Shen Zemin, originally named Shen Deji, was Mao Dun's younger brother and was born on June 23, 1900 in Wuzhen. Like Mao Dun, his elementary school was also Li Zhi Elementary School, while his middle school was the Provincial Third High School (Huzhou Middle School). His grades in mathematics, physics and chemistry were excellent. After graduating from high school, he was admitted to Nanjing Hehai Engineering Specialized School based on his own strengths and his father's wishes. But perhaps influenced by his brother, Shen Zemin later engaged in literary and news activities.

In 1919, Shen Zemin was influenced by the new thought of the May Fourth Movement and participated in a gathering organized by progressive students in Nanjing to promote the new thought. During the winter vacation of the same year, in his hometown, he organized the "Tongxiang Youth Society" with his brother Mao Dun, cousin Lu Fengzhang, and fellow villager Cao Xinhan, and published the magazine Xinxiang Ren to promote new literature and promote vernacular Chinese. In November, the Chinese Youth Association was established in Nanjing, and Shen Zemin was one of the backbone and serving as the editor of Youth China and Youth World for a time. He also served as a contributor to the Monthly Journal of the Nanjing Student Union with his classmate Zhang Wentian. By use of these positions, they wrote articles to criticize warlord rule, expose social darkness, and promote revolutionary ideas. He has also published a series of articles and translations on social revolution and women's issues in supplements such as Awakening, Student Magazine, Women's Magazine, and Novel Monthly of the Republic of China Daily.

At the beginning of the 20th century, most Marxist books were written in Japanese. In order to better learn Marxism, he and Zhang Wentian traveled east to Japan to study Japanese. Six months later, he returned to China and joined the Literature Research Association. In the same year, introduced by Mao Dun, he joined the Communist Party of China and embarked on the path of professional revolution. He once taught English at the civilian girls' school founded by the Party; When teaching at Anhui Provincial Fifth Middle School, he collaborated with progressive teachers and students to organize the "Wuhu Society" and founded the Wuhu magazine; he has been engaged in revolutionary activities at Shangyu Chunhui Middle School for six months.

In January 1924, the Shanghai Local and District Executive Committee of the Communist Party of China was reorganized, and Shen Zemin was elected as the executive committee member. He initiated the "Revolutionary Literature" movement with early Communists such as Yun Daiying and Xiao Chunu, and published articles such as What Literature We Need"and Literary Revolution and Revolutionary Literature to promote Marxist literary ideas.

In the autumn of 1925, he married Zhang Qinqiu. Zhang Qinqiu is a primary school classmate of his sister-in-law Kong Deyi, and also a college classmate of Qu Qiubai's wife Yang Zhihua. Soon after, the two went to Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, Soviet Union for further education. In April 1930, under the arrangement of Zhou Enlai, they returned to China one after another with Wang Jiaxiang, Yang Shangkun, Zhang Wentian, Wu Xiuquan, and others.

In January 1931, at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Shen Zemin was elected as a member of the Central Committee and appointed as the Minister of Propaganda. In March, he was dispatched by the Party to enter the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area with his wife. In May, the Hubei Henan Anhui Central Branch was established, with Shen Zemin serving as a member and concurrently serving as the Secretary of the Hubei Henan Anhui Provincial Party Committee. On November 7, the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic was established in Ruijin, Jiangxi, and Shen Zemin was elected as the Central Executive Committee member.

In June 1932, the Kuomintang mobilized 26 divisions and 5 brigades to launch the fourth counter-revolutionary "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area. On October 10, 1932, the Central Branch held an emergency meeting to discuss the direction of the Red Army's actions. One opinion was that the Red Army should jump out of the base area; Shen Zemin believed that the Red Army should not deviate from the base area. The result of the discussion was that both options were adopted: the headquarters of the Front Army led the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 73rd Divisions and the Young Communist International Regiment to jump out of the base area and temporarily move west of Pinghan Road; Shen Zemin led the 74th and 75th Divisions to persist in the struggle in the base areas.

In 1933, due to the harsh struggle environment, Shen Zemin contracted malignant malaria, and the base area lacked sufficient medical treatment, making it difficult for him to receive good treatment. The condition worsened in November. On the 20th, Shen Zemin passed away in Huang'an (Hong'an), Hubei. Before his death, Shen Zemin knew he was incurable and wrote a report to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on a shirt, asking Cheng Fangwu to take it to Shanghai. Before the report was finished, he fell into a coma. This shirt, an important relic of Shen Zemin, was finally handed over to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China after multiple attempts by Cheng Fangwu.

Shen Zemin was an important leading cadre of the early Communist Party of China. In order to commemorate his contributions to the Chinese revolution and new literature, the 48th meeting of the Central People's Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic decided to change the name of the "Soviet University" to "National Shen Zemin Soviet University". Naming a university after a person and naming it with the words "National” is such an honor that his hometown is proud!

Both brothers have grown into important participants in the establishment of new China and senior leaders of the Communist Party of China, which is unique in Wuzhen's history.