The May 4th Movement in China
The first Cultural Revolution of China’s 20th century began with the May Fourth Movement on May 4th, 1919. The May Fourth Movement in China was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement. Although it physically began on May 4, 1919, it actually lasted from about 1917 until 1923. It marked the rapid rise of Chinese Nationalism as well as a re-evaluation of Confucianism. The movement was sparked by the dissatisfaction with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles settlement regarding China. The treaty endorsed the Japanese takeover of the German concessions in the Shandong peninsula. The movement was an attempt to redefine the culture, political, and intellectual state of China. The movement
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The recommendation of a large-scale demonstration in Peking. 4. The creation of a strong student union in Peking. 5. An afternoon demonstration to protest the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
Against Government orders, the students held a mass demonstration in front of the Gates to the Forbidden Palace. The students voiced their disagreement with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles as well as the government’s inability to secure Chinese interests with the Allies. They demanded retribution towards individuals such as Cao Rulin, Lu Zongyu, and Zhang Zongxiang. The demonstration reached a peak when some students burned down Cao Rulin’s house. The Beiyang Government sent in the army and arrested many students, with one student dying in the melee.
The next day, students throughout China went on strike. This was followed by strikes by many workers and businessmen throughout parts of China. This caused the Beiying Government to release the arrested students and to dismiss some government officials that the students had targeted as detrimental to China’s interests. The Chinese representatives in Paris also refused to sign the peach treaty. The events of May 4th, 1919, remained symbolic in nature. Japan still continued to control the Shandong peninsula.
Confucianism
Confucianism in China had been a way of life, a state ideology as well as a combined philosophical, religious, and social system. Fundamentally, Confucianism focused on
While working as a librarians assistant Mao met Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu who would become the founders of the Chinese Communist Party in which one day Mao would become leader of. Also at that time, in 1919 events would lead up to the May fourth movement, a sociopolitical and intellectual platform against the Paris Peace Conferences decision to give Japan territory in China from Germany. A movement led by Chen Duxiu which would culturally change young Chinese opinions against western liberalism in favor of Marxism or Leninism. Mao created many groups to protest Japan in the process of uniting students with merchants and other workers. Finally, in 1921 Mao solidified his Marxist ideals as to what the future of China should look like.
Classical China was a breeding ground for new ideas, inventions, and most importantly, religions. Although Classical China was littered with different religions and beliefs, Confucianism was the most prominent. Confucianism is based on the teachings of a philosophical
Confucianism has been a part of Chinese culture for over a thousand years. Many who have studied Confucianism would say that it is not a religion. It is better described as a philosophy or moral code. The philosophy of Confucianism comes mainly from the speeches and writings of Confucius, a great Chinese thinker and educator. He believed that Humanity, Rite, Neutrality, Virtue, Education, and Cultivation were the basis of human behavior. In addition, Confucius felt that this philosophy was the best way for people to behave and interact with others in society.
Confucian scholars developed an ideology based on the moral nature of man, harmony of society, political legitimacy and order and unity and it is claimed, "the early period of intellectual ferment profoundly affected the formation of Chinese management" . Confucian ideology centred on morality, virtuous rule and rigid, hierarchical socio-political relationships . Confucius stressed the importance of social hierarchy and social relationships and the requirement of harmonious operation and welfare of society . The third cultural thread is the Chinese pictographic language.
Confucianism is based upon the teaching of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. This idea focuses on bettering people and the society, educating people to be
The Tiananmen Square massacre happened on June 4, 1989. Chinese troops arrested and killed many pro-democratic protesters at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Young students were the majority of the protesters and they wanted the Chinese Communist Party to stop corruption. The protests started in May and continued into June, where they became more violent. When the troops opened fire on the protesters, some fought back. Grace’s description of the massacre was very accurate. She described it as very violent and the troops ran over protesters with tanks. Grace and her Mom went to the
After the Revolutionary war, many countries were influenced by the Declaration of Independence. During the year of 1989, protesters and students from a Chinese university crowded Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The group protested against the corruption of government and demanded a change to democracy. Unfortunately, the group was suppressed and the protest ended in tragedy, about 3,000 people were
60,000 soldiers were sacrificed and fifty percent of their territory had been occupied by Chiang's forces. For this reason, the Chinese Communist Party must flee from this massacre and preserve their remaining military strength. As a result, their retreat became the world renowned Long March, which began on October 14, 1934.
