ABSTRACT
Li Da had returned to China from Japan in May 1918 as a representative of the Save China Association. The outbreak of the May Fourth movement and the subsequent June Third movement prompted Li to write a number of essays on the subject of socialism. In his first major essay on Marxist theory, "Marx Restored", written in December 1920 in Shanghai and published in Xin Qingnian in January 1921, Li argued that Marx had explained the principles and methods of social revolution. In this essay, Li queries whether those who participated in the French Revolution had mastered Rousseau's theories, and whether those who participated in the Russian Revolution had all mastered Marxism. One of the targets of Li Da's criticism immediately prior to the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party was the famous scholar and reformer Liang Qichao. "Marxist Theory and China" was the Li's last major essay before he left the Chinese Communist Party in mid-1923.
