The Origin of May Fourth New Culture

Author: Chen Wanxiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: It should be noted here that the historical role and significance of the May Fourth New Culture Movement should not be overly focused on measuring the effectiveness of the reforms proposed by intellectuals at the time. Instead, we should acknowledge their courage to confront and expose the comprehensive issues China had to face to break free from its misfortunes and move towards modernization. Only at this point can the Chinese people gain a thorough understanding of their own dilemmas. The depth and breadth of the issues revealed by that generation have, it must be admitted, not yet been fully achieved even today. Thus, the reform agenda highlighted during the May Fourth period still retains its vitality. It can be asserted that as long as intellectuals are still regarded as or see themselves as the vanguard of historical progress in China, the May Fourth Movement will continue to hold enduring appeal for the intellectual community. However, the author believes that in driving the development of modern Chinese history, the intellectual community could only have played a leading and principal role during the first three decades of the early 20th century. This period was also when the transformation from traditional scholar-officials to modern intellectuals was successfully completed, marking the formation and growth of this new generation.
Secondly, in addition to the historical process where the reforms of modern China became increasingly profound, leading to the rise of the New Culture Movement during the May Fourth period, we cannot overlook the historical conditions that facilitated the formation of this new generation of modern intellectuals alongside this process. The author's manuscript attempts to trace the origins of the New Culture Movement and systematically demonstrate the relationship between the formation of this new generation of modern intellectuals and the May Fourth New Culture Movement.