The May Fourth Movement as interpreted by the Chinese intelligentsia of the 1930s

Abstract

Because of its intricate nature, the May Fourth Movement is bound to have been interpreted from a variety of angles with the passage of time. During the 1930s, the circle of Chinese intellectuals developed a diversity of interpretations that viewed the May Fourth Movement as, for example, a movement for personal liberty, an anti-feudal movement, a bourgeois cultural movement, or a movement of a quite complex character. In the meantime there also appeared the analogy of the May Fourth Movement to the Renaissance and Enlightenment. These interpretations – and analogies as well – actually imply the interpreters' own mentality and signify their own thinking. The concept of the May Fourth Movement conceived by one school of interpreters often changed with the actual needs of that school and hence turned out to be inconsistent. Nonetheless, the notions of the May Fourth Movement as fleshed out by different schools might also be seen to have something in common. Interpretations of this nature informed the essence of the May Fourth Movement and, to a further extent, displayed the trajectory and trend of history.

Keywords:

• May Fourth Movement
• culture
• intellectuals
• individualism

Notes

¹Luo Zhitian, “Cong xinwenhua yundong dao beifa de wenhua yu zhengzhi” [From the New Cultural Movement to the Culture and Politics of the Northern Expedition], Shehui kexue yanjiu [Social Science Research], no. 4 (2006): 139; Wang Qisheng, Geming yu fangeming: shehui wenhua shiyexia de minguo zhengzhi [Revolution and Counter-Revolution: The Politics of the Republic of China in the Light of Society and Culture] (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2010), 48, 65.

²Liang Shiqiu, “Zixinli yu kuadakuang” [Self-Confidence and Megalomania], Dagong Daily Weekly Editorial (Tianjin), June 9, 1935.

³Zhang Xiruo, “Guomin renge zhi peiyang” [The Cultivation of Citizen's Character], Duli pinglun [Independent Review], no. 150 (1935): 14–17.

⁴Hu Shi, “Fei gerenzhuyi de xin shenghuo” [A Non-Individualistic New Life], Xinchao [New Trends] 2, no. 3 (1920): 467. However, this “individualism” at that time only referred to an “independent and self-indulgent personality.” See Hu Shi, “Yibusheng zhuyi” [Ibsenism], Xin qingnian [New Youth], no. 6 (1918): 3–23.

⁵Hu Shi, “Gerenziyou yu shehui jinbu” [Personal Liberty and Social Progress], Duli pinglun, no. 150 (1935): 2–4.

⁶Hu Shi, “Jinri sixiangjie de yige dabibing” [A Serious Malady in the Circle of Intellectuals Today], Duli pinglun, no. 153 (1935): 3, 4.

⁷Chang Yansheng, “Xianshi shenghuo yu lixiang shenghuo—ershi nianlai zhongguo sixiangyundong de zongjiantao yu women zuihou de juewu” [A Real Life and An Ideal Life—A Summary Examination of the Ideological Movements in China and Our Final Awakening], Guolun [On State] 1, no. 1 (1935): 11–13.

⁸Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun” [On the “May Fourth Movement”], Xin xueshi [New Learning] 1, no. 7 (1937): 335.

⁹Wu Shifu, “Zhongguo xianjieduan wenxue zhi zhuwenti” [The Problems in the Contemporary Chinese Literature], Liuhuo wenyi [The Garnet Art and Literature], no. 1 (1936): 2.

¹⁰Tao Fen, “Women de dengta” [Our Lighthouse], Dazhong shenghuo [The Public Life], no. 1 (1935): 4.

¹¹Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun”, 333.

¹²Ye Qing, “Wusi wenhua yundong de jiantao” [A Review of the May Fourth Cultural Movement], Wenhua jianshe [Cultural Reconstruction] 1, no. 8 (1935): 35.

¹³Yu Yingshi, “Wenyi fuxing hu? qimeng yundong hu?—yige shixuejia dui wusi yundong de fansi” [The Renaissance or the Enlightenment?—A Historian's Reflection on the May Fourth Movement], in Chongxun Hu Shi licheng: Hu Shi shengping sixiang zairenshi [Retrace the Life Journey of Hu Shi: A Review of Hu Shi's Life and Thought] (Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue chubanshe, 2004), 250–51.

¹⁴Liu Shi, “Cong wusi yundong dao jinri” [From the May Fourth Movement to Today], in Guonan yu wenhua [National Crisis and Culture] (Shanghai: Heibai congshu chubanshe, 1937), 32–33, 36.

¹⁵Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun”, 335.

¹⁶Zhang Taiyuan, Duli pinglun yu 20 shiji 30 niandai de zhengzhi sichao [Independent Review and the Political Thoughts of the 1930s] (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2006), 147.

¹⁷Yu Yingshi, “Wenyi fuxing hu?”, 250.

¹⁹Ye Qing, “Wusi wenhua yundong de jiantao”, 22, 23.

¹⁸Ibid., 246.

