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Prior to 1949 the Chinese Communist Party orchestrated innovative and participatory forms of adult education. This article concerns Madame Li Li, a leading Chinese Communist woman adult educator. Western delegates at the International Council for Adult Education 1984 Shanghai symposium on adult education were fascinated by Madame Li Li because, amongst other things, she had begun her career in adult education as a 14-year-old propagandist in the Communist New 4th Army. Today, China is trying to become the biggest learning society in the world. With this as a backdrop, the purpose of this study was to chronicle the life of Li Li and reflect on what it means for 21st century Chinese adult education and learning. After being forced from her Huai’an (Jiangsu) home at age 14, she worked underground for the Communist Party. After 1949 she turned early experience in surveillance and propaganda into a career as an adult educator. She has misgivings about her work in the Party Discipline department and, being from a privileged family and a high official, suffered harsh treatment during the Cultural Revolution. After the Cultural Revolution she presided over a massive adult education enterprise in Shanghai and was an organiser of the 1984 Shanghai symposium on adult education. Today she worries about corruption, instability and lack of a moral compass in China. The authors reflect on what her life means for adult education and lifelong learning in 21st century China.

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