Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The May Fourth Movement

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

Few dates in China are as significant as May Fourth, which marks two distinct revolutionary periods in modern Chinese history.   On May 4th, 1919, student protests erupted in China in response to the country’s outrage over being ignored at the Paris Peace Conference. This event became known as the May 4th Movement. Seventy years later, in 1989, a resurgence of movement inspired the Tiananmen Square student protests.  Learn more about the May Fourth Movement and its lasting impact on Chinese society on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few dates in China are as significant as May 4th, which marks two distinct revolutionary periods in modern Chinese history. On May 4th, 1919, student protests erupted in China in response to the country's outrage over being ignored at the Paris Peace Conference. This event became known as the May 4th Movement. Seven years later in 1989, a resurgence of the movement inspired the Tiananmen Square student protests. Learn more about the May 4th Movement and its lasting impact on Chinese society on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Fear is the virus is trending on TikTok. Vaccines are poison.

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down the right-wing cult spiral in a search for salvation. To understand what sparked the May 4th movement, we need to look back at the events that brought down the Qing Dynasty. As I've covered in previous episodes, the 19th century was disastrous for China. It suffered foreign invasions, the opium trade, wars, and radically unfair treaties. The reaction to these humiliations, such as the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions, failed to save China from decline and arguably made things worse. After the dynasties collapsed in 1911, Qing leaders lost the mandate of heaven, ending 4,000 years of imperial dynastic rule. In the wake of this collapse,

China became unstable. This instability set the stage for a brief republic, a dictatorship, and an era of warlord rule reflecting the chaos that define this period. Amid these changes, World War I appeared to many in China as a potential turning point, offering a chance for change through international participation. China sent nearly 150,000 workers to Europe to support the war effort on the side of the Allies. Although fighting in Western Europe wasn't realistic for China, their workers could dig trenches, build roads,

and help with communication on the Western Front. Chinese nationalism grew from their participation in the war. Many Chinese believe supporting the Allies would bring rewards after the war. However, when the Paris Peace Conference was announced, this expectation was shattered, intensifying disillusionment and protest. The Chinese delegation believed that they had at least earned a place at the table and anticipated enjoying the fruits of victory.

The treaty brought enormous gains to the rest of the Allies. Germany faced heavy military restrictions and also had to pay $33 billion to the victors. Moreover, Germany was forced to give up key colonial holdings. Confident the Chinese delegation arrived at Versailles, the return of the Shandong region, which Germany had previously occupied. Events, however, took an unexpected turn. The Chinese delegation was disrespected. China was excluded from the Treaty of Versailles and actually lost key territories to its main Asian rival.

A prized Shandong coastal area where the Yellow River mates the sea was given to Japan. The Japanese had claimed Shandong in 1914, seizing upon Germany's preoccupation in Europe. and they would hold these lands until the end of World War II. Japan's takeover of Shandong became a rallying point for China's educated class, highlighting Japan's successful modernization through the Meiji Restoration, in contrast to China's struggles with Western influence and the humiliation it suffered in the 19th century. Losing Shandong and being ignored heightened anger among young educated Chinese, especially in major cities and college campuses.

protesters strongly condemn Chinese officials for accepting unfair conditions. Later, when it became public that Chinese leaders had secretly agreed to seed Shang Dong to China before the Paris Peace Conference even started, without informing their own team attending the conference, public outrage intensified, further fueling the growing protest movement. Protesters accused officials of letting foreign powers control Chinese land, which culminated in the demonstrations on May 4, 1919. Around 3,000 students marched in Tiananmen Square demanding change sparked by China's treatment at the Paris Peace Conference. Confucian tradition often promotes order over protest, yet its

philosophy also gives citizens the right to criticize leaders who fail morally. To the protesting students, China's leaders had failed their duty. The warlord government, fractured in weak, risk returning China to the dominance of foreign powers, a status akin to the previous century's pseudo-colonialism and national humiliation. On May 14th, students took to the streets with a new vision, one without foreign subjugation. After May 4th, the student protesters continued their protests by joining organizations seeking political and social change in China. Chen Dushou had been a student of architecture at Beijing University.

Chen founded the new youth, a movement that protested foreign imperialism, the warlord government in China, and the continued conservative prime. of Chinese culture. The public challenge to the government initiated by New Youth was a remarkably bold move for the Chinese of that era. Beyond just protesting, New Youth students used violence and intimidation against those with pro-Japanese leanings, including beating one official and burning another's home. Despite the violence, the movement was mostly philosophical.

