The May Fourth Intellectual Revolution, 1917-1923

The May Fourth Intellectual Revolution, 1917-1923 The May Fourth Movement was an anti-imperialist, cultural and political movement growing out of student demonstrations in Beijing on May 4, 1919, protesting the Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles. The atmosphere and political mood that emerged around 1919 are at the centre of a set of ideas that had shaped China's momentous twentieth century. Following the Chinese Revolution in 1911, the Qing Dynasty disintegrated. This marked the end of thousands of years of powerful imperial rule, and theoretically ushered a new era in which political power rested with the people. Causes The rise of a politically conscious merchant class and labour force Chinese industry and commerce expanded greatly during the First World War for the following reasons:  Internally, the fall of the Qing dynasty removed the traditional conservative checks on and prejudice against commerce and industry. The Republic had issued regulations that encouraged and protected economic activities.  Externally, the First World War led to a quick decline of European industries and trade with Asia. This gave China's industries a good opportunity of expansion. Consequently, by 1919, there appeared new merchant and labour classes who were politically conscious and were ready to speak out against foreign imperialism. The rise of a new, modern intellectual class - The introduction of modern and Western education in China since late Qing times created a class of modern Chinese intellectuals, who realized China's backwardness and were eager to save the country. The emergence of treaty-ports and large cities in China - Both foreign economic imperialism and internal reform in late-Qing China contributed to the emergence of many prosperous treaty-ports and cities in the country. Modern foreign ideas were easily obtained and quickly popularized in these urban areas. The ground for an urban intellectual revolution had been laid. The spread of popular education - Since there was an increase in modern schools, more people could receive Western education.

The failure of political revolution - By 1919, it became clear that the 1911 Revolution had failed to strengthen China. Many intellectuals understood that changes greater and more fundamental than a political revolution were necessary. In other words, an intellectual revolution was needed. The atmosphere of intellectual freedom provided by warlord disorder – Due to warlord disorder, there was no single national ideology imposed by a unified government on all China. Chinese intellectuals were thus free to experiment with different new ideas imported from the West. The May 4th Incident in 1919 Immediate causes - Toward the end of the First World War, many Chinese were hopeful that, as rewards for China's contributions of wareffort and in accordance with the US President Wilson's idealistic principles, the formerly German concessions seized by Japan in Shantung would be returned to China. At the Versailles Conference of 1919, however, it turned out that Britain, France and Italy had already secretly agreed to support Japan in retaining these concessions, with the approval of the Peking warlord government. This aroused great anger among nationalist Chinese. In protest, some 5,000 students from the Peking University and other educational institutions held a large-scale demonstration in Peking on May 4, 1919. This was the May Fourth Incident. Course - These angry students burned the house of a pro-Japanese Chinese minister. Also, they sent telegrams to students in other parts of China to set up patriotic teams for saving the country. They protested against the unjust Versailles settlement, Japan's war-time imperialist gains in China, and the cowardly Peking warlord government. Three objectives were stated:  To arouse sympathy from all Chinese people,  To force the warlord government to withhold from signing the Versailles treaty  To dismiss the pro-Japanese Chinese officials in the Peking government. Similar demonstrations were held in other cities, such as Tientsin, Shanghai, Nanking and Canton. The newly organized labour unions also joined the nation-wide movement. Soon, even merchants joined the movement by closing their shops in a merchant's strike. There was a general boycott of Japanese goods.

Results - The immediate achievements of the May Fourth Incident were limited:  Despite China's objections, the great powers at Versailles still decided to leave the Shantung concessions in Japanese hands.  In China, demonstrations soon cooled down, and patriotic societies elsewhere failed to cooperate for joint, powerful action.  Nevertheless, the students in Peking succeeded in embarrassing and bringing down the warlord government.  Also, the Chinese representatives at the Versailles Conference did withhold from signing the peace treaty. Significance and Effects - Although student demonstrations on May 4, 1919 highlighted it, the May Fourth Intellectual Revolution actually extended from about 1917 to 1923. While the achievements of the 1919 incident were few and limited, the long-term effects of the May Fourth Movement at large were far-reaching and important in Chinese history. Intellectual significance  Popularization of modern and Western ideas - Modern ideas from the West were widely accepted by Chinese intellectuals, ideas like democracy, liberalism, socialism, pragmatism, and utilitarianism. These beliefs had been introduced into China before the May Fourth Movement, but it was the Movement that further popularized them among Chinese intellectuals.  Criticism and abandonment of tradition - In the past, the Confucian tradition of cultural self-sufficiency and superiority made Chinese scholars unwilling to borrow from foreign cultures. In the May Fourth Intellectual Revolution, however, Chinese intellectuals critically measured themselves against, and totally accepted, modern Western ideas. This represented a willingness to criticize China's tradition and to regard Chinese history as part of world history.  Rise of democratic spirit - Many of the modern ideas might not be actually put into practice. Yet the democratic spirit that they brought decisively destroyed the cultural tradition of the past. In short, there was an intellectual breakthrough in the May Fourth Movement. Literary significance  Introduction of the written vernacular Chinese - During the May Fourth Movement, classical written Chinese was rejected. The written vernacular Chinese (pai-hua) was introduced.  Rising literacy rate - In traditional China, only the scholar class knew classical written Chinese because the language was difficult to learn and different from spoken Chinese. The pai-hua, however, was colloquial and

