Qu Qiubai (; 29 January 1899 – 18 June 1935) was a Chinese writer, poet, translator, and a political activist. In the late 1920s and early 1930s he was the de facto leader of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1935, he was arrested and executed by the Republic of China Government led by the Kuomintang in Changting, Fujian.
Early life
Qu was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu. His family lived in Tianxiang Lou () located on Qingguo Lane (). Qu's father, Qu Shiwei (), was born in a family that was once powerful. He was good at painting and fencing and acquired much medical knowledge, but had no interest in politics and business. Qu's mother, Jin Xuan (), the daughter of an elite government official, was skilled in poetry. Qu had five brothers and one sister, he being the eldest. When Qu was young, his family lived in his uncle's house and was supported financially by relatives. Though Qu's father took a job as teacher, he was not able to support his family due to his addiction to opium. In 1915, Qu's mother, overcome by her life's mounting difficulties and debts, committed suicide.
In 1916, Qu went to Hankou (today Wuhan) and entered Wuchang Foreign Language School to learn English with the support of his cousin. In the spring of 1917, Qu went to Beiping (today Beijing) to apply for a job, but did not pass the general civil service examination. Not having enough money to pay for a regular university tuition, Qu enrolled in the newly established Russian Language Institute () under the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since it did not require payment of fee. The institute also offered a stipend and promised him a job upon graduation.
Communist Party involvement
Qu worked hard in the language institute, learning both French and Russian and spending his spare time studying Buddhist philosophy and classical Chinese. Both were his interests cultivated since childhood, as well as the works of Bertrand Russell whose discussion of physics and perception was to Qu similar to the teachings of Buddhism.
His earliest contacts with revolutionary circles came when he participated in discussions of Marxist analysis hosted by Li Dazhao at Beijing University, who was the campus' head librarian. The future communist leader and CCP chairman Mao Zedong was also present at these meetings. Qu later took a job as a journalist for a Beiping newspaper Morning News () and was sent to Moscow as a correspondent, even though this would jeopardise a career in the civil service which his earlier training had prepared him for. Qu was one of the first Chinese to report from Moscow about life in Russia during and after the Bolshevik Revolution, where he observed the harshness of living conditions. While in Russia, he also visited Leo Tolstoy's home at Yasnaya Polyana with Tolstoy's granddaughter Sofya, saw Lenin addressing a group of delegates, heard Feodor Chaliapin sing Alexander Pushkin's poems set to music, and witnessed Pyotr Kropotkin's funeral.
In January 1923, Qu accepted the invitation from Chen Duxiu, leader of the Chinese Communist Party at that time, to come back from Russia to join in his cause. After returning, Qu was responsible for the propaganda work of Chinese Communist Party. In 1927 after the fall of Chen Duxiu, he became acting Chairman of the CCP Politburo and the de facto leader of the party. He organised actions such as the Guangzhou Uprising of December 11, 1927. In April 1928, Qu went to Moscow once again and worked as a delegate of the Chinese Communist Party for two years. In 1930, after being dismissed as Chinese Communist Party representative in Russia, Qu returned to China only to be also dismissed from the central leadership. This was all due to an intense argument over how the revolution should be carried out. Following his dismissal, Qu worked both as a writer and a translator in Shanghai, fought literary battles along with Mao Dun and Lu Xun and forged a profound friendship with leaders of the left-wing cultural movement.