May 4Th Movement

The important points of the May Fourth Movement can be discussed in a custom written research paper from Paper Masters. Chinese history or communism can be focused on and our writers will apply it to the May Fourth Movement and explain the correlation.

Today, the cultural revolution that occurred in the early twentieth century is regarded as one of the landmark events in Chinese history. Its most important legacy was ushering in the era of Communism in China, which has clearly been the defining event of the country's contemporary history. However, although giving rise to a mindset that was welcoming of widespread political change is usually identified as the primary outcome of the May Fourth movement, in truth, the movement had innumerable consequences and ramifications in nearly every aspect of Chinese society. As such, this paper will make the argument that the May Fourth movement is the defining event that marked the passage from a tradition-based society to modernity in twentieth century Chinese history.

1. A brief overview of the historical sources of the May Fourth movement will be discussed,
2. The nature of the movement itself, its chief proponents, and its manifestations in Chinese life.
3. Both the cultural and political results of the May Fourth movement will be examined.
4. An assessment of how these changes culminated in a schism between traditional Chinese life and modernity will be presented.

Although historians have traditionally identified the precursor of the May Fourth movement as the continued allocation of Chinese land holdings to foreign governments, especially to Japan in the wake of World War I, this is a simplified explanation that belies the all-encompassing desire for change that was present among Chinese, particularly young, educated Chinese in this era. The parceling of land to Japan may have provided the final spark that ignited the latent revolutionary spirit in China, but the ideas that formed the basis for the primary tenets of the May Fourth movement had been floating amongst segments of the Chinese intelligentsia for a number of years prior to the 1919 eruption.

The pervasive desire for change became clear on May 4, 1919, as thousands of students of students from learning institutions in Beijing gathered in the area then known as the Gate of Heavenly Peace, now referred to as Tiananmen Square. The students were gathered as a means of demonstrating the desire to halt the annexation of China to foreign countries. The Beijing students compiled a manifesto against the Paris Peace Conference, which sought to transfer the lease of the Shandong province to Japan. Although the demonstration was primarily peaceable in nature, some violence occurred when groups of demonstrators sought out some high-ranking officials who had records of supporting Japan. One such official was assaulted by a group of protestors, and another official's home was destroyed by arson.