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Chen Duxiu and Leon Trotsky: New Light on their Relationship*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Extract

After the 1927/28 upheaval in the communist movement, a complex relationship evolved between Chen Duxiu (1879–1942) and Leon Trotsky (1879–1940). To date little has been written about this relationship in the west. The relationship between Chen and Trotsky, however, deserves treatment in its own right for various reasons. First, an elucidation of the contacts between them should close a significant gap in the respective biographies of the two Opposition leaders. The intention is not only to define Trotsky's role as seen from Chen's perspective, but also to emphasize the Far Eastern component hitherto underestimated in biographies of Trotsky. Secondly, the reconstruction of the relationship between Chen and Trotsky constitutes an important, correcting supplement to our knowledge of the developments ( = Wirkungsgeschichte) of “Trotskyism” in China, as it has been described as a concrete phenomenon as well as an ideological-political undercurrent. Thirdly, a study of the relationship between Chen and Trotsky should provide a better understanding of relations between the Communists of China and of the Soviet Union.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1985

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References

1. A detailed list of western language biographical contributions would be beyond the scope of this paper. Important titles are: Deutscher, I., Trotsky, 3 vols. (London: Oxford University Press, 19541963)Google Scholar; Kuo, T. C., Ch'en Tu-hsiu and the Chinese Communist Movement (South Orange: Seton Hall University Press, 1975)Google Scholar; Feigon, L., Chen Duxiu. Founder of the Chinese Communist Party (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Although treating some of the relevant questions, Feigon's impressive new study does not close the gap mentioned, either. He remains primarily concerned with the problem of Chen's conversion towards Trotskyism while not going into the question of direct contacts between Chen and Trotsky. Moreover, the article presented here draws upon a variety of Chinese as well as non-Chinese materials not listed in Feigon's otherwise exhaustive bibliography.

2. Kagan, R. C., “The Chinese Trotskyist movement and Ch'en Tu-hsiu,” unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1969Google Scholar; Kagan, R. C., “Trotskyism in Shanghai, 1929–1932: the politics of iconoclasm,” Studies in Comparative Communism, Vol. 10, Nos. 1–2 (1977), pp. 87108CrossRefGoogle Scholar. In addition to these special studies, the fate of the Shanghai opposition finds mention in all histories of the CCP and the communist movement.

3. Miller, J. T., “The politics of Chinese Trotskyism: the role of a permanent opposition in communism” (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, 1979)Google Scholar; Shu-tse, P'eng, The Chinese Communist Party in Power (New York: Monad Press, 1980).Google Scholar

4. Overviews of this debate and of main trends in recent studies on Chen Duxiu are for instance: Jun, Gao and Huaxuan, Jiang, “Zhongguo xinminzhuzhuyi geming shi yanjiuhui juban Chen Duxiu deng lishi renwu pingjia de taolunhui” (“A seminar on the evaluation of Chen Duxiu and other historical figures, held by the Association for the Study of China's New Democratic Revolution”), Zhongguo lishixue nianjian (Historical Yearbook) (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe 1980), pp. 215–17Google Scholar; Shudi, Wang et al. , “Chen Duxiu yanjiu zongshu” (“A summary of studies on Chen Duxiu”), in Shudi, Wang et al. (eds.), Chen Duxiu pinglun xuanbian (A Collection of Articles and Materials on Chen Duxiu) (Zhengzhou: Henan renmin chubanshe, 1982), Vol. I, pp. 126Google Scholar; “Dui Chen Duxiu he Tuoluociji de xin pingjia” (“New evaluations of Chen Duxiu and Trotsky”), Qishi niandai (The Seventies) (Hongkong), No. 6 (1982), pp. 6465Google Scholar. For similar surveys see Zhongguo lishixue nianjian and Shixue qingbao (Historical Bulletin) (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe). In addition to Quanguo xinshumu (Periodical Catalogue of New Books Published in China) (Beijing: Zhongguo banben tushuguan) listings of books and articles on Chen Duxiu can be found in the bibliographical parts of Zhongguo lishixue nianjian and Jindai shi yanjiu (Studies on Modern History) (Beijing) and Anjia, Wu, “Dui Chen Duxiu de chongxin pingjia (“The re-evaluation of Chen Duxiu”), Zhong Gong shixue xintan (A New Study of Chinese Communist Historiography) (Taibei: Youshi wenhua shiye gongsi, 1983), pp. 277–97, respectively.Google Scholar

5. Examples are: “Chen Duxiu” (Special collection of articles), Zhuanji wenxue (Biographical Literature) (Taibei), Vol. 30, No. 5 (1977), pp. 1047Google Scholar; Jianmin, Wang, “Chen Duxiu jiudai, qisu yu panxing” (“The arrest, trial and condemnation of Chen Duxiu”)Google Scholar, ibid. Vol. 30, No. 6 (1977), pp. 86–94.