²⁰Luo Jialun, “Xinwenhua yundong de shidai he yingxiang” [The Time and Influence of the New Culture Movement], in Wenhua jiaoyu yu qingnian [Cultural Education and the Youth] (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1947), 48. At the end of this essay a note indicates this was a speech given at the Meeting in Memory of the May Fourth Movement, Nanjing, 1931. Luo Jiufang, Lou Jialun's daughter, also said this was a speech delivered in 1931. See Luo Jiufang, “Luo Jialun yu wusi yundong” [Lou Jialun and the May Fourth Movement], Bainianchao [Hundred Year Tide], no. 5 (1999): 47.

²¹Qu Qiubai, Qu Qiubai wenji [The Collected Works of Qu Qiubai], vol. 7 (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1991), 232.

²²Bing Sheng (Mao Dun), “‘Wusi’ yundong de jiantao” [A Review of the May Fourth Movement], Wenxue daobao [Guide to Literature] 1, no. 2 (1931): 14.

²³Wenyi xinwen she [The Literary News Society], “Qing tuoqi ‘wusi’ de yishan” [Please Cast Off the “May Fourth” Clothes], 1932, in Minguo shiqi mingren tan wusi [Commentaries on the May Fourth Movement by the Celebrities During the Period of the Republic of China], ed. Yang Hu (Fuzhou: Fujian jiaoyu chubanshe, 2011), 193.

²⁴Wenyi pinglun she, “Zhenli zhi xi” [A Call for the Truth], 1931, in Minguo shiqi mingren tan wusi, 194.

²⁵Hu Qiuyuan, “Wenhua yundong wenti” [On the Issue of Cultural Movement], in Minguo shiqi mingren tan wusi, 196.

²⁶Hu Sheng, ‘“Wusi’ yundong lun”, 338.

²⁷Liu Shi, “Cong wusi yundong dao jinri”, 33, 37.

²⁸Zhao Ou, “Wusi jinian yu xin qimeng yundong” [The May Fourth Memory and the New Enlightenment Movement], Beiping chenbao [The Peking Morning News], May 4, 1937.

²⁹Ai Siqi, “Xin qimeng yundong he zhongguode zijue yundong” [The New Enlightenment Movement and China's Self-Consciousness Movement], Wenhua shiliang [The Cultural Nutrition], no. 1 (1937): 35.

³⁰Ba Da, “Cong muqian minzhu weiji shuodao jinnian wuyue” [A Talk about the May of this Year in Light of the Current National Crisis], in Beifang zuoyi wenhua yundong huibian [The Collected Materials of the Leftist Cultural Movements in North China], ed. Zhonggong Beijing shiwei dangshi yanjiushi and Zhonggong Tianjin shiwei dangshi ziliao zhengji weiyuanhui (Beijing: Beijing chubanshe, 1991), 190.

³¹Wang Ming and other Chinese Communist Representatives in Moscow, “Fugao—jinian reliede gemingzhe Qu Qiubai, He Shuheng” [An Obituary in Memory of Enthusiastic Revolutionaries Qu Qiubai and He Shuheng], 1935, in Zuoyi Shanghai [The Leftists and Shanghai], ed. Kong Haizhu (Shanghai: Wenyi chubanshe, 2003), 361.

³²Yi Jia (Qu Qiubai), “‘Wusi’ he xinde wenhua geming” [The May Fourth Movement and the New Cultural Revolution], Beidou [The Big Dipper] 2, no.2 (1932): 322.

³³Hu Sheng, “Wusi' yundong lun”, 335.

³⁴Ai Siqi, “Shenme shi xin qimeng yundong” [What Is the New Enlightenment Movement], Wenzhai [The Digest] 2, no. 1 (1937): 127.

³⁶Wang Xuru, “Zhongguo wenhua jianshe de tujing” [The Path for China's Cultural Reconstruction], in Zhonguo wenhua jianshe taolunji [An Anthology of Works on China's Cultural Reconstruction], vol. 2, ed. Ma Ruofang (Shanghai: Longwen shudian, 1935), 71.

³⁵Li Maimai, “Ping zhongguo benweide wenhua jianshe xuanyan” [On the Manifesto for China's Own Cultural Reconstruction], Wenhua jianshe 1, no. 5 (1935): 29.

³⁸Hu Shi, “Jinri sixiangjie de yige da bibing”, 2–5.

³⁷Tao Xisheng, “Weishenme fouren xianzaide zhongguo” [Why Contemporary China Should Be Repudiated], Dagongbao [L'impartial], April 5, 1935.

³⁹Xu Xingchu, “Cong wusi yundong shuodao yishi xuanyan” [My Comment on the May Fourth Movement till the January 1 Manifesto], Wenhua jianshe 1, no. 5 (1935): 32.

⁴⁰Liu Shi, “Cong wusi yundong dao jinri”, 33.

⁴¹Yi Jia, “‘Wusi’ he xinde wenhua geming”, 322.

⁴²Wenyi xinwen she, “Qing tuoqi ‘wusi’ de yishan”, 193.

⁴³Bing Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong de jiantao”, 14.

⁴⁴Ai Siqi, “Lun sixiang wenhua wenti” [On the Issue of Ideology and Culture], Renshi yuekan [The Cognition Monthly], no. 1 (1937): 7.

