Communist thought in China can be traced back to the New Culture Movement in the mid-1910s. It was a movement in which Chinese intellectuals questioned the traditional Chinese ideas of Confucianism and advocated for a more modern and westernized China, with an emphasis on science and democracy. However, the intellectuals quarreled among themselves over which western political system would be best suited for China. During that time, many intellectuals became interested in the Russian Revolution, the most significant among them Chen Duxiu, who was the Dean of the School of Letters at Peking University. There was a belief that the old ideas of China could only be overturned by a 'revolution'. The first Marxist meetings were held at the University, but the idea of forming a Communist Party was still on hold. It was not until the USSR gained an interest in China, under the auspices of the 'global revolution' that was still in vogue at that time, that the Chinese Communist Party was formed with the help of Comintern agents in 1921, with Chen and Mao as founding members. However, it is important to note that it was only a tiny group of intellectuals who decided to form a Communist party - most commoners had not even heard of Communism and other intellectuals supported a wide range of ideologies. Also significant is the fact that Communism is still aimed at urban workers, toeing the Soviet line of doctrine. However, China's industries were still developing at that time, and there was a dearth of urban workers, so Communism did not gain much ground. It was not until 1927, after the Long March, that the distinctly Chinese form of promoting Communism among the rural peasants became the official doctrine under the leadership of Mao, leading to a wider spread of communist thought.

Sources Arif Dirlik, The Origins of Chinese Communism (Oxford, 1989). Hung-Yok Ip, 'The Origins of Chinese Communism: A New Interpretation', Modern China 20 (1994), pp. 34-63. Liyan Liu, 'The Man Who Molded Mao: Yang Changji and the First Generation of Chinese Communists', Modern China 32, (2006), pp. 483-512.