Li Liangcai, 1860-1932, a native of Sanyuan, Shaanxi, courtesy name Tongxuan.

In the fourth year of the Guangxu era (1878), Li Liangcai and his brother Yicai both passed the provincial examination and became xiucai (a type of educated person). In the fourteenth year of the Guangxu era (1888), he was admitted to the Hongdao Academy in Sanyuan.

In 1905, Li Liangcai joined the Tongmenghui (Revive China Society).

In 1906, he served as a teacher at the Advanced Primary School of Sanyuan County.

In 1908, he participated in the establishment of Jianben School in Xi’an by the Tongmenghui.

In 1910, with the establishment of the Shaanxi Provincial Consultative Council, Li Liangcai was elected as the vice president.

In 1912, he was appointed as a member of the National Phonetic Unification Society and later actively promoted the use of phonetic symbols for literacy in Shaanxi, allowing illiterate individuals to become literate in just a few days.

Li Liangcai was also the chief editor of the Shaanxi Historical Revision Bureau and, together with Sun Renyu, co-founded the Qinqiang (Shaanxi opera) class of the Yisu Ling Society. In his later years, he authored “Minxing Ji” in two volumes, which introduced a card-based literacy method that incorporated learning into games.

After 1928, Li Liangcai lived in Beijing and converted to Buddhism, studying the Tibetan Buddhist tantra under the guidance of Lama Ge Xi.