6. Baolin, Tang, “Shi lun Chen Duxiu yu Tuo pai de guanxi” (“A preliminary discussion of the relations between Chen Duxiu and the Trotskyists,” Lishi yanjiu (Historical Studies) (Beijing), No. 6 (1981), pp. 126–52Google Scholar; Yilin, Wang, “Chen Duxiu yu Tuo pai” (“Chen Duxiu and the Trotskyists”), A Collection of Articles and Materials on Chen Duxiu, Vol. II, pp. 164–74Google Scholar; Jun, Zhang and Baolin, Tang, “Chen Duxiu zhuanxiang Tuo pai he bei kaichu chu Dang wenti pouxi” (“An analysis of the problem of Chen Duxiu's change to the Trotskyists and his expulsion from the Party”), Jindai shi yanjiu, No. 2 (1983), pp. 135–53Google Scholar; Suzhi, Guan, “Chen Duxiu yu Tuoluociji pai” (“Chen Duxui and the Trotskyists”), Zhuanji wenxue, Vol. 30, No. 5 (1977), pp. 3031.Google Scholar

7. For instance: “Gei Tuoluosiji de xin” (“Letter to Trotsky”), Houqi de Chen Duxiu jiqi wenzhang xuanbian (The Latter Part of Chen Duxiu's Life Plus a Collection of His Writings), Yongtong, Zhang and Chuanxue, Liu (eds.) (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1980), pp. 181–85Google Scholar; Sheng, Kang, “Chanchu Ri kou zhentan minzu gongdi de Tuolociji feitu” (“Eradicate the Trotskyist bandits, spies of the Japanese bandits and enemies of the people”), A Collection of Articles and Materials on Chen Duxiu, Vol. II, pp. 216–33Google Scholar; “Chen Duxiu xiansheng wannian zhi Zheng Xuejia jiaoshou yuanhan moji” (“Facsimile excerpts from a letter which Mr Chen Duxiu in his late years directed to Professor Zheng Xuejia”), Zhuanji wenxue, Vol. 30, No. 5 (1977), p. 7Google Scholar; Chen Duxiu bei bu ziliao huibian (Collection of Materials Concerning the Detainments of Chen Duxiu) (Zhengzhou: Henan renmin chubanshe, 1982).Google Scholar

8. “Fangwen Liu Renjing xiansheng tanhua jilu” (“Interview with Mr Liu Renjing”), Dangshi ziliao congkan (Collection of Materials on Party History) (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe), No. 4 (1981), pp. 81102Google Scholar (neibu); Ji, Zhao, “Sanshi niandai chu Tuo pai zuzhi zai Shanghai de huodong” (“The activities of the Trotskyist organization in Shanghai during the early 1930s”), Collection of Materials on Party History, No. 2 (1981), pp. 7294Google Scholar (neibu); Bilan, Chen, “Wo de huiyi: Geming shibai hou shehuizhuyi de wenhua yundong yu Tuo pai” (“My memoirs: The Socialist Culture Movement after the defeat of the revolution and the Trotskyists”), Shiyue pinglun (October Review) (Hongkong), Vol. 10, No. 7 (1983), pp. 2226Google Scholar; Xisheng, Tao, “Ji Duxiu” (“Remembering Chen Duxiu”), Zhuanji wenxue, Vol. 5, No. 3 (1964), pp. 1011Google Scholar and Vol. 5, No. 4 (1964), pp. 13–15. Other accounts, included in A Collection of Articles and Materials on Chen Duxiu, and “Chen Duxiu,” Zhuanji wenxue, will be quoted below.

9. The incoming letters by the various Trotskyist groups in Shanghai and Beijing were written in western languages, including Russian. Some of them represent a strange mixture of several languages; some still show scattered Chinese characters. For Trotsky's perusal, his secretaries often prepared typescripts of the handwritten letters. (Documents from the “Exile Papers” are quoted as EP.)

