Chen Duxiu in the context of "Communist Party of China"

The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (Chinese: 中国共产党中央委员会总书记; pinyin: Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The general secretary leads the CCP Central Committee. Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader of the PRC.

The position of the general secretary of the Central Committee was established at the 4th Party National Congress in 1925, when Chen Duxiu, one of the founders of the CCP, was elected as the first General Secretary. After the 7th National Congress, the position was replaced by the Chairman of the Central Committee, which was held by Mao Zedong until his death in 1976. The post was re-established at the 12th National Congress in 1982 and replaced the Party Chairman as the highest leadership position of the CCP; Hu Yaobang was the first General Secretary. Since Jiang Zemin's leadership in the 1990s, the holder of the post has been, except for transitional periods, the president of China, making the holder the state representative, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the supreme commander of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Li Dazhao (simplified Chinese: 李大钊; traditional Chinese: 李大釗; pinyin: Lǐ Dàzhāo; Wade–Giles: Li Ta-chao; 29 October 1889 – 28 April 1927) was a Chinese intellectual, revolutionary, and political activist who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with Chen Duxiu in 1921. He was one of the first Chinese intellectuals to publicly support Bolshevism and the October Revolution, and his writings and mentorship inspired a generation of young radicals, including Mao Zedong.

Born to a peasant family in Hebei province, Li was educated in modern schools in China and later at Waseda University in Japan. He rose to prominence during the New Culture Movement as the chief librarian and a professor of history at Peking University. In this role, he influenced many student activists and transformed his office into a hub for Marxist discussion. After the May Fourth Movement of 1919, he helped organize some of China's first communist study groups.

The 4th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in the Shanghai International Settlement at a shikumen residence in No. 8, Lane 256, Dongbaoxing Road, between 11 and 22 January 1925. The congress was attended by 20 participants representing 994 party members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The congress succeeded the 3rd National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and preceded the 5th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. A congress report was drafted by Chen Duxiu who represented the 3rd Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

Anqing (simplified Chinese: 安庆; traditional Chinese: 安慶; pinyin: Ānqìng, also Yicheng, Nganking and formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province, People's Republic of China. Its population was 4,165,284 as of the 2020 census, with 728,501 living in the built-up (or metro) area made up of three urban districts. Anqing is famous as the birthplace of Chen Duxiu, one of the founding fathers of the Chinese Communist Party, who served as the first General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1921 to 1928. Huangmei opera, a renowned Chinese opera style, originated in the city of Anqing. This captivating art form gained immense popularity since the 1950s, largely attributed to the exceptional talents of local actors and actresses from Anqing. Huangmei opera is a significant cultural treasure that defines the rich heritage of the city of Anqing.

The New Culture Movement was a progressive sociopolitical movement in China during the 1910s and 1920s. Participants criticized many aspects of traditional Chinese society, in favor of new formulations of Chinese culture informed by modern ideals of mass political participation. Arising out of disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture following the failure of the Republic of China to address China's problems, it featured scholars such as Chen Duxiu, Cai Yuanpei, Chen Hengzhe, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren, He Dong, Qian Xuantong, Liu Bannong, Bing Xin and Hu Shih, many of whom were classically educated, who led a revolt against Confucianism. The movement was launched by the writers of New Youth magazine, where these intellectuals promoted a new society based on unconstrained individuals rather than the traditional Confucian system. In 1917, Hu Shih put forward his famous "eight principles", which advocated for abandoning ancient traditional writing methods for ones that more accurately represented vernacular speech.

The New Culture Movement was the progenitor of the May Fourth Movement. On 4 May 1919, students in Beijing aligned with the movement protested the transfer of German rights over Jiaozhou Bay to Imperial Japan rather than China at the Paris Peace Conference (the meeting setting the terms of peace at the conclusion of World War I), transforming what had been a cultural movement into a political one.

New Youth, also known as La Jeunesse, was a Chinese literary magazine founded by Chen Duxiu and published between 1915 and 1926. It strongly influenced both the New Culture Movement and the later May Fourth Movement.