Xu Teli (; February 1, 1877 – November 28, 1968) was a politician of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Xu was the teacher of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

Cai Hesen Cai Hesen (March 30, 1895 – August 4, 1931) was an early leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and a friend and comrade of Mao Zedong. Cai was born in Shanghai but grew up in Shuangfeng County in Hunan Province of China. He helped ...

Xiao Zisheng Xiao Zisheng (; 22 August 1894 - 21 November 1976) was a Chinese educator and scholar. Names His birthname was Xiao Zisheng (). His style name was Xudong () and his pseudonym was Shutong (). Biography Xiao was born in Xiangxiang, Hunan on 22 Au ...

, and

Tian Han Tian Han ( zh, 田汉; 12 March 1898 – 10 December 1968), formerly romanized as T'ien Han, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. He emerged at the time of the ...

. Xu was a member of the 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the

8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1956 to 1969. It was preceded by the 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It held 12 plenary sessions in this period of 13 years. It was the longest serv ...

Biography

Xu was born Xu Maoxun () in Changsha County,

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

on February 1, 1877, during the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. At the age of four, his mother died. In 1885, by age nine, Xu was sent to school. At age eighteen, Xu set up a private school and taught there. In 1905, Xu attended the imperial examination when he was twenty-eight. After graduation, he became a teacher at Changsha Zhounan Girls' School. In 1907, Xu made a report on current affairs in the school, when he talked about the humiliating things of the corrupt government of Qing Empire, large tears began to fill his eyes and broke hot across his cheeks, Xu was indignation that he cut his

little finger The little finger, or pinkie, also known as the baby finger, fifth digit, or pinky finger, is the most ulnar and smallest digit of the human hand, and next to the ring finger. Etymology The word "pinkie" is derived from the Dutch word ''pink ...

off with a

kitchen knife A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food preparation. While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives – notably a large chef's knife, a tough cleaver, a small paring knife and some sort of ...

, and wrote a protest with a pen dipped in the blood, fainted on the spot. In 1911, Xu took part in the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

and Hunan Uprising. In 1912, Xu founded the Changsha County Normal School (currently

Changsha Normal University Changsha Normal University () is a university located in Changsha, Hunan, China. As of fall 2013, the university has two campuses, a combined student body of 10,000 students, 600 faculty members. The university consists of 10 departments, wi ...

). In 1919, Xu studied

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, he also visited

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In this trip Xu observed modern European societies and cultures for the first time. In June 1924, Xu returned to Changsha, he founded the Changsha Women's Normal School and served as the President there. At that time, Xu also taught at

Hunan First Normal University Hunan First Normal University (), founded in 1903, is a university located in Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan Province, China. Hunan First Normal University covers a total area of 1346 mu, with more than 420,000 square meters of floor space. T ...

. In 1927, during the White Terror, Xu joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

and took part in the

Nanchang Uprising The Nanchang Uprising () was the first major Nationalist Party of China–Chinese Communist Party engagement of the Chinese Civil War, begun by the Chinese Communists to counter the Shanghai massacre of 1927 by the Kuomintang. The Kuomint ...

. In 1928, Xu was sent to

Moscow Sun Yat-sen University Moscow Sun Yat-sen University, officially the Sun Yat-sen Communist University of the Toilers of China, was a Comintern school, which operated from 1925–1930 in the city of Moscow, Russia, then the Soviet Union. It was a training camp fo ...

to study at the expense of the government. In 1930, Xu returned to

Jiangxi–Fujian Soviet The Central Revolutionary Base, commonly called the Central Soviet (Zone), the Kiangsi–Fukien Soviet, or the Jiangxi–Fujian Soviet, was the largest component territory of the Chinese Soviet Republic, an unrecognized state established in N ...

, he was appointed as the Minister of Education of the

Chinese Soviet Republic The Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was an East Asian proto-state in China, proclaimed on 7 November 1931 by Chinese communist leaders Mao Zedong and Zhu De in the early stages of the Chinese Civil War. The discontiguous territories of the ...

, a position he held until September 1937. In 1934, Xu took part in the

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Red Army, Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Revolut ...

. In 1940, Xu worked as the President of Yan'an Academy of Natural Sciences. When he was in Yan'an, he and

Dong Biwu Dong Biwu (; 5 March 1886 – 2 April 1975) was a Chinese communist revolutionary and politician, who served as acting Chairman of the People's Republic of China between 1972 and 1975. Early life Dong Biwu was born in Huanggang, Hubei to ...

Lin Boqu Lin Boqu (; Pinyin: ''Lín Bóqú''; Wade-Giles: ''Lin Po-ch'u''; March 20, 1886 – May 29, 1960) was a Chinese politician and poet. An early supporter of Sun Yat-sen and member of the Tongmenghui, as well as a later participant in the Nan ...

Wu Yuzhang Wu Yuzhang (; given name Yongshan (); December 30, 1878 – December 12, 1966) was a Chinese politician, educator, and president of Renmin University of China from 1950 to 1966. Biography Wu Yuzhang was born in Rong County, Sichuan in 1878. ...

, and

Xie Juezai Xie Juezai (; 1884–1971), also known by his courtesy name Huannan and his alias Juezhai, was a Chinese politician, activist, and the President of the Supreme People's Court. His main works are collected in "The Collected Works of Xie Juezai". ...

were called the Yan'an Five Seniors (). After the founding of the

Communist State A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...

, Xu was appointed as the Vice-Minister of

Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge of spreading C ...

, a few days later, he resigned his post. On November 28, 1968, during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, Xu died in Beijing, aged 91.

Personal life

Xu married Xiong Licheng (), they had four children, Xu Shouzhen (), Xu Duben (), Xu Moqing (), and Xu Houben ().

Works

* ''Collected Works of Xu Teli'' * ''Complete Works of Xu Teli''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Teli 1877 births 1968 deaths People from Changsha County University of Paris alumni Moscow Sun Yat-sen University alumni Chinese expatriates in France Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery

Biography

Personal life

Works

See also

References