# Li Honglin

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Chinese scholar and official

In this [Chinese name](/source/Chinese_name), the [family name](/source/Chinese_surname) is *[Li](/source/Li_(surname_%E6%9D%8E))*.

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**Li Honglin** (Chinese: 李洪林; September 10, 1925 – June 1, 2016) was a Chinese scholar and a senior official who served as the deputy director of the Theory Bureau of the [Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party](/source/Publicity_Department_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party), as well as the President of [Fujian](/source/Fujian) Academy of Social Sciences.[1][2][3] As an influential [liberal](/source/Liberalism_in_China) official, Li played an instrumental role in the thought-liberation movement in the late 1970s and in the 1980s, and was called the "Thought Liberation Vanguard" and the "Flag Bearer for China's [New Enlightenment movement](/source/New_Enlightenment_(China))".[1][2][3][4][5]

## Biography

Li Honglin was born in [Gaizhou, Liaoning](/source/Gaizhou%2C_Liaoning) in 1925.[1][6] He graduated from [Northwestern Agriculture College](/source/Northwest_A%26F_University), and joined the [Chinese Communist Party](/source/Chinese_Communist_Party) (CCP) in 1946 while in college.[1][5]

Since 1948, Li worked at a number of universities, including [Yan'an](/source/Yan'an) University, the [Revolutionary University of Northwest](/source/Northwest_University_of_Politics_and_Law) in [Xi'an](/source/Xi'an), and the [Northwest Normal College](/source/Northwest_Normal_University) in [Lanzhou](/source/Lanzhou).[1][6] In 1954, he began a two-year study at the college of [Marxism-Leninism](/source/Marxism-Leninism) in [Beijing](/source/Beijing), which later became the [Central Party School of the CCP](/source/Central_Party_School_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party).[1][6] Since 1956, Li worked at the Political Research Office of the [CCP Central Committee](/source/CCP_Central_Committee) (中共中央政治研究室), until the beginning of [Chinese Cultural Revolution](/source/Cultural_Revolution) (1966–1976) during which he was purged and persecuted.[1][2][6] Li and his family were sent to the countryside at the shore of [Bohai](/source/Bohai_Sea) (near [Tianjin](/source/Tianjin)) to do farm work and manual labor.[1][2][6]

After the Cultural Revolution ended, Li was rehabilitated and held several key positions in Beijing since 1977, including the director of the Communist Party History Department of the National History Museum, deputy director of the Theory Bureau of the [CCP Publicity Department](/source/Publicity_Department_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party), and President of the Fujian Academy of Social Sciences.[1][2] He was also a visiting scholar and Henry Luce Fellow at [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University) in the [United States](/source/United_States) in 1986.[2][7]

In the late 1970s and the 1980s, Li played an important role in China's [New Enlightenment movement](/source/New_Enlightenment_(China)).[4][5] In his famous talk "The Leader and the People" at the [CCP Theory Conference](/source/Theory_Conference%2C_January-April_1979) in January 1979, Li argued that state leaders must be loyal to the people—not the other way around, as was commonly believed in China.[2][3][4][6] In the same year, he published an article titled "No Forbidden Areas for Reading Books" in *[Dushu magazine](/source/Dushu),* arguing that there should be no forbidden areas in reading books and calling for elimination of all restrictions on reading books.[2][3][4][6]

Li was arrested during the [Tiananmen Square Massacre](/source/Tiananmen_Square_Massacre) in 1989 and was jailed for almost a year.[4] He died in Beijing on June 1, 2016.[2][5] Li Honglin's son, [Li Shaomin](/source/Shaomin_Li), is a professor at the [Old Dominion University](/source/Old_Dominion_University).[8]

## See also

- [Boluan Fanzheng](/source/Boluan_Fanzheng)

- [Reform and Opening](/source/Reform_and_Opening)

- [Campaign against spiritual pollution](/source/Campaign_against_spiritual_pollution)

