Li Da

For the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period warlord, see Li Renda.

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Li.

Li Da (1890–1966) was a Chinese Marxist philosopher. Li Da left the Communist Party in the 1920s due to its reformism. However he maintained close ties with the Party and its underground apparatus. Li Da translated many European Marxist works into Chinese. Li Da's most important work was Elements of Sociology which had a great influence on Mao Zedong. Li Da helped popularize the New Philosophy that gained dominance in the USSR in the 1930s. After 1949 Li Da rejoined the CPC. He was heavily criticized and attacked during the Cultural Revolution for not praising Mao's philosophical contributions. Li Da was posthumously rehabilitated after Mao's death.