Abstract: Shanghai University in the 1920s played an important role in spreading Marxist theory. Early leaders of Communist Party of China（CPC）, such as Deng Zhongxia and Qu Qiubai, fully inherited and developed the valuable experience of Marx, Engels, Lenin and other proletarian leaders in political publicity and mobilization. In Shanghai University, some early leaders of CPC gave full play to the role of the Party’s grass-roots organizations and the university’s advantages to integrate the dissemination of Marxist theory into the construction of Shanghai University, thus gradually forming, interconnecting and strengthening the Party’s leadership among colleges, student associations and workers. As a result, a virtuous cycle of “convincing people with theories, shaping people with theories and spreading theories with people” was established, a new transmission channel of Marxist theory was opened up under the leadership of the CPC through socialist youth leagues and progressive students, and the spread of Marxist theory was greatly enhanced in terms of localization, routinization and popularization.

Key words: the spread of Marxist theory, early members of the CPC, Shanghai University