The Communist Party of China was officially formed in Shanghai in 1921, but the roots of the revolution can be traced back to a humble but refined building on Peking University's old campus.

Completed in 1918, Honglou, or "Red Building," served as Peking University's library until the Japanese occupation of Beijing in 1937. However, the moniker refers less to the red brick and cement exterior of the Belgian-designed library and more to the building's role in revolutionary activities.

Most notably, Honglou flourished under the leadership of Li Dazhao, who transformed the role of libraries in China. Traditionally, libraries functioned as storehouses for private book collections. Honglou's private book collections once occupied a total of 21 rooms. Li Dazhao converted Honglou to the European system of public borrowing by encouraging the owners of private collections to open them to the public and allocating a portion of the library's budget each year to buying books for the public collections.

The public collections were then organized according to serial numbers and fitted with registration cards and envelopes.

"Students and teachers could now access a wide range of books," said Guo Junying, Director of the New Culture Movement Memorial of Beijing. "So, Li Dazhao is remembered as the founding father of modern libraries in China."

As one of the earliest advocates of Marxism in China, Li Dazhao wrote many of his most prominent articles in his office at Honglou, including "The Victory of Bolshevism." Li's conference room also served as the earliest meeting place for the formation of communist organizations in China. His office and meeting room, occupying two rooms of the east wing, are reconstructed for viewing.

"In 1920, the Comintern sent its first representative to China," Guo says. "He met Li Dazhao in Beijing, who introduced him to Chen Duxiu in Shanghai. China's first communist group was established in Shanghai in August 1920, and Beijing's communist group was founded two months later in Li Dazhao's meeting room."

Li Dazhao ran the library, but one of his assistants would eventually become the leader of China. Mao Zedong worked at the library in 1918 for a monthly salary of just 8 yuan. He had come to Beijing from his native Hunan to help other students from his home province secure opportunities to study overseas.

Mao's meager salary barely covered his accommodations, but the atmosphere proved crucial to the development of his ideology. He lived with Yang Changji, who served as his earliest instructor and also his father-in-law. He also devoured the books at the library and benefited from the debate among the young intellectuals at the university.

"In his talk with Edgar Snow later in life, Mao mentioned that it was in Beijing that he learned about Marxism, accepted Marxism and finally became a Marxist," Guo said.

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