What was the purpose of the May 4th Movement?

Revitalizing the Chinese nation is the most fundamental motivation and ultimate goal of the May 4th Movement

The direct cause of the patriotic movement on May 4th was the refusal of the Paris Peace Conference to agree to the justice of the Chinese government The demand was that all the powers formerly occupied by Germany in Shandong should be handed over to Japan and not returned to China. This aroused strong protests from the majority of patriotic students and gathered teams to various embassies to demand that all countries come forward to uphold justice. But its most fundamental motivation is to save China from danger and revitalize the Chinese nation.

The slogan "Revitalize China" was first put forward by Sun Yat-sen in the "Declaration of the Revival of China" in 1894. Since then, most patriots have regarded this as the ultimate goal of their lifelong struggle. It can be said that all the revolutionary struggles in China since then were all aimed at revitalizing the Chinese nation; all the progress and achievements achieved were all due to its prompting and inspiration. The occurrence of the May Fourth Movement was a direct continuation of this spirit. This is the most fundamental motivation for the patriotic students’ shouting and bloody struggle, as well as the active response and support from the broad masses of intellectuals, citizens, and workers. This is also the most fundamental meaning of slogans that have been heard throughout the country, such as "Strive for national power abroad and punish national traitors at home" and "Awaken compatriots and unite to save the country." Although some people did not clearly realize this ideologically at the time and were purely driven by patriotic enthusiasm, their patriotic purpose was not to maintain China's backwardness. The ultimate goal was to save China from danger and change China's backwardness. appearance and revitalize the Chinese nation.

If many ordinary students, citizens, and workers were not clear enough about the revitalization of the Chinese nation, among some advanced intellectuals, this idea was very clear. Li Dazhao's "Youth" written on September 1, 1916 and "The Mission" written on February 4, 1917 both proposed to build "Youth China" and "Youth China"; the Xinmin Society established in April 1918, the purpose It is to "transform China and the world"; the Young China Society, established in June of this year, also aims to create a "Young China". These slogans are actually synonymous with revitalizing China. Mao Zedong made this very clear. At the beginning of the series of articles "The Great Union of the People", he clearly pointed out that the country is extremely bad, mankind is suffering to the extreme, and society is extremely dark. It is necessary to find a "remedy method, a transformation method." At the end of the article, he put forward with hope: "I dare to say something strange. In the future, the reform of the Chinese nation will be more thorough than that of any other nation. The society of the Chinese nation will be brighter than that of any nation. The great unity of the Chinese nation will be We must succeed first than any nation in any region! We must work hard! Our golden world is ahead! Compiled by the Central Literature Research Office and others: "Mao Zedong's Early Manuscripts", pages 338-394, Hunan Publishing House, Changsha, 1990.] A glorious new face of the Chinese nation is vividly displayed on the page.

It was precisely in order to revitalize the Chinese nation that Chen Duxiu and others fiercely advocated opposing old traditions and advocating democracy and science. In his "New Youth Manifesto" on December 1, 1919, he passionately described the new era and new society he longed for. He believed that this "ideal new era and new society is honest, progressive, and positive." "Free, equal, creative, beautiful, kind, peaceful, loving and helping each other, working happily, and making the whole society happy." ①["Duxiu Wencun", page 244, Anhui People's Publishing House, Hefei, 1987.] The new era and new society he describes here are actually the goals to be achieved in revitalizing the Chinese nation. They later accepted Marxism, propagated socialism, and established the Communist Party of China, also to revitalize the Chinese nation.