
Chen Duxiu Update (or, the Devil Makes Work for Idle Hands) (1929)
From People's History of Ideas Podcast by Matthew Rothwell
December 11, 2025 · 31 min · Season 1 · Episode 132
About this episode
This episode explores how Chen Duxiu, co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party, became a Trotskyist.
The story of how the co-founder and first General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party became a Trotskyist. Further reading: Gregor Benton, China’s Urban Revolutionaries: Explorations in the History of Chinese Trotskyism, 1921-1952 Gregor Benton, Prophets Unarmed: Chinese Trotskyists in Revolution, War, Jail, and the Return from Limbo Lee Feigon, Chen Duxiu: Founder of the Chinese Communist Party Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes) Tony Sa...
People in this episode
Host: Matthew Rothwell
Topics covered
- Chinese Communist Party
- Trotskyism
- Chen Duxiu
- history
- revolution
Keywords
- Chen Duxiu
- Trotskyism
- Chinese Communist Party
- Gregor Benton
- history of Trotskyism
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Chinese Communist Party
Books & works: China’s Urban Revolutionaries: Explorations in the History of Chinese Trotskyism, 1921-1952, Prophets Unarmed: Chinese Trotskyists in Revolution, War, Jail, and the Return from Limbo, Chen Duxiu: Founder of the Chinese Communist Party, The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party
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