Tao Xingzhi (1891-1946) was an outstanding modern educator, whose theory and practice of life education represented a radical discourse in the Chinese debate on modern education and national reconstruction. Although he is most often known as a Deweyan reformer in the mainstream of American studies, in his theoretical maturity Tao can more accurately be seen as an educational and social revolutionary, whose theory and practice went far beyond Dewey's. As an educational radical, Tao was critical of elitist and impractical traditional education and of its reconstituted "foreignized" version dominant in China's new schools. His goal was to make education both universal and practical so that it would become an effective means for national reconstruction. After his return from the United States in 1917, Tao carried out various educational reforms and experiments. The major ones included mass education movement (1923-1926), Xiaozhuang School (1927-1930), work-study-union movement (1932-1936), Yucai School (1938-1946), and Social University (1945-1946). This article presents the story of Tao Xingzhi's unconventional life and career and his unique personality, his educational radicalism, and his daring ideas and experiments. It describes his rise and fall, his recent revival and legacy, and the contributions of the Tao Xingzhi Research Societies.