In the early 1930s, Ren commanded the Fifth Red Army and was a central figure in the Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet, but he was forced to abandon his base after being pressured by Chiang Kai-shek's Fifth Encirclement Campaigns.

[3] In May 1921, Ren and five others - including Liu Shaoqi and Xiao Jinguang - embarked on a chartered trip to the Soviet Union, going around Nagasaki, Vladivostok and the White movement blockade.

[4] Ren joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1922 and replaced Qu Qiubai as the translator of the history of Western revolutionary movements.

[5] He was appointed to the Zhejiang and Anhui District Committee in 1924 and was responsible for publications such as China Youth, Mission Journal and Friends of Civilians.

[5] With Zhang Tailei being posted elsewhere in May 1925, Ren was appointed as the First Secretary of the Communist Youth League, in charge of leading the May Thirtieth movement.

[6] Ren left for Moscow to attend the Communist Youth International Executive Committee Sixth Plenum in October and stayed in the Soviet Union until March the following year.

[5] With the end of the First-United Front Ren sided with Mao Zedong against Chen Duxiu in August 1927 to support the idea of initiating a peasant-based revolution in China.

Ren was arrested by the local warlord in Nanling County, Anhui Province while attempting to attend a meeting by the Communist Youth League.

On 13 August, he was made the temporary secretary of the Jiangxi Soviet, tasked to set up Today News, Education Week and Shanghai Daily.

[9] Following the shift of communist influence from Shanghai to the Jiangxi region, Ren protected many party members such as Zhang Aiping who were implicated during the "Anti-Bolshevik League incident".

[10] During the Fourth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet, Ren was a proponent of direct assault and was highly critical of Mao's guerrilla strategy.

In August 1934, accompanying Red Sixth Army commanders Xiao Ke and Wang Zhen, Ren organized a successful Westward march to retreat from the increasing unsuccessful defense in the Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet.

[15] With the end of the Long March in October, Ren and Peng Dehuai were appointed as the Political Commissars for the Front Command of the CCP to resist Hu Zongnan's forces that were in Shaanxi.

[20] Ren was part of a team that concluded the leadership problems between the Fourth Plenary Session and the Zunyi Conference in the "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of the CCP" report.

[22] As part of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party, he was preceded by only Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De.

[28] Upon his death, his memorial service was held in the Imperial Ancestral Temple on 30 October, with Mao, Liu, Zhou, Peng Zhen and Zhu De as the pall-bearers.

Marshal Ye Jianying praised Ren as being the "party camel, who worked long and hard without rest, never seeking enjoyment, never borne grudges against anyone.