Confucian culture, also known as Confucianism, was founded by Confucius during the Spring and Autumn Period, which was developed gradually after the Han Dynasty with benevolence as the core. Since the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was the official ideology and the basis of mainstream ideology in the vast majority of historical periods of China, and it also influenced many southeast Asian countries in history. After a variety of shocks, Confucianism was still the core values of China's social public, and represented the Chinese culture and national tradition in the world (Littlejohn, 2010). In the contemporary society, the Confucian culture in China increasingly spread, at the
Confucianism is regarded as one of the primary religions that have profoundly influenced Chinese beliefs and ideologies. While Kongzi, or Confucius, is the founder of Confucianism, he is not the only philosopher who has contributed to such a significant impact on China. Similarly, the Analects of Confucius is not the single text that represents Confucianism. In fact, during different time periods throughout the history, there are a number of eminent representatives of Confucian thoughts, such as Mengzi and Xunzi. Because Confucianism aims at eliminating chaos and maintaining order in a harmonious society , they all agree that the guidance and education of virtuous Confucian pioneers are of extreme importance to achieve this
Although the Cultural Revolution had a huge impact on all of the citizens of China, it seemed to affect the youth the most. The youth of China began to get involved after a speech by Lin Biao by 1965. It urged the students in schools and colleges to return to the basic principles of the CR. The Chinese youths quickly formed a group called the Red Guards early in the CR, which encouraged all the Chinese students to disapprove of whoever didn’t support Mao and his beliefs or anyone associated with Mao’s rival, Liu Shaoqi (Trueman). Schools and colleges were closed, and the students neglected their studies. While the Red Guards were very passionate about what they did, their enthusiasm nearly pushed China into social disorder. The economy was affected very badly, and almost driven to a near collapse (Busetto, Galduroz, and Satou). Food shortage was one of the main problems the economy caused. Also In some areas, the activities of the Red Guards got out of hand. They
Confucianism was founded by the first Chinese thinker to address both the political and social order of things straightforwardly and self- consciously. Kong Fuzi, or Confucius in English, lived from 551-479 B.C.E., but his teachings did not reach their full potential during the his life of an educator and political advisor born into an aristocratic family. Confucius gathered many disciples to spread his beliefs that were rooted in moral, ethical, and political character. He didn’t address questions about religion because he believed they were above the human moral intelligence capacity, nor those regarding obscure, complicated philosophical questions because they would not help solve the problems of China. Confucius did not really even care about the state, but he did believe
Confucianism has easily been influential in the development of the Chinese state through history. In fact, the core ideals of Confucianism have evolved. Despite the harsh repression of Confucianism by Marxist revolutionaries during the second half of the twentieth century, Confucian values continues to be influential in Chinese society and recently, Confucian political philosophy has resurfaced again. In addition, the political ideas and social ethics of Confucianism can provide the basis for a new, functional form of government in China. Confucianism can be a viable political philosophy for China in the twenty first century because many intellectuals have turned to Confucianism to make sense of such social
Confucianism is a time enduring philosophy that has stood up to invading clans, war, resentment, enforcement and infringement of new philosophies, and eventually, revival. For almost 80 years, up until the late 1970’s, Confucianism and its ideas and values have been all but wiped away from China. Though effort was made to remove Confucianism for good from China by the Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1949, the ideas and values were so deeply embedded into peoples mind and the culture that even suppression could not keep it out of the culture and practices. The main factor that has brought Confucianism back into the limelight in China and other East Asian countries is the recent
In Tiananmen Square, the protesters were given a warning. The were ordered to clear the square before punishment arrived. The protesters refused to clear, so “On June 2, Yang ordered a military crackdown on the student-demonstrators and the clearance of Tiananmen Square on the grounds that a ‘counter-revolutionary riot’ was fermenting and continued instability would retard economic reform” (Tiananmen Square Incident: Cold War). This shows that after being advised to halt the rebellion, consequences ensued. The reasoning behind the consequence was that this demonstration caused instability even though part of the protest was requesting government stability. It is clear that in the rebellion of Tiananmen Square, protesters were given a chance to clear away before government