Zhu Jianfan studied at Kōbun Institute [ja] in Japan in his early years.
[2] In 1911, Zhu Jianfan led students to participate in anti-Qing revolutionary activities and called on the Hunan New Army to rise up in response to the Wuchang Uprising.
In September 1920, he invited Mao Zedong, then the principal of the primary school attached to Hunan Normal University, to live in the school to discuss the situation and funded Mao Zedong to establish the Cultural Bookstore.
[2] In 1920, Zhu Jianfan was elected as a provincial councillor and participated in the first National Congress of the Kuomintang.
In 1930, Zhu Jianfan returned to Shanghai and followed Soong Ching Ling, Lu Xun and others to initiate the organization of the Freedom Movement Alliance and participated in the underground affairs of the Chinese Communist Party.