Birth of the First CPC Branch of Ethnic Minority Members

IN Xidan, a busy commercial district in central Beijing, sits the National Mongolian and Tibetan School dating back to 1913.

- ZHANG XIAO

Nearly a century ago a group of Mongolian students established a branch of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at this school, the first branch set up by ethnic minority members. “From this school, communism started to spread among ethnic minority groups,” recalled late Vice Chairman of China Ulanhu (1906-1988).

Communism Grows among Ethnic Minority Groups

When attending the group discussion of the Inner Mongolian delegation at the 2021 session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), President Xi Jinping said, “One who wants to stride ahead should not forget the path that was trodden. No matter how far we will travel and to whatever bright future, we should not forget what we have done and why we set out to do it.”

On March 20, 1924, a branch of the Chinese Socialist Youth League was founded at the National Mongolian and Tibetan School, the first of ethnic Mongolian members. Then in early 1925, a CPC branch was established at the school, the first with ethnic minority members in China.

The creation of this CPC branch was accredited to Rong Yaoxian (1896-1928), a Mongolian student at the school and leader of the youth movement. He joined the CPC in April 1923 as the first member of his ethnic group. During the summer of that year, he went back to his hometown and mobilized 39 fellow Mongolians, including Ulanhu and Ji Yatai (1901-1968), to study at his school in Beijing.

Responding to these young men’s love and concerns for their struggling country, Li Dazhao (1889-1927), a pioneer of communism in China, sent CPC members to the school to share revolutionary ideas with them. He himself also made several visits to talk to students there, and helped establish a Marxism research group. Thanks to their efforts, the socialist youth league and CPC branches were founded.