The
League of the Left-Wing Writers , commonly abbreviated as the
Zuolian or
Left League, was an organization of writers formed in
Shanghai, China, on 2 March 1930, at the instigation of the
Chinese Communist Party and the influence of the celebrated author
Lu Xun. The purpose of the League was to promote socialist realism in support of the Communist Revolution, and it eventually became very influential in Chinese cultural circles. Lu Xun delivered the opening address to the organizational meeting, but he became disillusioned when it quickly became clear that he would have little influence. Other members included leaders of the Sun Society and the Creation Society, and
Zhou Yang, who became
Mao Zedong's favorite literary figure and after 1949 zealously enforced political orthodoxy. The League articulated theories on the political role of literature that foreshadowed Mao's influential
Yan'an Talks on Literature and Art, and engaged in running debates with the "art for art's sake"
Crescent Moon Society.