Abstract: Li Da applied historical materialism,such as the theory of basic social contradictions,class struggle,and the view of mass history,to the practice of Chinese revolution,and profoundly explained the inevitability of early China's choice of socialist path.This is mainly reflected in the following aspects.First,on the basis of China's revolutionary practice,he insisted on the dialectical unity of productive forces and production relations and of economic base and superstructure,emphasizing the reaction of production relations and superstructure.At the same time,he insisted on "practical materialism" and actively applied historical materialism to the construction of Chinese society.Second,he applied the theory of class struggle to the practice of Chinese social revolution,holding that class struggle is the fundamental driving force for social change,insisting on revolution and opposing reform,which makes a philosophical explanation for the choice of socialist path in modern China.Third,he advocated the development path with Chinese characteristics,adhering to the dialectical unity of universal necessity truth and concrete process difference and of the general law and special law of social development,and the theory of the unity of universality and particularity to guide practice.Fourth,he adhered to the mass view of history,highlighting the main role of people in history as well as their revolutionary realistic role,giving play to the subjective and active role of the people.Li Da and other early Chinese Communists combined historical materialism with China's concrete reality,which laid a solid theoretical foundation for China to firmly embark on the socialist path and also provided an important theore-tical reference for the current Chinese modernization.

Key words: socialist path, historical materialism, practical materialism, Li Da, Chinese modernization