Li Ta-chao (1889-1927) was an early Chinese Communist revolutionist, a prominent figure in the May Fourth movement, and one of the founders of the Chinese Communist party.

Orphaned son of a Hopei peasant, raised by his grandparents, Li Ta-chao managed to graduate from the Peiyang School of Law and Government in 1913. With the help of a sponsor in the Progressive party, he went to Tokyo and entered Waseda University. While there, Li contributed articles to Chia-yin tsa-chih (Tiger Magazine), in which he attacked Yüan Shih-k'ai for establishing a dictatorship and capitulating to Japan's Twenty-one Demands. Returning to Peking (now Beijing) in the summer of 1916, he became editor of the Ch'en Pao (Morning Post).

In February 1918 Li became chief librarian at National Peking University (Peita) and in 1920 was named professor of history, economics, and political science. At Peita he was swept up in the intellectual currents of...