10. Evans, L. and Block, R. (eds.), Leon Trotsky on China (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1978)Google Scholar; Writings of Leon Trotsky, 1929–1940, 12 vols. (New York: Pathfinder Press)Google Scholar; cf. Levine, S. I., “Trotsky on China: the exile period,” Papers on China (Cambridge/Mass.), No. 18 (1964), pp. 90128.Google Scholar

11. Kuo-t'ao, Chang (Zhang Guotao). The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party, 1921–1938, 2 vols. (Lawrence: The University Press of Kansas, 19711972)Google Scholar; Fan-hsi, Wang (Wang Fanxi/Wang Wenyuan), Chinese Revolutionary. Memoirs 1919–1949 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980)Google Scholar; Fuse, K., Soviet Policy in the Orient (Beijing: Enjinsha, 1927; Westport: Hyperion reprint, 1978)Google Scholar; Dalin, S. A., Kitaiskie memuary (Chinese Memoirs) (Moscow. 1975).Google Scholar

12. To my knowledge, a profound and critical analysis of Chinese images of the Soviet Union as reflected in the Chinese press for the period covered here has yet to be undertaken. This paper concentrates on information contained in the Dongfang zazhi (Eastern Miscellany) (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan). It seems worth mentioning, however, that the reprint version (Taibei: Shangwu yinshuguan) omits several important articles.

13. Cf. supra, fn. 2.

14. Kagan, , “Trotskyism,” p. 103.Google Scholar

15. Guillermaz, J., A History of the CCP, 1921–1949 (London: Methuen and Co., 1972)Google Scholar; Jianmin, Wang, Zhongguo Gongchandang shigao (Draft history of the CCP), 3 vols. (Hongkong: Zhongwen tushu gongyingshe, 19741975)Google Scholar; Kuo, W., Analytical History of the CCP, 4 vols. (Taibei: Institute of International Relations, 19681971)Google Scholar; Grigor'ev, A. M.Revoliucionnoe dvizhenie v Kitae, 1927–1931 gg. (The Revolutionary Movement in China, 1927–1931) (Moscow, 1980)Google Scholar; Wu, E., The Chinese Nationalist and Communist Alliance, 1923–1927, 2 vols., unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Maryland, 1965.Google Scholar

16. Taihua, Han and Guiyun, Niu, “Chen Duxiu cong heshi chengwei Dang de zongshuji?” (“From what time did Chen Duxiu bear the title ‘secretary general of the CCP’?”), Dangshi yanjiu ziliao (Materials for the Study of Party History) (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1981), Vol. II, pp. 144–45 (neibu).Google Scholar

17. Jun, Zhang and Baolin, Tang, “Analysis,”Google Scholar focus on this question, but their analysis omits important aspects.

18. Jianmin, Wang. “Trial,” p. 88Google Scholar; Collection of Materials Concerning the Detainments of Chen Duxiu, p. 149Google Scholar. Chen's sojourn in the Soviet Union, according to his own words, apparently did not exceed two months. I was unable to trace any travel notes written by Chen personally. Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 179Google Scholar, emphasizes that this was “Chen's first trip outside Asia.” There is only fragmentary information about Chinese participation and Chen's role in the Fourth Congress of the Comintern (5 November – 5 December 1922), e.g. Chetverty kongress Kominterna (The Fourth Congress of the Comintern) (Moscow, 1980)Google Scholar; Zhenxin, Zhu, “Di san Guoji di si jie shijie dahui zhi jingguo” (“The course of the Fourth World Congress of the Third International”), Dongfang zazhi, Vol. 20, No. 6 (1923), pp. 4654Google Scholar; “Interview with Mr Liu Renjing,” pp. 8991Google Scholar; Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. I. pp. 294–95Google Scholar; Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 179Google Scholar, unfortunately misdates the Fourth Congress (“held in Moscow in early 1923”).

19. “Chen Duxiu,” Zhuanji wenxue, p. 15.Google Scholar

20. This is confirmed by Qingquan, PuWo suo zhidao de Chen Duxiu” (“The Chen Duxiu I knew”), A Collection of Articles and Materials on Chen Duxiu, Vol. II, p. 339Google Scholar; Jianhua, Peng, “Huiyi he Chen Duxiu de liang ci huiwu”Google Scholar (“Remembering two meetings with Chen Duxiu”), ibid. Vol. II, pp. 308–310; Pi-lan, Ch'en (Chen Bilan), “Introduction: looking back over my years with P'eng Shu-tse,”Google Scholar in Shu-tse, P'eng, Communist Party, p. 29Google Scholar; Fan-hsi, Wang, Revolutionary, pp. 120–21.Google Scholar

21. Jueyuan, Wang, “Wo suo renshi de Chen Duxiu xiansheng” (“The Mr Chen Duxiu I knew”), Zhuanji wenxue, Vol. 30, No. 5 (1977), p. 43.Google Scholar

