Born in 1906 to a peasant family in Longpi (Longjian Village, Liuze Town), Baoqing (present-day Shaodong), Hunan Province, Li Shouxuan entered a private school at the age of 9 and dropped out of school two years later due to poverty. At the age of 12, he herded cattle for other people's homes. At the age of 17, he went to Yangluo Prefecture (town) in Yuanjiang County as an apprentice in a south goods shop.
In 1926, at the age of 20, Li Shouxuan joined the National Revolutionary Army and followed Peng Dehuai in the Northern Expedition. In the barracks, he had the privilege of getting to know the company commander Li Can, and under his guidance joined the "Secret Soldiers Association". Li Shouxuan had a high ideological consciousness and made rapid progress, and was deeply trusted by Li Can.
On July 22, 1928, during the Pingjiang Uprising, Li Shouxuan led a squad of soldiers to rush directly to the county government with company commander Li Can, and in less than two hours, the reactionary government was disarmed, the county magistrate Liu Zuozhu and the "Qingxiang" captain were captured alive, thousands of guns were captured, and the main reactionary forces in Pingjiang City were destroyed in one fell swoop. Subsequently, Li Shouxuan led the whole class of fighters to rush to the prison outside the xiaoxi gate and rescued more than 300 comrades who had been sentenced to death. Shortly before Li Shouxuan rescued them, the Kuomintang reactionaries had already given these people a "final meal." If Li Shouxuan came one step late, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After the Pingjiang Uprising, Li Shouxuan joined the Red Army. He served as the squadron leader and captain of the Twelfth Brigade of the Fifth Column of the Fifth Column of the Red Fifth Army, and participated in the struggle to defend the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area and consolidate and expand the Xiang'e-Gansu Revolutionary Base Area. Later, he successively served as the commander of the Ninth Regiment of the Third Division of the Fifth Army of the Red Third Army, the commander of the Second Regiment of the First Division of the Fifth Army of the Red Third Army, and the commander of the Sixteenth Regiment of the Sixth Division of the Third Red Army.
On October 19, 1934, after the breakthrough of the Central Red Army, the Long March began. On November 28, Li Shouxuan, then commander of the 16th Regiment of the 6th Division of the 3rd Red Army, was ordered to stop the enemy at Guanyang City. Guanyang City is more than 80 miles away from the Xiang River, and it is a necessary place for the enemy army to surround and pursue the "Red Star" column. After li shouxuan watched the terrain, he ordered the logging and construction of fortifications on the spot.
In the cold winter, the warriors were wearing single clothes, and they had hardly closed their eyes for two days and two nights. Li Shouxuan was a pioneer, his eyes were covered with blood, and his brows were twisted into a ball. With the joint efforts of all the comrades of the regiment, an obstacle fortification made of countless spiked wooden stakes was finally built, more than a mile long, and the wooden stakes that had just been cut by the wooden stakes were like a sharp sword.
Li Shouxuan and several comrades were inspecting the fortifications, when the two scouts ran angrily and said, "Report regimental commander, the two divisions of the Gui Army are moving towards us, and they are very close to us." The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and the warriors did not have time to wipe their sweat and immediately entered a state of combat readiness.
A few hours later, Li Shouxuan saw from the telescope a group of disguised enemies rushing toward our fortifications in a murderous manner, and soon occupied the intersection on the hill in front of our position, but did not attack. This is the enemy's reconnaissance company. Suddenly, an officer in the form of a company commander exclaimed, "There is a Red Army ambush on the mountain!" Before the words could be heard, the soldier behind him fell to the ground brushed and fell to the ground, making a shooting motion, motionless. Suddenly, the positions on both sides were quiet, only the branches were occasionally shaken by the mountain wind, the leaves rustled, and the whole hillside seemed to have nothing but trees.
Li Shouxuan was very calm, and based on his experience in fighting the Gui army many times, he analyzed that they would not easily fight hard, first, because our fortifications were solid and difficult to attack; second, they were full of contradictions with Chiang Kai-shek and had no intention of consuming their own strength. The stalemate will not last, what to do? Li Shouxuan suddenly remembered Zhang Fei's "suspicious soldier" plan to block Cao Bing on the slope of Changshanpo in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", so he immediately ordered the troops to become active in the fortifications, the soldiers pulled the bolts of their guns to a loud noise, the troops on the hill behind the position also shouted trumpets to carry wood, and the troops in the trenches moved back and forth, quite loudly.
The enemy was confused when it was difficult to detect the truth, and the reconnaissance company retreated down the hill, and the brigade of men and horses did not move. For a time, they could not enter, they wanted to retreat, and the enemy under the mountain scratched their ears and scratched their cheeks. It was almost dusk when the enemy position suddenly sounded the sound of retreating military trumpets. Then, I saw the enemy turn his ass in a gray and slippery way.
In this way, Li Shouxuan did not fire a single shot, and Zhi retreated two divisions of the enemy. As soon as the enemy left, the troops of the Eighth Army were ordered to take over the task of the Sixteenth Regiment and brought encouraging news: the "Red Star" column crossed the Xiang River in victory. Upon receiving this news, Li Shouxuan immediately ordered the troops to be gathered and withdrawn in the direction of the Xiang River.
After 1949, Li Shouxuan served as the deputy commander of the Railway Corps of the Chinese Volunteer Army, the deputy commander of the Railway Corps of the People's Liberation Army, and the commander of the Railway Corps from September 1957 to June 1968. He was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.