Li Jishen, also spelled Renchao, was born in 1885 to a rich peasant family. Li Jishen was extremely patriotic and enthusiastic since he was a child, and he was determined to study military affairs. In 1903, at the age of 18, Li Jishen was sent to the Huangpu Army Middle School in Guangdong by the Wuzhou Zhongxi Academy, and after graduation, he first served as a probationary officer in the Guangdong New Army, and then entered the Lecture Martial Arts Hall.
In 1909, Li Jishen was sent to the Baoding Army Officers' Academy for further study. In 1912, he went to Shanghai and served as a combat staff officer in Yao Yuping's department, and returned to school in 1913. He graduated in 1914 and stayed on as an instructor for 5 years. It was precisely these five years of instructor career that made Li Jishen win the title of "the national army is a descendant, and the famous general in Guangdong is a protégé". Therefore, Li Jishen was quite prestigious in the Kuomintang military and political circles.
In 1920, Li Jishen was called by Deng Hao, commander of the First Division of the Guangdong Army, to Guangzhou as the deputy commander of the First Division of the Guangdong Army, and later as the chief of staff. In March 1923, he was promoted to division commander. He was appointed by Sun Yat-sen as the Governor of Xijiang, and supported Li Zongren, Huang Shaohu and others in unifying Guangxi. When the Whampoa Army Officer School was established, Li Jishen served as vice president and director of the training department, and later served as the commander of the Fourth Army and the chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Government. After Chiang Kai-shek launched the April 12 counter-revolutionary coup, Li Jishen also carried out the April 15 Incident in Guangzhou and carried out the "qing party."
In 1929, Chiang Kai-shek held a military mobilization conference in Nanjing in order to seize the military power of warlords everywhere. Li Jishen ostensibly agreed with Chiang Kai-shek's policy, but behind his back, he consulted with His Fellow Gui compatriots Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi on countermeasures. As a result, the content of the deliberations was obtained by Chiang Kai-shek's secret service. On March 21, 1929, Li Jishen was placed under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek in Tangshan, Nanjing. During the three major kuomintang events, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and Li Jishen were expelled from the Kuomintang. This was the first time Li Jishen had been expelled from the party.
After the "918 Incident" in 1931, Li Jishen was released and restored to the party. On November 18, 1933, Li Jishen, together with the generals of the Nineteenth Route Army and the leaders of the Third Party, Zhang Bojun and Huang Qixiang, held an emergency meeting and decided to raise the banner of the Anti-Japanese United Communists and anti-Chiang Kai-shek and establish a new government. On the morning of November 20, a mass meeting was held in Fuzhou. That evening, the Presidium of the Congress decided to form a revolutionary government. On November 21, the Production People's Party with Chen Mingshu as its secretary was formed, and Li Jishen and others announced their withdrawal from the Kuomintang. On November 23, the Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Central Committee controlled by Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei announced the permanent expulsion of Chen Mingshu, Li Jishen, and Chen Youren. This was the second time Li Jishen had been expelled from the Kuomintang.
After the defeat of the anti-Chiang Kai-shek campaign, Li Jishen and others established the Chinese National Revolutionary Alliance in Hong Kong. During the period of the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Jishen advocated cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and was reinstated as a party member, and from the end of 1938 to the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he held three main positions in the Nationalist government, namely, deputy director of the Field Party and Government Committee, director of the Guilin General Office of the Military Commission, and president of the Military Senate, without real power.
In the later period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Jishen witnessed the corruption of the Kuomintang and conceived the establishment of a Kuomintang democratic organization in Guangxi. After Japan's surrender, Li Jishen stepped up this activity. In late February 1946, Li Jishen went to Chongqing via Guangzhou to prepare to attend the Second Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Kuomintang. In Guangzhou, he entrusted Cai Tingkai and Li Zhangda to be responsible for the preparatory work. On March 12 and April 14, Cai Tingkai and Li Zhangda met twice in Guangzhou to formally form the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy, and elected 15 people (designated by Li Jishen in advance) as the members of the council, and Li Jishen as the chairman of the council.
During his stay in Chongqing, Li Jishen expressed his firm opposition to civil war and had extensive contacts with democrats. When meeting with the leaders of the Three People's Comrades Federation, he expressed support for the activities of the Pakatan Rakyat. On February 26, 1947, Li Jishen left Shanghai to arrive in Hong Kong in the name of returning to his hometown to visit the grave. In Hong Kong, he agreed with Cai Tingkai and others on a seven-point program, including restoring The revolutionary spirit of Premier Sun, reforming the Kuomintang, abolishing the dictatorship within the Party, and ensuring cooperation with various democratic parties to build the country.
The Central Committee of the Kuomintang, controlled by Chiang Kai-shek's clique, held an emergency meeting in May 1947 and announced Li Jishen's expulsion from the party on the grounds of "violating party discipline" and "slandering Chairman Chiang kai-shek and the government." This was the third time Li Jishen had been expelled from the Kuomintang.
Beginning in May 1947, Li Jishen stepped up preparations for the establishment of a unified Kuomintang democratic organization. Under the impetus of Li Jishen and others, in October 1947, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang was established, with Song Qingling as the honorary chairman and Li Jishen as the chairman.
In Hong Kong, Li Jishen, on the one hand, led the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee to respond to the call for the convening of the new CPPCC and discussed various issues of the new CPPCC, and on the other hand, he personally sent people to do the counter-offensive work of the Kuomintang army. In August 1948, the chairman telephoned the democratic parties and democratic figures to welcome them north and discuss with the CCP the grand plan for the founding of the country.
At the end of 1948, Li Jishen left Hong Kong and sailed north, eventually reaching Shenyang. He once said: "Since I have made up my mind to come to the Liberated Areas, this action shows my support for New China." On October 9, 1959, Li Jishen died of illness in Beijing at the age of 73.