Li was born in Chengdu, Si Chuan Province on Nov. 25, 1904.

In 1920, Li enrolled, with an elder brother, in the Chengdu Foreign Language Specialist School to study English. It was there he first engaged in the organization of literary journal Crescent and wrote a number of vers libre. Joining an anarchist organization, the Equality Society, Li became its most prominent member, actively distributing propaganda leaflets.In 1923, he left for Shanghai, Nanjing and other places to study.

Photo above is Li’s family in 1907.(Eastday/Jiang Wenran)