- [Anti-bourgeois liberalization](/source/Anti-bourgeois_liberalization)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:0_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:0_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:0_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:0_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-:0_1-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-:0_1-8) ["A Brief Biography of Li Honglin"](https://www.modernchinastudies.org/us/issues/current-issue/1495-a-brief-biography-of-li-honglin-.html). *[Modern China Studies](/source/Modern_China_Studies)*. **28** (2). 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221026194236/https://www.modernchinastudies.org/us/issues/current-issue/1495-a-brief-biography-of-li-honglin-.html) from the original on 2022-10-26.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:1_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:1_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:1_2-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:1_2-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-:1_2-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-:1_2-8) [""No Forbidden Areas for Reading Books": Li Honglin (1925-2016) gifts Fung Library with his calligraphy"](https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/news/no-forbidden-areas-for-reading-books/). *[Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies](/source/Fairbank_Center_for_Chinese_Studies) ([Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University))*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240720160548/https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/news/no-forbidden-areas-for-reading-books/) from the original on 2024-07-20. Retrieved 2024-10-19.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:6_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:6_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:6_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:6_3-3) ["Introduction: Thought Liberation Vanguard Li Honglin"](https://www.modernchinastudies.org/us/issues/current-issue/1494-introduction-thought-liberation-vanguard-li-honglin.html). *[Modern China Studies](/source/Modern_China_Studies)*. **28** (2). 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240529113327/https://www.modernchinastudies.org/us/issues/current-issue/1494-introduction-thought-liberation-vanguard-li-honglin.html) from the original on 2024-05-29.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:2_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:2_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:2_4-4) [Yan, Jiaqi](/source/Yan_Jiaqi) (2021). ["中国自由化运动的结束--纪念李洪林"](https://www.modernchinastudies.org/cn/issues/current-issue/1517-the-passing-of-li-honglin-signals-the-end-of-an-era-by-yan-jiaqi-.html) [The end of China's liberalization—in memory of Li Honglin]. *[Modern China Studies](/source/Modern_China_Studies)*. **28** (2). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241007205645/https://www.modernchinastudies.org/cn/issues/current-issue/1517-the-passing-of-li-honglin-signals-the-end-of-an-era-by-yan-jiaqi-.html) from the original on 2024-10-07.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:3_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:3_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:3_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:3_5-3) ["中国"新启蒙运动"旗手李洪林逝世"](https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/ql1-06022016100657.html) [Li Honglin, the flag bearer for China's New Enlightenment movement, has died]. *[Radio Free Asia](/source/Radio_Free_Asia)*. 2016-06-02. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230909141628/https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/ql1-06022016100657.html) from the original on 2023-09-09.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:4_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:4_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:4_6-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:4_6-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:4_6-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:4_6-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:4_6-6) ["李洪林纪事"](https://www.modernchinastudies.org/cn/issues/current-issue/1495-a-brief-biography-of-li-honglin-.html) [Biography of Li Honglin]. *[Modern China Studies](/source/Modern_China_Studies)* (in Chinese). **28** (2). 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220902071740/https://www.modernchinastudies.org/cn/issues/current-issue/1517-the-passing-of-li-honglin-signals-the-end-of-an-era-by-yan-jiaqi-.html) from the original on 2022-09-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:5_7-0)** ["思想解放先行者李洪林逝世"](https://www.voachinese.com/a/li-honglin-20160601/3358293.html) [Li Honglin, pioneer of thought liberation, has died]. *[Voice of America](/source/Voice_of_America)* (in Chinese). 2016-06-02. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160615042540/https://www.voachinese.com/a/li-honglin-20160601/3358293.html) from the original on 2016-06-15. Retrieved 2024-10-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Shaomin Li"](https://www.odu.edu/directory/shaomin-li). *Old Dominion University*. 2022-08-21. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240613071716/https://www.odu.edu/directory/shaomin-li) from the original on 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-10-19.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Li Honglin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Honglin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Honglin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.