Li Da (philosopher)

Li Da

Li Da (Chinese: 李達; 1890–1966) was a Chinese Marxist philosopher. Li Da left the Communist Party in the 1920s due to its reformism. However he maintained close ties with the Party and its underground apparatus. Li Da translated many European Marxist works into Chinese. Li Da's most important work was Elements of Sociology which had a great influence on Mao Zedong. Li Da helped popularize the New Philosophy that gained dominance in the USSR in the 1930s. After 1949 Li Da rejoined the CPC. He was heavily criticized and beaten at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and died in 1966. He was posthumously rehabilitated after Mao's death.