Posts Categorized: Chapter 7

The May Fourth Movement

The May Fourth Movement, wusi yundong (五四运动), brought Chen Duxiu to the height of his influence. Chinese intellectuals around the country were sparked to anger by Liang Qichao’s telegram from Paris announcing the secret agreement between the Chinese government and Japan to turn over Germany’s territorial concessions to the Japanese. Already planning to protest the anniversary of… Read more »

Mr. Science and Mr. Democracy

As the popularity of New Youth grew, Chen expressed a growing interest in democracy. He associated democracy closely with science, going so far as to anthropomorphize the two concepts as heroes of the New Culture Movement, Mr. Science and Mr. Democracy. When it came to applying democracy in China, however, Chen confronted some of the same… Read more »

Youth and the New Culture Movement

It’s no coincidence that the last four characters recorded by Lu’s madman, “save the children…,” echoed the title of Chen’s journal. Many of Chen’s readers were young, and in youth he saw the opportunity to transform China’s future. Chen exhorted his readers to fight back against the feudal roots of Chinese traditions, a mantra that… Read more »

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