May Fourth Movement

May Fourth Movement
Approximately 3,000 students from 13 Beijing universities gathered in Tiananmen Square
DateMay 4, 1919
Location
Resulted in
  • Government of Qian Nengxun weakened
  • Pro-Japanese officials removed
  • Treaty of Versailles goes unsigned by China
  • New Culture Movement splits
  • Spread of communist thought
Parties
Protesters
May Fourth Movement
Traditional Chinese五四運動
Simplified Chinese五四运动
Literal meaning5-4 Movement
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWǔsì yùndòng
Bopomofoㄨˇ ㄙˋ ㄩㄣˋ ㄉㄨㄥˋ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhWuusyh yunndonq
Wade–GilesWu3-ssu4 yün4-tung4
Tongyong PinyinWǔ-sìh yùn-dòng
IPA[ù.sɨ̂ ŷn.tʊ̂ŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationŃgh-sei wahn-duhng
JyutpingNg5 sei3 wan6 dung6
IPA[ŋ.sej˧ wɐn˨.tʊŋ˨]
Southern Min
Tâi-lôNgó-sì ūn-tūng

The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles decision to allow the Empire of Japan to retain territories in Shandong that had been surrendered by the German Empire after the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914. The demonstrations sparked nation-wide protests and spurred an upsurge in Chinese nationalism, a shift towards political mobilization away from cultural activities, and a move towards a populist base, away from traditional intellectual and political elites.

The May Fourth demonstrations marked a turning point in a broader anti-traditional New Culture Movement (1915–1921) that sought to replace traditional Confucian values and was itself a continuation of late Qing reforms. Even after 1919, these educated "new youths" still defined their role with a traditional model in which the educated elite took responsibility for both cultural and political affairs.[1] They opposed traditional culture but looked abroad for cosmopolitan inspiration in the name of nationalism and were an overwhelmingly urban movement that espoused populism in an overwhelmingly rural country. Many political and social leaders of the next five decades emerged at this time, including those of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).[2]