The old residence of Li Dazhao is situated
in Daheituo Village of Leting County, Hebei Province.
Li, a great Marxist and one of founders of
the Communist Party of China (CPC), was born in Leting County of Hebei Province
in 1889.
When he was young, Li devoted himself to
national liberation. Both before and after the Revolution of 1911, he vigorously
took part in revolutionary activities in Northern
China. In 1913, Li went to Japan for study and returned to China in 1916 to partake in the New Culture
Movement. He served as editor-in-chief at the Morning-Bell Newspaper of Beijing
and as editor of the magazine New Youth, including a post as dean at the Peking
University library and professor of economy. After the October Revolution, Li
absorbed Marxism-Leninism and began to disseminate the ideology as a pioneer of
the communist movement in China
and leader of the May 4th Movement in 1919.
From 1920 to 1921, Li initiated and
organized the Research Association of Marx's Theories and the communist group in
Beijing, becoming one of the
most important founders of the CPC. After the founding of the CPC in July 1921,
representing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Li took charge of the party in
the north. During the first KMT-CCP cooperation, Li attended the reshuffling of
the KMT. Then, in succession, he initiated and led the Great Strike of the
Kailuan Colliery Workers, the February 7th Strike of the Beijing-Hankou Railway
Workers and other movements. On April 6, 1927, Li was captured by the warlord
Zhang Zuolin, and on April 28, he died a martyr.
The residence was built in 1881, facing
south. It is a brick and wooden structure, 50 meters long from north to south
and 18 meters wide from east to west. The building is covered with a level roof
and divided into the front, middle and back yards. Li lived with his
grandfather, Li Yuzhen, in the east wing and his grandfather's brother lived in
the west wing. To this day, the arrangement remains virtually unchanged. The
Memorial Hall for Li was set up July 1, 1958 and the western half of the
residence serves as the exhibition area depicting Li's revolutionary
deeds.