Released early on account of poor health, Chen retreated to an isolated village in the mountains of Sichuan, where he lived in obscurity. On his own, Chen’s faith in democracy reemerged as he watched Stalin’s tyrannical nature emerge. Chen also found solace in his classical education, turning to classical poetry and philology. His legacy is… Read more »
Chen’s tenure at the top of China’s Communist Party was short. He became uncomfortable with Stalin’s rigid leadership and was soon entertaining “revisionist” thoughts. He was blamed for the failure of the Party to spark revolution in China’s cities and was finally expelled from the party in 1929. As war raged across China, Chen lived… Read more »
For Chen, as for Sun Yat-sen and Liang Qichao before him, the May Fourth Movement called the merits of the Western model into question. Disillusioned by the actions of the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference, Chen began to look to other models. The Soviets quickly provided an alternative, sending Lev Karakhan to Beijing and… Read more »