22. During the preceding Congress of the Toilers of the Far East (21–27 January 1922), the Chinese delegates had met Soviet leaders. Wu, “Alliance,” Pt. I, pp. 112–16.Google Scholar

23. Jueyuan, Wang, “The Mr Chen Duxiu I knew,” p. 43.Google Scholar

24. Cf. Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. I, p. 211.Google Scholar

25. A critical comprehensive study of Chinese responses to the October Revolution and the emergence of Soviet Russia is still outstanding. The numerous titles covering partial aspects of this topic cannot be listed here. As to Chen's personal images of events and developments, Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 147Google Scholar, states that “Chen received his ideas of the new Soviet state from a range of sources.…” Feigon underlines the role of the representatives of the Comintern as well as other foreigners, attributing particular importance to Bertrand Russell.

26. Examples are: Lao, Gao, “Xu ji Eguo zhi jinzhuang” (“Continued notes on the recent developments in Russia”), Dongfang zazhi, Vol. 15, No. 1 (1918), pp. 3742Google Scholar; Shi, Jun, “Eguoguoji pai tongzhi zhi neirong”Google Scholar (“The contents of the rule of the Russian extremists”), ibid. Vol. 16, No. 7 (1919), pp. 44–49.

27. Kanghu, Jiang, Xin E youji (Travel Notes from New Russia) (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1923), pp. 4041; suppl., pp. 28–29.Google Scholar

28. Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. I, p. 211.Google Scholar

29. Wu, “Alliance,” Pt. I, p. 156.Google Scholar

30. Kai-shek, Chiang, Soviet Russia in China (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Cudahy, 1957), pp. 2122.Google Scholar

31. Yueh, Sheng (Sheng Yue/Sheng Zhongliang), Sun Vat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution (The University of Kansas, 1971), pp. 3133Google Scholar. In addition to Sheng Yue's account and the relevant passages in Wang Fanxi's memoirs quoted above, further important retrospectives on the Chinese students' experiences in Moscow are: Yu, Bai, “You guan liu E Zhongshan daxue” (“Concerning my years of study at Russia's Sun Yat-sen University”), Zhuanji wenxue, Vol. 30, Nos. 1–3 (1977), pp. 6265, 101105, 6873Google Scholar; Wenyi, Deng, “Liuxue Eguo de huiyi” (“Memories of my studies in Russia”), Zhuanji wenxue, Vol. 28, No. 1 (1976), pp. 6974Google Scholar; “Mosike Laodong daxue” (“Moscow's University of Toilers of the East”), Collection of Materials on Party History, No. 1 (1980), pp. 89108Google Scholar; Kagan, R., “Trotskyist movement,” pp. 4975.Google Scholar

32. Kanghu, Jiang, Youji, p. 41Google Scholar; Kai-shek, Chiang, Soviet Russia, p. 22.Google Scholar

33. This list of visitors and experts for instance includes Jiang Kanghu, Maring (alias H. Sneevliet), A. A. Joffe, K. Radek, P. Mif, and N. I. Bukharin. In addition to various sources: EP Sneevliet, to Trotsky, , 23 07 1929.Google Scholar

34. It was a specific feature of Soviet China policy that such intentions never found explicit outward expression; they were integral parts of the complex theoretical debates.

35. Yueh, Sheng, Sun Yat-sen University, pp. 15.Google Scholar

36. Yu, Bai, “Sun Yat-sen University,” Pt. 1, pp. 6465Google Scholar; Yueh, Sheng, Sun Yat-sen University, pp. 3437 and 6167.Google Scholar

37. Yu, Bai, “Sun Yat-sen University,” Pt. 1, p. 64.Google Scholar

38. A Collection of Articles and Materials on Chen Duxiu, Vol. II, p. 388.Google Scholar

39. Shi, Jun, “Contents,” p. 44.Google Scholar

40. Kai-shek, Chiang, Soviet Russia, p. 22.Google Scholar

41. Asa consequence of the political circumstances, there is no correspondence of Chinese students in Moscow reporting the growing intra-Soviet controversies to Shanghai. Such internal information was transmitted orally by returned students.

