Zhu made a name for himself for a series of written debates with reformist Liang Qichao, where he advocated a single land tax, revolution against the Qing dynasty, and the establishment of a Chinese republic.

[2][1] In 1905 he provided the first Chinese translation of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's The Communist Manifesto.

[4] Zhu and Liao Zhongkai helped Sun Yat-sen negotiate an alliance with the Soviet Union in 1920, eventually giving rise to the First United Front.

[5] After his untimely death in 1920, Wang Jingwei helped establish the Zhixin Memorial School in Guangzhou.

[4] On 14 May 2021, asteroid 256698 Zhuzhixin, discovered by astronomers Quanzhi Ye and Hung-Chin Lin with the Lulin Sky Survey in 2008, was named by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature in his memory.