1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
중국공산당 제1차 전국대표대회
The founding congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which opened on 23 July 1921 in the Shanghai French Concession and closed in early August on a boat on South Lake at Jiaxing in Zhejiang. Thirteen delegates of the communist groups and the Comintern envoys Maring and Nikolsky founded a party of 57 members, adopted a first programme calling for the overthrow of capitalist rule, the abolition of private property and affiliation to the Comintern, and elected Chen Duxiu secretary.
In depth
Convening: in June 1921 the Comintern’s Maring and Nikolsky arrived in Shanghai and urged Li Da of the Shanghai group to call a national congress. Li Da and Li Hanjun wrote asking each group to send two delegates, and the Comintern paid for the congress.
Delegates: Li Da and Li Hanjun for Shanghai, Zhang Guotao and Liu Renjing for Beijing, Mao Zedong and He Shuheng for Changsha, Dong Biwu and Chen Tanqiu for Wuhan, Wang Jinmei and Deng Enming for Jinan, Chen Gongbo for Guangzhou, Zhou Fohai for the students in Japan and Bao Huiseng for Chen Duxiu: thirteen in all. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao could not attend. Zhang Guotao presided, and Nikolsky spoke on the aims of the Profintern. When the French Concession police searched the meeting place on the night of 30 July, the delegates moved to a tourist boat on South Lake at Jiaxing to finish.
Decisions and after: the programme named the party the Communist Party of China and set as its aims the overthrow of capitalist rule, the abolition of capitalism and private property and affiliation to the Comintern. Chen Duxiu was elected secretary in absentia, Zhang Guotao head of organisation and Li Da head of propaganda. The original programme was identified in a Russian translation among Comintern papers handed over by the Soviet Union in 1957. The opening date was officially fixed as 23 July only in 1981, several dates from 31 July to 5 August are still proposed for the close, and the party celebrates 1 July as its founding day. Of the thirteen, only Mao Zedong and Dong Biwu stood at the proclamation of 1949; seven left the party.