42. Zuolin, He, “Su E di er Lining: Sitalin he ta de zhengce” (“Soviet Russia's second Lenin: Stalin and his policy”), Dongfang zazhi, Vol. 23, No. 21 (1926), pp. 6566Google Scholar; Yu, Cong, “Su E Gongchandang neihong de zhenxiang” (“The truth about the internal conflicts of Soviet Russia's Communist Party”)Google Scholar, ibid. Vol. 23, No. 11 (1926), pp. 64–67. For other articles on the controversies within the CPSU, cf. for example: Guide to Early Chinese Communist Historical Materials. The Keiō Collection (Berkeley: University of California, 1972)Google Scholar. In view of the but preliminary evidence collected in this article, it seems worthwhile to reconsider a hypothesis expressed by Fan-hsi, Wang, Revolutionary, p. 121Google Scholar (and substantially accepted by Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 197)Google Scholar, namely that Chen, “knew little about the disputes which were raging in the Soviet Party.…”Google Scholar

43. “Sulian de fanduipai wenti” (“The problem of the Soviet opposition”), Dongfang zazhi, Vol. 24, No. 18 (1927), pp. 35Google Scholar; Yu, Bai, “Sun Yat-sen University,” Pt. 3, p. 69.Google Scholar

44. “Eguo fangzhu fanduidang de jingguo” (“How Russia sent the opposition into exile”), Dongfang zazhi, Vol. 25, No. 4 (1928), pp. 24.Google Scholar

45. Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. II, p. 62.Google Scholar

46. EP Duxiu, Chen to Trotsky, , 1 12 1930Google Scholar. This letter is mentioned by Deutscher, I., Trotsky, Vol. III, p. 32Google Scholar. fn. 2. Feigon, as before him R. Kagan, does not refer to this letter, which might be taken as confirmation that no published Chinese version of it exists.

47. Suzhi, Guan, “Chen Duxiu and the Trotskyists,” p. 30Google Scholar. Similar versions are presented, retrospectively, by Baolin, Tang, “Relations,” p. 128Google Scholar, Kagan, , Trotskyist Movement, p. 98Google Scholar, Fan-hsi, Wang, Revolutionary, p. 122Google Scholar, and Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 197–99.Google Scholar

48. Yu, Bai, “Sun Yat-sen University,” Pt. 3, p. 68Google Scholar; Yu, Bai, “Wo suo jiandao de Chen Duxiu xiansheng” (“The Mr Chen Duxiu I knew”), Zhuanji wenxue, Vol. 30, No. 5 (1977), p. 31Google Scholar; Yueh, Sheng, Sun Yat-sen University, pp. 157–63.Google Scholar

49. Jianhua, Peng, “Two meetings,” pp. 308310Google Scholar; Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. II, p. 83.Google Scholar

50. Qingquan, Pu, “Chen Duxiu,” pp. 339Google Scholar–40. Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 117Google Scholar, here adds an important supplementary aspect: “According to Wang Fanxi, by late 1927 Chen had already come into contact with some of Trotsky's ideas from students returning from Moscow.”

51. Qingquan, Pu, “Chen Duxiu,” p. 339Google Scholar; Hua, Song, “Tuoluosiji zhi cucu mi (“Trotsky's unwanted asylum”), Dongfang zazhi, Vol. 26, No. 7 (1929), pp. 9499.Google Scholar

52. Qingquan, Pu, “Chen Duxiu,” p. 340.Google Scholar

53. Fan-hsi, Wang, Revolutionary, p. 120Google Scholar; Jianhua, Peng, “Two meetings,” p. 309Google Scholar; Kuo, W., Analytical History, Vol. II, p. 76.Google Scholar

54. EP Liu, to Trotsky, , 11 09 1929Google Scholar; Bilan, Chen, “Memoirs,” p. 23Google Scholar; Pi-lan, Ch'en, “Introduction,” p. 31.Google Scholar

55. Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. II, p. 115.Google Scholar

56. Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. II, p. 65.Google Scholar

57. In addition to the various oral reports: “Exile of the opposition,” Dongfang zazhi, p. 3Google Scholar; Tianjin dagongbao, “Lü E Dangyuan gui guo” (“The return of Party members who had travelled to Russia”), 25 01 1929Google Scholar, quoted from: Keiō Collection, p. 61Google Scholar; Pi-lan, Ch'en, “Introduction,” p. 32.Google Scholar

58. Bilan, Chen, “Memoirs,” p. 22Google Scholar. Ji, Zhao, “Activities,” p. 78Google Scholar, emphasizes that in his opinion Chen had no contact with Womende hua before 1930.

