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May Fourth Movement
May Fourth Movement (1919), first mass movement in modern Chinese history. On May 4, about 5,000 university students in Beijing protested the Versailles Conference (Apr. 28, 1919) awarding Japan the former German leasehold of Kiaochow (Jiaozhou), Shandong prov. Demonstrations and strikes spread to Shanghai, and a nationwide boycott of Japanese goods followed. The May Fourth Movement began a patriotic outburst of new urban intellectuals against foreign imperialists and warlords . Intellectuals identified the political establishment with China's failure in the modern era, and hundreds of new periodicals published attacks on Chinese traditions, turning to foreign ideas and ideologies. The movement split into leftist and liberal wings. The latter advocated gradual cultural reform as exemplified by Hu Shih who interpreted the pragmatism of John Dewey, while leftists like Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao introduced Marxism and advocated political action. The movement also popularized vernacular literature, promoted political participation by women, and educational reforms.
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"May Fourth Movement." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "May Fourth Movement." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-MayFourt.html "May Fourth Movement." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-MayFourt.html |
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May Fourth movement
May Fourth movement (1919) A wave of debate and argument triggered by a student demonstration in Beijing on 4 May 1919, mainly against the terms of the Versailles Treaty, which handed over the former German territory in the Shandong peninsula, as well as concessions which the Germans had forced from China, to the Japanese. In the following months there were hundreds of similar student demonstrations across the country, while a lively intellectual debate ensued, and was carried to a relatively popular level by a large number of magazines and newspapers. This re-evaluation of traditional Chinese culture in light of Western thought led to the widespread acceptance of the ‘new culture’, using some Western ideas to strengthen Chinese culture itself. This stimulated the growth of popular education and led to improvements in the emancipation of women as traditions such as the binding of feet went rapidly out of fashion. The debate so generated led to the development of the Guomindang, and the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (1921).
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JAN PALMOWSKI. "May Fourth movement." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAN PALMOWSKI. "May Fourth movement." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-MayFourthmovement.html JAN PALMOWSKI. "May Fourth movement." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-MayFourthmovement.html |
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May Fourth Movement
May Fourth Movement Chinese nationalist movement that began on 4 May 1919 with the student protest in Beijing at the VERSAILLES PEACE SETTLEMENT decision that Japan should take over former German concessions in Shandong. In the New Culture Movement that emerged intellectuals grappled with Marxism and liberalism in their search for reforms. Socialist ideas became popular, and the movement played a major role in the revival of the KUOMINTANG and the creation of the CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY.
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Cite this article
"May Fourth Movement." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "May Fourth Movement." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-MayFourthMovement.html "May Fourth Movement." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-MayFourthMovement.html |
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