Enlightenment of Thought and Cultural Renaissance---A Historical Discussion on May Fourth Thought

Author: Hong Junfeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-30
Features: "May Fourth" is one of the most important intellectual resources and a long-lasting academic topic in modern China. Since the 1980s, the issue of May Fourth thought and culture has been a hot topic in academic theory circles and also a field of research with the most disputes and the most mixed views. For intellectual historians and cultural historians, "May Fourth" is an inspiring era. This era, as Engels said when commenting on the European Renaissance, was one that needed giants and produced giants. Figures like Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Li Dazhao, and Lu Xun, these giants of "May Fourth," have influenced generations of Chinese intellectuals through their brilliant achievements and their thoughts, knowledge, and personalities. "May Fourth" is one of the most important intellectual resources of modern China. For decades, the intellectual and cultural circles in China have seen changing tides, with various schools of thought constantly emerging, and all these different schools of thought trace back to "May Fourth." They seek the source of vitality in the thought of "May Fourth," and "May Fourth" repeatedly demonstrates its intellectual charm. In this sense, the thought of "May Fourth" is connected to the entire history of modern Chinese thought.