59. Qingquan, Pu, “Chen Duxiu,” p. 341.Google Scholar

60. Bilan, Chen, “Memoirs,” pp. 2425Google Scholar; Fan-hsi, Wang, Revolutionary, p. 122 and 132.Google Scholar

61. Yueh, Sheng, Sun fat-sen University, p. 171Google Scholar; Pi-lan, Ch'en, “Introduction,” p. 32.Google Scholar

62. Bilan, Chen, “Memoirs,” pp. 2425Google Scholar. This is indirectly confirmed by various other sources.

63. Bilan, Chen, “Memoirs,” p. 26Google Scholar. Without elaborating on the issue, Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 200Google Scholar, states “By the summer of 1929, Chen was even in indirect contact with Trotsky.”

64. Liu, 's known biography, as given in the Biographical Dictionary of Republican China, Vol. II (New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1968, pp. 401402Google Scholar, has been augmented by his own autobiographical account as given in “Interview with Mr Liu Renjing.” Bilan, Chen, “Memoirs,” p. 26Google Scholar, states her own views on Liu's life and activities. Born in 1899, Liu Renjing, a student of Chen Duxiu, participated in the foundation of the CCP. In late 1922, he accompanied Chen Duxiu to Moscow, where at the Fourth Congress of the Comintern he played an active role. After his return to China, Liu in 1925 or 1926 went back to Moscow and enrolled at the Lenin Academy. Among the Chinese Communists, Liu as reputed for his mastering of Marxist–Leninist theory. He seems to have been unable, however, fully to integrate into any political group; he rather led the political life of a maverick. This also determined Liu's role in the formation of Moscow's Chinese Trotskyist Opposition. While in Shanghai, Liu appears to have been in contact with Chen. It remains unclear whether this contact continued during his Moscow years.

65. Examples are: Yueh, Sheng, Sun Yat-sen University, p. 3Google Scholar; Qingquan, Pu, “The Chinese Trotskyist group,” A collection of Articles and Materials on Chen Duxiu, Vol. II, p. 388Google Scholar; Ji, Zhao, “Activities,” p. 79.Google Scholar

66. This version, as for instance represented by the contributions of R. Kagan, L. Feigon or in Tang Baolin, “Relations,” is widely accepted.

67. In addition to sources like the ones quoted above, the “Trotsky Archives” held at Houghton Library contain information for a more detailed analysis.

68. Trotsky to Preobrazhensky, no date given, Evans, and Block, , Leon Trotsky on China, p. 285.Google Scholar

69. Cf. supra fns. 3238, 65.Google Scholar

70. Trotsky later ascribed the meeting in Prinkipo to Liu's initiative: EP Trotsky to Theodore, 19 08 1935.Google Scholar Liu, too, presents the detour to Prinkipo as his own project. EP includes various letters announcing the impending arrival of Liu; his retrospective account “Qu Tuerqi fangwen Tuoluociji” (“My visit to Trotsky in Turkey,” part of the “Interview” quoted above, pp. 93–97) fills the background. There is no evidence that any other Chinese participated in the Prinkipo talks.

71. “Interview with Mr Liu Renjing,” pp. 9596Google Scholar; Grigor'ev, , Duizhenic, p. 166Google Scholar; ‘The political situation in China and the tasks of the Bolshevik-Leninist Opposition,” Evans and Block, Leon Trotsky on China, pp. 402408.Google Scholar The fact that Liu had seen Trotsky and had brought back to Shanghai a political programme is mentioned by most sources.

72. EP Trotsky, to Paz, , Urbahns, etc., 11 06 1929Google Scholar; Evans, and Block, , Leon Trotsky on China, p. 640, fn. 110.Google Scholar

73. Since no notes of the Prinkipo talks can be found in EP or elsewhere in Trotsky's writings, Liu's not very elucidating account remains the only inside source.

74. Kuc-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. II, p. 80.Google Scholar

75. Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. II, pp. 8081.Google Scholar A summary of this aspect is Brandt, C., Stalin's Failure in China, 1924–1927 (New York: W. W. Norton, 1966).Google Scholar

76. Yu, Bai, “Sun Yat-sen University,” Pt. 3, p. 68.Google Scholar

77. Yueh, Sheng, Sun Yat-sen University, p. 170.Google Scholar

78. One version of the first contacts between the Comintern and Chen Duxiu is presented in Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. I, pp. 9394.Google Scholar For early contacts with other Comintern representatives, Cf. Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, pp. 163–64.Google Scholar

79. Qingquan, Pu, “Chen Duxiu,” p. 335.Google Scholar Pu here refers to a statement allegedly made by Chen himself. Another author emphasizes that only Chen Duxiu was accepted by Moscow as the leader of a Chinese Communist Party (Collection of Materials on Party History, No. 1 [1981], pp. 121–22).Google Scholar

80. The translation of this “Brief history” is given in Documents on Communism, Nationalism, and Soviet Advisers in China, 1918–1927 (New York: Octagon Books, 1972), pp. 4178.Google Scholar

81. Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. II, p. 115.Google Scholar

82. From Liu's first letters after his return to Shanghai (included in EP) it can be deduced that Trotsky developed this idea during the Prinkipo talks.

