Statue_of_Aisiqi_in_courtyard_of_his_house_in_Heshun

Ài Sīqí () is the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Li Shengxuan (李生萱, 2 March 1910 – 22 March 1966), a Yunnan Mongol

Chinese philosopher Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developme ...

and author. He was born in

Tengchong Tengchong () is a county-level city of Baoshan City, western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. It is well known for its volcanic activity. The city is named after the town of Tengchong which serves as its political center, previously kn ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

, later traveling to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, where he studied English and French at a Protestant school and was exposed to

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

’s ''

Three Principles of the People The Three Principles of the People (; also translated as the Three People's Principles, San-min Doctrine, or Tridemism) is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to improve China made during the Republican Era. ...

'' and

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. He read a great deal of Marxism, including the ''

Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Comm ...

'', in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

. This reading is the root of Ai’s most important works, '' Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism'' (歷史唯物主義與辯証唯物主義) and ''Philosophy for the Masses'' (大眾哲學)(1948). He was a delegate to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd National People's Congress. In the small tourist town of

Heshun Heshun County () is a county of east-central Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is ...

Tengchong County Tengchong () is a county-level city of Baoshan City, western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. It is well known for its volcanic activity. The city is named after the town of Tengchong which serves as its political center, previously kn ...

, in western

Province, China, there is a small museum dedicated to Ai. It is based in his former house, where he lived for two years. It contains pictures, personal items and a statue of him in the yard of the compound.

Secondary literature

* Joshua A. Fogel, "Ai Siqi, Establishment Intellectual by Joshua A. Fogel", in

Merle Goldman Merle Goldman (born March 12, 1931; Chinese: 戈德曼) is an American historian and sinologist of modern China. She is Professor Emerita of History, Boston University, especially known for a series of studies on the role of intellectuals under th ...

Timothy Cheek Timothy Cheek ( zh, t=齊慕實, s=齐慕实, p=Qí Mùshí) is a Canadian historian specializing in the study of intellectuals, the history of the Chinese Communist Party, and the political system in modern China. He is Professor, Louis Cha Chair ...

, and Carol Lee Hamrin, eds., ''China's Intellectuals and the State: In Search of a New Relationship'' (Harvard University Asia Center, 1987). * Joshua A. Fogel. ''Ai Ssu-ch'i's Contribution to the Development of Chinese Marxism.'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Council on East Asian Studies/Harvard UniversityHarvard Contemporary China Series, 1987). . * Nick Knight The Role of Philosopher to The Chinese Communist Movement: Ai Siqi, Mao Zedong and Marxist Philosophy in China //Asian Studies Review Volume 26, Issue 4, pages 419–445, December 2002 * Chenshan Tian (2002). Ai Siqi's Reading of the Marxian Notion of "Existence Versus Consciousness". Journal of Chinese Philosophy 29 (3):437–456 * Китайская философия. Энциклопедический словарь. М., 1994 — С.12-13. 1910 births 1966 deaths Philosophers from Yunnan Chinese people of Mongolian descent Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Counter-Japanese Military and Political University faculty People from Tengchong Delegates to the 1st National People's Congress Delegates to the 2nd National People's Congress Delegates to the 3rd National People's Congress {{China-philosopher-stub