Li Dazhao

Li Dazhao (1889–1927), courtesy name Shouchang, was a native of Laoting, Hebei. He was among the earliest Marxists and communists in China and one of the principal founders of the Communist Party of China. He served as director of the Peking University Library and as a professor, and published articles such as "My Marxist Views," becoming the first to systematically spread Marxism in China. In 1927 he was killed by the warlord Zhang Zuolin and died a heroic death. The library holds four of his works, including Youth and Li Dazhao on the Essentials of Historiography, covering modern poetry, literary appreciation, and inspirational growth. His writing combines intellectual sharpness with humanistic concern, revealing the spirit of a thinker and revolutionary.