83. EP Trotsky to Liu, 15 11 1929Google Scholar. Baolin, Tang, “Relations,” p. 132.Google Scholar

84. EP Trotsky to Liu, 15 11 1929.Google Scholar

85. Bilan, Chen, “Memoirs,” p. 26Google Scholar; EP Womende hua to Trotsky, 15 11 1929Google Scholar; EP Trotsky to Rosmer, 11 01 1930Google Scholar; EP Chen Duxiu to Trotsky, 1 12 1930.Google Scholar

86. The rivalries between various Trotskyist factions have often been described. Although they fill many letters of EP, they need not be retold here in detail.

87. Fan-hsi, Wang, Revolutionary, p. 123Google Scholar; cf. Kuo-t'ao, Chang, Rise, Vol. II, pp. 116–17.Google Scholar

88. Translated versions of Chen's statements are included in EP. Cf. Jun, Zhang and Baolin, Tang, “Analysis,”Google Scholar and Kagan, R., “Trotskyist movement,” pp. 128–2.Google Scholar

89. Examples are: EP Womende hua to Trotsky, 15 11 1929Google Scholar; EP Liu Renjing to Trotsky, 01 1930Google Scholar; EP Militant to Trotsky, 10 10 1930.Google Scholar

90. EP Trotsky to Shachtman, 31 10 1930.Google Scholar

91. Trotsky to the Chinese Opposition, Evans, and Block, , Leon Trotsky on China, p. 493.Google Scholar

92. EP Trotsky to the Opposition in Shanghai, 22 08 1930.Google Scholar Cf. Evans, and Block, , Leon Trotsky on China, p. 439Google Scholar; Baolin, Tang, “Relations,” pp. 133–36.Google Scholar

93. EP Trotsky to Liu, 15 11 1929.Google Scholar For Trotsky's earlier criticisms of Chen, cf. Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 198.Google Scholar

94. The latest appraisal of the developments leading to Chen's expulsion in November 1929 is: Zhang Jun and Tang Baolin, “Analysis.” The purges in Shanghai and Moscow have often been described.

95. EP Chen Duxiu to Trotsky, 1 12, 1930; cf. fn. 46.Google Scholar

96. Ibid.

97. EP Trotsky to Chen Duxiu, 7 04 1931.Google Scholar

98. Among the items of EP I saw, there was no Chinese-language book. According to Dirlik, A., Revolution and History (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1978), p. 71Google Scholar, fn. 36, for a time in Shanghai the pseudonym Ren Shu was associated with Chen Duxiu. In this case, the book in question could be: Zhongguo jingji yanjiu xulun (Introduction to the Study of the Chinese Economy) (Shanghai: Zhongguo wenti yanjiuhui, 1931).Google Scholar Other interpretations might be offered by Wang Fanxi, accompanying his translations of Trotsky's letters to China: Tuoluociji danganzhong zhi zhongguo tongzhi dexin (sic.), Hong Kong 1981. Unfortunately I was not able to use this source listed in the bibliography of Feigon, , Chen Duxiu, p. 266.Google Scholar

99. EP Trotsky to Mill, 10 06 1931.Google Scholar

100. EP Chen Duxiu to Trotsky, 5 May 1931 and 9 05 1931.Google Scholar

101. Evans, and Block, , Leon Trotsky on China, pp. 522–40Google Scholar; Baolin, Tang, “Relations,” p. 139.Google Scholar

102. The tensions between the Trotskyist factions and Liu find expression for example in: EP Womende hua to Trotsky, 13 June 1930; EP October to Trotsky, 24 07 1930Google Scholar; EP Chen Duxiu to Trotsky, 1 December 1930. This problem is also touched upon by many of the published retrospectives. Liu himself in his autobiographical account, p. 100, merely mentions the fact that there did exist a correspondence between Chen and Trotsky, without supplying more detailed information.

