As a member of the CCP, he was responsible for managing education affairs, teaching the ideals of the communist revolution to his fellow Chinese.

His father, Yang Xianglin [zh], was a governmental officer working in Xinjiang Province in the Qing Army.

[1][10] Between 1926 and 1927, he continued his work for the CCP in China up until the May 28th Incident, where he organized his party committee in Wuhan and fled to the Soviet Union for refuge against the Nationalist government.

[4][12] Upon his return, he advocated for an armed uprising against the Nationalist government, and in 1930 he participated in the Red Army attack on Changsha.

[14] In October 1933, the Kuomintang launched the fifth encirclement campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet, trapping most of the Red Army under siege.