New Youth urged students to seek Western inspiration, echoing Meiji Japan's earlier path. Who is she, an intellectual leader of the new youth movement, wrote, quote, At present, the most unfounded and more harmful distortion is to ridicule Western civilization as materialistic and worship Eastern civilization as spiritual. The modern civilization of the West, built on the foundation of the search for human happiness, not only has definitely increased material enjoyment to no small degree, but can also satisfy the spiritual needs of mankind. End quote. Driven by intellectuals such as Huxi, the demonstrators called for an end to Confucian dominance in China and for the opening of the country to Western ideas, believing that only a fundamental

transformation could secure China's future. The students of the May 4th movement had a clear goal, transforming China into a Western-style liberal democracy. The idea at first seemed unimaginable in a country with no experience of democratic government or pluralism. On their signs, in their writings, and in their speeches, the students of Beijing's 13 universities openly ridiculed the archaic ways of Confucianism, believing it had kept China in a dogmatic cycle of stagnation for centuries. The students in Beijing viewed Confucianism as limiting their freedom, given its emphasis on compliance with the family structure. These ideas

ran counter to their goal of participating in government as citizens, with the right to vote, and to freely disagree with the government. Among the most significant aims of the group was the call for a constitution with a clear set of rules and structures. Many in the movement had conflicting thoughts on the topic of Japan. On the one hand, their seizure of Shandong had brought the students together. Japan faced boycotts, protest, and condemnation over its land claims in China. At the same time, they were eager to amplify, in the loudest terms possible, the success of Japanese modernization efforts under the Meiji Restoration by putting forward their own platform for change. The Japanese served as an example of what a traditional East Asian culture could achieve

through modernization. Japan had been able to avoid European involvement in its affairs by adopting European political practices, industrial methods, and approach to modernization. They hope to bring the same attitude to update the rigid Chinese system. Unfortunately for the students of China, Democratic elections, civil liberties, and technology were meaningless in a China governed by a small group of warlords. The students protesting received a hard lesson in why they were far from their goals, as one of the protesters was badly beaten by police officers and died as a result of his wounds. It had become clear to many in the movement that their methods were too passive to meet their goals.

Parliamentary practices would not have been able to generate the sheer depth of change required to institute land reform, educational reform, and social reforms for women. Many of the student leaders started to believe that Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the communist revolution in Russia, had been right when he said that imperialism was the final stage of capitalism. Many students began to believe that an alternative Western philosophy held the key to greater change. Communism.

The May 4th movement, which had begun as a nationalist movement that advocated Western democracy now had evolved into something totally different. The impact of Russia's transition to communism in 1917 was not lost on the May 4th students. The legacy of the May 4th movement carried by these leaders set China on a path that would change China decades later. In fact, there's a fairly straight line from the leadership of the new youth movement to the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party. In fact, the first general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, In fact, the first general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party was none other than the founder of the new youth movement, Chen Du Shoe. And one of the May 4th protesters who wrote against Confucian practices and their effects on women was Mao Zedong.

The Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles had illustrated to this generation that the deck was stacked against China. And the best pass forward was to attack the Western system, not to adopt it. The students of the May 4th movement went on to become leaders of the movements against the nationalist government of Shanghai Czech in the Chinese Civil War. They protested against the Japanese occupation of China after 1931 and the appalling atrocities they committed against the Chinese in Nanjing during World War II. The students of the May 4th movement were not initially interested in communism, but their interests eventually aligned as both movements focused on anti-Western imperialism.

The ideas of democratic liberalism were not aligned with the intense anti-imperialism on China's college campuses, and communism was the compromise between the status quo in China and their rage at their treatment by the Japanese. The May 4th celebration is not only welcomed by the Chinese Communist Party today, but it's integrated into its platform. The day is lauded as providing a philosophical foundation that ultimately led to China's transformation into a communist state. However, there is a very ironic twist to the story.

70 years after the events of 1919, students in 1989 took inspiration from their activities to protest the very communist government that came out of the original May 4th movement. Like the students of 1919, the demonstrators of 1989, frame themselves as the moral conscience of the nation, acting when the state had failed to live up to its own ideals. They invoked May 4th's emphasis on nationalism, civic responsibility, and the duty of the educated youth to speak out against corruption and injustice. Protesters frequently referenced May 4th slogans and symbols, presenting their movement as part of a continuous struggle for reform, accountability, and political modernization. By gathering in Tiananmen Square, the 1989 protesters

placed themselves at the political heart of the nation, where earlier generations, 70 years before, had also challenged authority. Just as the May 4th movement combined calls for national renewal with demands for cultural and political change, the 1989 movement blended patriotism with appeals for transparency, free expression, and reform within the Chinese communist system. In both cases, students believe that public protests rooted in moral legitimacy could pressure the state to correct its course.

But despite being inspired by the students who came before them, the 1989 protests were called. crush mercilessly by the same Communist Party that was created by the student 70 years earlier. And the protest of Tiananmen Square in 1989 will be the subject of a future episode. The May the Fourth Movement has the unique distinction of inspiring both the party and power in China, as well as its dissidents and opponents. This means that no matter what happens in China's future, the May the Fourth Movement is likely to be held in high regard. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel.

The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research in writing for this episode was provided by Joel Hermanson. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord, as this is where everything happens outside of the podcast. As always, if you leave a review on any of the major podcast apps, you too can have it run in the show.