103. EP Chen Duxiu to Trotsky, 1 12 1930.Google Scholar

104. Jianmin, Wang, “Trial,” p. 88Google Scholar; Collection of Materials Concerning the Detainmenls of Chen Duxiu, p. 163.Google Scholar

105. Qingquan, Pu, “Chen Duxiu,” pp. 374–75.Google Scholar

106. EP Trotsky to the Chinese Opposition, 3 03 1935.Google Scholar

107. EP International Secretariat to Trotsky, 2 08 1935Google Scholar; Qingquan, Pu, “Chen Duxiu,” p. 375.Google Scholar

108. Evans, and Block, , Leon Trotsky on China, p. 541, 545–46Google Scholar; EP Trotsky to Glass, 10 08 1935Google Scholar; Baolin, Tang, “Relations,” p. 141Google Scholar; Deutscher, I., Trotsky, Vol. III, p. 423.Google Scholar

109. Minutes of a meeting of the Chinese Oppositionists, enclosed in EP Glass to Trotsky, 15 December 1935; cf. EP Glass to Trotsky, 31 October 1935.

110. Qingquan, Pu, “Chen Duxiu,” p. 375.Google Scholar

111. Writings, 1937–1938, p. 30Google Scholar; Writings, 1936–1937, p. 454Google Scholar; EP Liu to Trotsky, 21 11 1937 and 20 05 1938.Google Scholar

112. EP Trotsky to Glass, 26 06 1938.Google Scholar

113. Ibid.

114. Ibid.

115. Huiseng, Bao, “Wo suo zhidao de Chen Duxiu” (“The Chen Duxiu I knew”), A Collection of Articles and Materials on Chen Duxiu, Vol. II, p. 304.Google Scholar

116. Juhao, Zhang, “Ruhe renshi kaichu Dangji hou de Chen Duxiu,” (“How should we evaluate Chen Duxiu after his expulsion from the Party?”)Google Scholar, ibid. Vol. II, p. 183; Baolin, Tang, “Relations,” pp. 142–48.Google Scholar

117. “Chen Duxiu,” Zhuanji wenxue, pp. 7 and 1617.Google ScholarFan-hsi, Wang, Revolutionary, p. 209Google Scholar, recalls, however, that “Chen constantly talked about Lenin during this period of his life…”

118. Juhao, Zhang, “How should we evaluate?” pp. 183–84.Google Scholar

119. EP Glass to Trotsky, 19 01 1939.Google Scholar

120. Ibid.

121. Writings, 1938–1939, pp. 229–30Google Scholar; EP Glass to Trotsky, 27 March 1939. Heijenoort, J. V., With Trotsky in Exile (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1978), p. 143CrossRefGoogle Scholar, reports that in August 1939, Trotsky spoke about his idea to include Chen in a special committee of the Fourth International.

122. EP Fleetman to Trotsky, 19 February 1940. Feigon, L., Chen Duxiu, p. 227Google Scholar, based on an early publication argues that Chinese Trotskyists “had begun to feel that it would be better, as they complained to Trotsky, for Chen to ‘go to America’ to visit Trotsky in his exile than to remain in China, where his fame and reputation would ‘mislead’ those who might be interested in the movement.”

123. EP Trotsky to Glass, 11 March 1939. The Chinese text of Chen's political message is: “Gei Tuoluosiji de xin” (“Letter to Trotsky”), The Latter Part of Chen Duxiu's Life, pp. 181–85.Google ScholarFan-hsi, Wang, Revolutionary, p. 210.Google Scholar The question of Chen's departure from China is not mentioned here.

124. Xu, Dong, “Tuoluosiji bei ci shishi” (“The assassination of Trotsky”), Dongfang zazhi, Vol 37, No. 18 (1940), p. 33.Google Scholar

125. Deutscher, , Trotsky, Vol. III, p. 423.Google Scholar

126. Brandt, , Stalin's Failure in China, 1924–1927, pp. 173–74.Google Scholar

127. Renjing, Liu, “Huiyi wo canjia Gongchan guoji di si ci daibiao dahui de qigkuang” (“Recollections of my participation in the Fourth Congress of the Comintern”), Materials for the Study of Party History, Vol. III (1982), pp. 190215.Google Scholar

128. Xiong, Guo and Rongguang, Gao, “Zhongguo Tuo pai lishi qingkuang jianjie” (“A short introduction to the historical situation of China's Trotskyists”), Materials for the Study of Party History, Vol. I (1980/1982), pp. 415–32Google Scholar; Baolin, Tang, “Chen Duxiu houqi xingzong” (“Chen Duxiu's whereabouts during the latter period of his life”), Dangshi yanjiu ziliao, Vol. IV (1983), pp. 680–87.Google Scholar