Qu Qiubai

Qu Qiubai (1899–1935) was a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu, and one of the early principal leaders of the Communist Party of China. He was a Marxist theorist, propagandist, and man of letters. He joined the Party in 1922, presided over the August 7th Conference in 1927, and for a time led the Central Committee. Later he joined Lu Xun in leading the left-wing cultural movement. He was the first to translate and set the full Chinese text of The Internationale. He was executed in Changting, Fujian, in 1935 at the age of 36. His writing consists mainly of essays and miscellaneous prose, along with poetry. Representative works include Superfluous Words, A History of the Heart of the Red Capital, and Journey to the Land of Hunger. These works record his profound reflections on the revolutionary course and his personal fate. Sincere in style, they possess both literary value and historical significance, occupying a distinctive place in modern Chinese prose and revolutionary literature.