Chen Duxiu was one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party and among the earliest within the Party to reflect critically on Marxism, Stalin, and Soviet communism. Yet because of his independent spirit, his status in Party history has often seemed ambiguous. Thinking of this founding elder long belittled by the Party, Mao went to the Chen Duxiu Cemetery in Anqing, Anhui, to meet his spirit.

The cemetery lies in the northern suburbs of Anqing. Before the tomb are broad stone steps and a wide passageway. A two-meter-high black granite stele stands prominently, engraved with seven large characters: “Tomb of Mr. Chen Duxiu.”

In 1942, Chen Duxiu died in Jiangjin. In his will, he asked to be buried in his hometown, but his family lacked the means; with assistance from local gentry and old friends, he was temporarily interred there. In 1947, after the War of Resistance, his remains were returned to his hometown of Yejiachong. In 1979 the tomb was renovated. In 1982 the Anqing municipal government designated it a municipal cultural relic protection site. In 1998 the Anhui provincial government approved it as a key provincial cultural relic site, raising 13 million yuan to expand the cemetery to 1,000 square meters.

Hearing that Mao’s spirit had come to visit, Chen emerged from the tomb. “Runzhi, you’ve come a long way to see me. What brings you here?”

Mao said, “Teacher Chen, greetings. The Jade Emperor has ordered me to meet the spirits who suffered injustice at my hands and to seek their forgiveness. Naturally, you are on the list.”

Chen replied, “You still call me teacher? I have long ceased to be one.”

Runzhi said, “You were my teacher in the past, and you still are.”

Chen said, “I dare not accept that! Let us learn together—from history to the present. There is much to learn.”

Runzhi said, “Indeed. I have learned lessons from history and learned much from you.” He added, “You were a star of the intellectual world, the commander-in-chief of the May Fourth Movement. Everyone listened to you. Your influence on me was greater than anyone else’s.”

Chen said, “I once saw what you wrote—‘I wish Mr. Chen ten thousand years; I wish his supreme spirit ten thousand years.’ In truth, I merely advocated ‘democracy and science’ in New Youth, inspiring young people. Yet later I also influenced some to take an ultra-left path.”

Mao said, “You deserve credit for founding the Party. Without you, there would have been no Communist Party.”

Chen replied, “You flatter me. On reflection, I too made mistakes. Though you elected me General Secretary for five consecutive terms, we were in fact deceived by Russia and Stalin. At that time the Soviet Union twice issued statements promising to return Chinese territories seized during the tsarist era and to renounce imperial privileges, winning enormous goodwill among the Chinese people. Even Sun Yat-sen looked to Russia as a teacher and savior. In reality, it was not so. Later they absorbed Mongolia into their sphere of influence. We were too trusting and were deceived.”

Runzhi said, “You awakened early. It took me forty years of reflection to realize we had been deceived. Even in 1949, I proclaimed that we would ‘lean to one side’ toward the Soviet Union and completely reject the United States. You had long opposed accepting large sums of Russian ‘money-opium’ and taking orders from others. You also opposed ‘armed defense of the Soviet Union.’”

Chen said, “Only after five years in a Nationalist prison, reading and reflecting, did I fully realize how we had been misled by Stalin—led by the nose and controlled. After the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian archives revealed that from 1923 to 1927, Stalin’s Politburo held 122 meetings on the China question, issuing 738 decisions. Every detail was stipulated and supervised by advisers sent to China. We took their money and ate their rice—how could we not obey?”

Mao said, “It took me forty years of reflection to see that the First United Front was Stalin’s strategy—to have us burrow into the Nationalist Party, establish secret organizations, control it, and ultimately seize leadership. As the Soviets put it, ‘squeeze it like a lemon—extract all the juice, then discard it.’ I incited peasant uprisings, killing relatives of Northern Expedition officers and confiscating their homes. The Soviets also ordered Zhou Enlai to launch a workers’ uprising in Shanghai. It failed; the Nationalists massacred us. The two parties split and slaughtered each other.”

Chen said, “In 1932 the Nationalists arrested me but did not execute me; they sentenced me to thirteen years. Thanks to Hu Shi’s intercession, I was released after five. In prison I reflected: the Nationalists and Communists were brothers—both revolutionary, both funded and armed by Russia during the Northern Expedition—both deceived. The two parties could have continued cooperating to build the nation peacefully, first developing capitalism and later socialism, in two stages.”

Mao said, “You had foresight. After me, Deng Xiaoping followed something like what you suggested—‘black cat, white cat,’ let capitalism develop first, feed the people, achieve moderate prosperity, and pursue socialism gradually. Had the Party followed your path, China might have avoided fifty years of detours. You were the Deng Xiaoping of that era.”

Chen said, “Each person awakens sooner or later. It is a pity I died early and did not see China’s better days.”

Mao said, “You say awakening comes sooner or later. I am honored now to have caught up again with my teacher; we once more share a common language.”

Chen said, “In the netherworld I continue to study and observe. Let us keep in contact and exchange thoughts.”

As he spoke, Chen slowly stepped back, gradually fading from sight. Runzhi felt a touch of reluctance as he watched him go.

NEXT: 40. Peng Dehuai (1898–1974)