strength. Chen Duxiu died at 62 in 1942 from bad health and is now buried at his birthplace of Anhui providence in Anqing China.