" in
Qingdao,
Shandong ,
Beijing Scholars rank the New Culture and May Fourth Movements as significant turning points, as
David Der-wei Wang said, "it was the turning point in China's search for literary modernity", along with the abolition of the civil service system in 1905 and the overthrow of the monarchy in 1911. The challenge to traditional Chinese values, however, was also met with strong opposition, especially from parts of the
Kuomintang. From their perspective, the movement destroyed the positive elements of Chinese tradition and placed a heavy emphasis on direct political actions and radical attitudes, characteristics associated with the emerging Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Two of the CCP's founding members,
Li Dazhao and
Chen Duxiu, were leaders of the movement. The CCP viewed it more favorably, although remaining suspicious of the early phase which emphasized the role of enlightened intellectuals, not revolution. Li and Chen were the most influential promoters of
Marxism in China during the May Fourth period. In its broader sense, the May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of radical intellectuals who went on to mobilize peasants and workers into the CCP and gain the organizational strength that would solidify the success of the
Chinese Communist Revolution. During the May Fourth Movement, the group of intellectuals with communist ideas grew steadily, such as
Chen Tanqiu,
Zhou Enlai, Chen Duxiu, and others, who gradually appreciated Marxism's power. This promoted the
sinicization of Marxism and provided a basis for the birth of the CCP and
socialism with Chinese characteristics. The legacy of the May Fourth Movement is embraced both by the CCP and its critics, who express different understandings of the movement and its importance. Kuomintang members such as
Luo Jialun, Shao Lizi and Duan Xipeng played an active role in the Movement, and some Kuomintang leaders claimed that their party and its founder Sun Yat-sen were active in leading the movement. However, Kuomintang influence on the Movement was minimal. In
British Malaya, May Fourth-influenced riots in Penang and Singapore involving Kuomintang teachers and sympathetic students led the British to pass the Registration of Schools Ordinance, an attempt to remove Kuomintang influence from local education. From 1922, the British also instituted a ban on the Kuomintang itself.
Birth of Chinese communism For many years, the orthodox view in the People's Republic of China was that after the demonstrations of 1919 and their subsequent suppression, the discussion of possible policy changes became more and more politically realistic. Influential leaders such as Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao shifted to the left and became founders of the CCP in 1921, while other intellectuals became more sympathetic. Originally
voluntarist or
nihilist figures like
Li Shicen and
Zhu Qianzhi made similar turns to the left as the 1920s saw China become increasingly turbulent. In 1939,
Mao Zedong claimed that the May Fourth Movement was a stage leading toward the fulfillment of the Chinese Communist Revolution: Paul French argues that the only victor of the Treaty of Versailles in China was communism, as rising public anger led directly to the formation of the CCP. The Treaty also led to Japan pursuing its conquests with greater boldness, which
Wellington Koo had predicted in 1919 would lead to the outbreak of war between China and Japan. Western-style liberal democracy had previously had a degree of traction among Chinese intellectuals. Still, after Versailles, which was viewed as a betrayal of China's interests, it lost much of its attractiveness.
Woodrow Wilson's
Fourteen Points, despite being rooted in
moralism, were seen as Western-centric and hypocritical. Many Chinese intellectuals believed that the United States had done little to convince the other nations to adhere to the Fourteen Points and observed that the United States had declined to join the
League of Nations. As a result, they turned away from the Western liberal democratic model. With the
October Revolution in Russia in 1917, Marxism began to take hold in Chinese intellectual thought, particularly among those already on the Left. Chinese intellectuals such as Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao began serious study of Marxist doctrine.
Cultural The May Fourth Movement focused on opposing Confucian culture and promoting a new culture. As a continuation of the
New Culture movement, the May Fourth Movement greatly influenced the cultural field. The slogans of "democracy" and "science" advocated in the New Culture Movement were designed to attack the old culture and promote the new culture. This purpose can be summed up in a sentence from David Wang: "It was the turning point in China's search for literary modernity." As historian Wang Gungwu notes, the May Fourth Movement became subsequently identified as the predecessor and inspiration for the later
Cultural Revolution. Participants at the time, such as
Hu Shih, referred to this era as the "Chinese Renaissance", because there was an intense focus on science and experimentation. In
Chinese literature, the May Fourth Movement is regarded as the watershed after which the modern Chinese literature began and the use of
written vernacular Chinese gained currency over
Literary Chinese, eventually replacing it in formal works. Intellectuals were driven toward expressing themselves using the spoken tongue under the slogan , although the change was gradual: Hu had already argued for the use of the modern vernacular language in literature in his 1917 essay "Preliminary discussion on literary reform". In 1917,
Chen Hengzhe published the short story
One Day () in an overseas student quarterly ()—a year before the publication of
Lu Xun's
Diary of a Madman and
The True Story of Ah Q (not published until 1921), which has often been incorrectly credited as the first vernacular Chinese fiction. More ordinary people also began to try to get in touch with new cultures and learn from foreign cultures. Joseph Chen said: "This intellectual ferment had already had an effect in altering the outlook of China's new youth." After the May Fourth Movement, the
Chinese modern female literature developed a literature with modern humanistic spirit, taking women as the subject of experience, thinking, aesthetics, and speech. Instead of the formerly euphemistic language for sex, May Fourth reformers used the broader, more explicit term
xing. In honor of the May Fourth Movement, May 4 is now celebrated as
Youth Day in China and as
Literary Day in Taiwan.
Women's emancipation The domination of Confucian ideologies shaped gender inequalities in Chinese culture, labeling and treating women as second-class citizens. The May Fourth Movement played a crucial role in women's emancipation in China, representing a social and cultural shift toward societal transformation. May Fourth Movement discourses contrasted the idea of the "new woman" with that of the "traditional woman". The "new woman" reflected a secular world view, opposition to arranged marriage, and opposition to patriarchy. Although most activists and protesters were male, male intellectuals believed women's liberation was essential for a stronger and unified China. They argued that Confucian family structures hindered China's development. Stating that "Women's liberation had to be achieved to save China from disarray and humiliation." Many supported the movement as they believed that women's emancipation was essential for a modern China. They saw it as intertwined with nationalism and new democratic values driven by the anti-imperialist movement.
Economic Anger against Japan led many elements of society to join students in a movement to boycott Japanese products. Many hoped that when Japanese products were suppressed,
China's national industry would benefit. However, the strike in Shanghai that occurred in June damaged the economy. One of the main reasons was that shop owners were not willing to open their shops during the strike, despite the use of police force.
Religion During the May Fourth Movement, Chinese intellectuals and students criticized
Christianity for its associations with
Western imperialism. Responding to these perspectives, some
Chinese Protestant leaders began indigenous church movements seeking to establish Protestant churches in China that were independent of foreign finances, control, or leadership. Among these developments in the post-May Fourth environment was the
Local Church movement led by
Watchman Nee (Ni Tuosheng). ==Criticism and resistance==