thus easy to master. Efforts to popularize the pai-hua during the May Fourth period had thus the effect of raising the literacy rate in society. Social significance  Expansion of popular education and rise of public opinion - The popularity of the pai-hua and the Western idea of progress contributed to the growth of popular education, which in turn contributed to the rise of modern public opinion in China.  Attack on social traditions - Social traditions of the past were under attack. The old family system was condemned by young intellectuals. Instead, the ideal of nuclear families was advocated. Young people began to demand individual freedom from the traditional collective way of living. Young girls rose to attack the traditional discrimination against women. Co-education and marriage based on love were advocated.  Increased political consciousness among the new social forces The May Fourth Movement saw the rise of Modern China's new social forces. Modern merchants, industrialists and city workers, all of whom were products of modernization, became increasingly politically conscious. They participated in many of the anti-foreign boycotts.  Increased class consciousness - In the past, local-provincial feeling among the Chinese people was strong. During the May Fourth Movement, however, as workers and students in different places protested against some common enemy, class consciousness was promoted in China.  Leadership of modern intellectuals - A new generation of progressive young intellectuals who were Western-educated rose to leadership in Chinese public life. Their presence began to challenge the traditional social leadership of the Confucian scholar-gentry. Political significance  Politicized Chinese nationalism - Anti-imperialist demonstrations against the great powers and anti-Japanese riots strengthened the force of modern Chinese nationalism. Student and labour movements grew increasingly active. More people were interested, some even actively involved, in political matters.  Rise of politicized student movements - In the May Fourth Movement, students discovered that organized propaganda and demonstrations could bring positive results. Student movements of a political nature were in this way stimulated.  Political importance of the new social forces - Whereas politics before 1919 seemed a game exclusively monopolized by the few and for the few, more and more political leaders after 1919 developed contact with, and tried to gain support from, the politically conscious masses.

Mao Tse-tung's revolutionary programs, which put great emphasis on the peasants, originated from the May Fourth experience, as he himself admitted.  Contribution to national unification - The anti-warlord activities of the May Fourth Movement aroused great concern for China's political disunity. This factor indirectly contributed to the national unification of 1928.  Democratic meaning of anti-warlord demonstrations - Antiwarlord demonstrations had a revolutionary political meaning: when students proclaimed their lack of confidence in the warlord government, they in effect announced that the government should have the people's confidence if it was to stand. It was here that the May Fourth democratic spirit could best be seen. Limitations and Shortcomings Lack of determination, coordination and planning - Many of the May Fourth activities were short-lived and failed to bring about long-term and basic changes. Urban-bound extent of influence - The May Fourth Movement seldom spread beyond the cities. It was basically a city movement. Serious social and economic problems of China's large countryside were seldom recognized. Uncritical acceptance of Western ideas and rejection of Chinese tradition - In revising China's culture, modern intellectuals had the habit of destroying tradition and replacing it with Western culture. However, they did not succeed in building up a new Chinese culture. This was because their criticisms of tradition were "seldom fair and sympathetic" and "often oversimplified and shallow". Western ideas were accepted without much consideration of whether they suited China's conditions. Limited practical achievements - The immediate and political achievements of the May Fourth Incident were limited. Other than success in bringing down a warlord government in 1919, the Movement as a whole failed to solve China's political problems. Warlords remained as powerful as they were, and foreign imperialism still existed. After all, China failed to change the Versailles settlement concerning the Shantung rights, the very thing that excited riots on the morning of May 4, 1919.