紅軍
Li joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1927 and the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1928. He held various positions as Red Fifth Army party Secretary General and Second Division Security Bureau Chief prior to the Long March. Upon reaching Shanbei, he served as the director of the Central Military Commission for the eighty-first division. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Li was the Hebei military region's Political Department deputy political commissar. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Li was the director for the Political Department of the Chinese People's Volunteers, Political Commissar for the Fuzhou military region and various other posts.