Peng Shu-tse 彭述之 and Ch'en Pi-lan 陳碧蘭 papers, 1924-1987

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Summary

Creators:
Peng, Shu-tse, 1895- and Chen, Bilan, 1902-1987
Abstract:
The Peng Shu-tse 彭述之 and Ch'en Pi-lan 陳碧蘭 papers (1924-1987) contains speeches and writings, correspondence, theses, and resolutions relating to the early communist movement in China, and to Trotskyist activities in China and elsewhere. Includes memoirs, other writings, and correspondence of Chen Bilan, the companion of Peng Shu-tse, relating to the same topics and also to the condition of women in Chinese society.
Extent:
5 manuscript boxes (2.0 Linear Feet)
Language:
In English and Chinese
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Peng Shu-tse 彭述之 and Ch'en Pi-lan 陳碧蘭 papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers of the veteran Chinese Trotskyist leader Peng Shu-tse [P'eng Shu-chih 彭述之] include also those of his lifelong companion Ch'en Pi-lan [Chen Bilan 陳碧蘭]. They date overwhelmingly from the post-1949 period, during which Peng, Ch'en and other Chinese Trotskyists were in exile. Many of their writings deal, however, with their early political activity, and with their participation in the early years of the Chinese Communist Party and especially in the revolutionary events of 1925-1927. The book-length memoirs of Ch'en Pi-lan are particularly notable. They, and others of her writings, are concerned not only with the Chinese revolutionary movement in general, but also with the Chinese women's movement in particular.

Material from the post-1949 period is also of value in documenting activities of the Fourth International and of its exiled Chinese section, and of Trotskyist analysis of the Maoist regime in China, the Chinese commune system, and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. More than half of the material in the collection is in English, but a sizable proportion of it is in Chinese.

The papers were formerly housed in New York City in the Library of Social History, an affiliate of the Socialist Workers Party of the United States. Together with other holdings of the Library of Social History, they were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives from the Anchor Foundation in 1992.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1895
Peng (Peng Shuzhi) born, Hunan Province, China
1902
Ch'en (Chen Bilan 陈碧兰) born, Hupei Province, China
1920
Peng joined Chinese Communist Party
1921-1924
Peng student at University of Toilers of the East, Moscow
1922
Ch'en joined Chinese Communist Party
1924-1925
Ch'en student at University of Toilers of the East, Moscow
1925
Peng and Ch'en established household
1925-1927
Peng member of national Political Bureau of Chinese Communist Party and editor of Hsiang-tao chou-pao and Hsin ch'ing-nien. Ch'en member of Shanghai Region Political Bureau of Chinese Communist Party and secretary of Shanghai Region Women's Commission
1929
Peng and Ch'en charter members of Chinese Left Opposition. Expelled from Chinese Communist Party
1931
Peng and Ch'en charter members of Communist League of China
1932-1937
Peng imprisoned in Nanking
1948
Peng and Ch'en moved to Hong Kong. Charter members of Revolutionary Communist Party of China
1950
Peng and Ch'en moved to Vietnam
1951
Peng and Ch'en moved to France. Continued as leaders of exiled Chinese section of Fourth International. Peng for many years member of International Executive Committee of Fourth International
1975
Peng and Ch'en moved to United States
1983
Peng died
1987
Ch'en died
Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1992.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Peng Shu-tse 彭述之 and Ch'en Pi-lan 陳碧蘭 papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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