⁴⁵Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun”, 335.

⁴⁶Qi Boyan, “Wusi yundong yu xin qimeng yundong” [The May Fourth Movement and the New Enlightenment Movement], Dushu yuebao [The Readers' Monthly], no. 2 (1937): 7.

⁴⁷Lin Xi, “Wusi yundong de yiyi jiqi zai wenxue shangde yingxiang” [The May Fourth Movement's Significance and Its Influence on Literature], Jianrui [Keen Sense], no. 1 (1932): 11.

⁴⁸Hu Qiuyuan, “Wuhua yundong wenti” [The Question of the Cultural Movement], 1932, in Minguo shiqi mingren tan wusi, 198.

⁴⁹Zhang Pan, “Zhongguo wenhua zhi silu” [The Dead End for the Chinese Culture], Xiandai qingnan [Modern Youth], Supplement to Guangzhou Minguo ribao [Nationalist China Daily], January 25, 1934.

⁵⁰Zhang Pan, “Zai wenhua yundong zhangxian shang da Chen Xujing boshi” [A Rebuttal to Chen Xujing on the Front of the Cultural Movement], Xiandai qingnan, February 2, 1934.

⁵¹Li Lizhong, “Zhongguo benwei wenhua jianshe pipan zong qingsuan” [A Summary Critique of the China-Centered Cultural Reconstruction], Wenhua jianshe 1, no. 7 (1935): 46–47, 55.

⁵²Zhao Jisun, “Zhongguo wenhua yundong zhi shide pingshu” [A Historical Review of China's Cultural Movement], part I, Renmin pinglun [The People's Review], no. 31 (1934): 13.

⁵⁷Hu Shi, “Wusi yundong jinian” [In Memory of the May Fourth Movement], Juewu [consciousness], supplement to Shanghai Minguo ribao [Nationalist China Daily], May 5, 1928.

⁵³Chen Gaoyong, Zhongguo wenhua wenti yanjiu [The Study of China's Cultural Question] (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1937), 301.

⁵⁴Lei Bohao, “Zhongguo benweide wenhua jianshe de jichu zai hechu” [Where is the Basis for the China-Centered Cultural Reconstruction], Kaifeng Jiaoyu pinghua [The Popular Review of Education] 1, no. 5 (1935): 8.

⁵⁵Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun”, 336.

⁵⁶Zhao Ou, “Wusi jinian yu xin qimeng yundong”.

⁵⁸Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun”, 338.

⁵⁹Chen Gaoyong, Zhongguo wenhua wenti yanjiu, 298–99.

⁶⁰Tian Niu, “Wusi yundong yu zhongguo wenxue” [The May Fourth Movement and the Chinese Literature], in Beifang zuoyi wenhua yundong huibian, 178–79.

⁶¹Yu Yingshi, “Wenyifuxing hu?”, 250–51.

⁶²Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun”, 333–34.

⁶³Chang Yansheng, “Xianshi shenghuo yu lixiang shenghuo”, 10–11.

⁶⁴Shi Taixu, “Zenyang jianshe xiandai zhongguo de wenhua” [How to Reconstruct a Modern Chinese Culture], Wenhua jianshe 1, no. 9 (1935): 27.

⁶⁵Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun”, 337.

⁶⁶Lin Xi, “Wusi yundong de yiyi jiqi zai wenxue shangde yingxiang”, 12.

⁶⁷Zhang Shenfu, “Wusi yundong he xin qimeng yundong” [The May Fourth Movement and the New Enlightenment Movement], in Shenme shi xin qimeng yundong [What is the New Enlightenment Movement] (Chongqing: Shenghuo shudian, 1939), 17.

⁶⁸Yi Jia, “‘Wusi’ he xinde wenhua geming”, 322, 328.

⁶⁹Bing Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong de jiantao”, 14.

⁷⁰Lin Xi, “Wusi yundong de yiyi jiqi zai wenxue shangde yingxiang”, 10, 12.

⁷¹Tian Niu, “Wusi yundong yu zhongguo wenxue”, 178–79.

⁷²Zhongguo zuoyi wenhua zongtongmeng changwu weiyuanhui [The Standing Committee for the General League of Chinese Leftist Culture], “Zhongguo zouyi wenhua zongtongmen gangling cao'an” [The Draft Agenda for the General League of Chinese Leftist Culture], 1935, in Zuoyi Shanghai, 370, 372.

⁷³Hu Sheng, “‘Wusi’ yundong lun”, 338.

⁷⁴Ai Siqi, “Lun sixiang wenhua wenti”, 11.

⁷⁵Zhong Ji, “Xin qimeng yundong zhi lu” [The Road toward the New Enlightenment Movement], in Beijing diqu kangri yundong shiliao huibian [The Collection of the Materials Concerning the Anti-Japanese Movement in the Region of Beijing], vol. 3, ed. Zhonggong Beijing shiwei dangshi yanjiushi [Party History Research Office under Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China] (Beijing: Zhongguo wenshi chubanshe, 1996), 96.