In 1917, a group of three students at
Peking University in Beijing—
Fu Sinian,
Gu Jiegang, and , all roommates—began to discuss the creation of a student's magazine. Xu discussed the idea further with School of Arts and Letters dean
Chen Duxiu the following year, who unexpectedly offered financial support from the university on the condition that they sustained it. They founded the New Tide Society () to publish the magazine along with around ten other students, holding their first meeting on 13 October 1918. The scholar and reformer
Hu Shih served as their faculty advisor. Xu proposed the English title
The Renaissance for the journal, while
Luo Jialun suggested the Chinese name
New Tide (), patterned after the Japanese literary magazine
Shinchō ('New Tide'). The editorial staff agreed with Luo's suggested name, and added
The Renaissance as its subtitle. Fu described the title
New Tide as a direct translation of
renaissance. This translation diverged from prior Chinese translations of the concept, such as () which emphasized the restoration of
antiquity. The magazine's title popularized the term ''
as a translation for the English renaissance'', although some scholars such as Wang Kesi () saw it as inaccurate. The society's second meeting in November elected officers. Fu was elected as editor-in-chief, with Luo as assistant editor and Xu as manager. At this time, the society had 21 members, all students at the university. Further prospective members were only allowed to enter the society after publishing three articles in the journal. If from another university besides Peking, they would also need to receive a nomination from two current members. The first issue of
New Tide was published on 1 January 1919. The journal published monthly issues continuously throughout the school year, with the last of the first volume published in May. The journal returned to publication with issues in October and December. In November, Fu departed Peking to study in the United Kingdom, and was succeeded as editor-in-chief by Luo. Three issues were published in 1920 (February, May, and September). In October 1920,
Zhou Zuoren (the sole faculty member of the society) was elected as the new editor-in-chief. The society's activity began to slow, as many of its top editors moved overseas to continue their studies or shifted their focus to the newly-formed
Chinese Literary Association. Only a single issue was published in 1921, released on 1 October. The journal's final issue appeared in March 1922. == Contributors ==