China make a big deal out of commemorating most anniversaries, but the true political and cultural significance of two key events in the nation's modern history will pass largely unnoticed today.
The first is the 90th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement and the second is the 111th anniversary of the founding of Peking University, where students launched the landmark literary///??? revolution in 1919.
The May Fourth Movement began when 3,000 students marched to Tiananmen Square, protesting against a decision at the Paris Peace Conference, after the first world war, to award Japan control of German concessions in Shandong province . They also protested against the idea of imperial rule, making the movement both a touchstone of Chinese nationalism and historic proof that people could challenge their rulers. It soon encompassed a broader debate about how China should modernise, with two slogans calling for democracy and science.
The May Fourth Movement was a watershed in modern Chinese history, adding impetus to the leftist intellectual New Culture Movement that grew into the Communist Party in 1921.
Peking University, the mainland's first modern university and foremost centre of learning, was founded on December 17, 1898. But the Communist government changed the date to May 4 to stress the role that professors and students from the prestigious campus played in the May Fourth and New Culture movements. Communists view the movements as paving the way for the introduction of Marxist-Leninist thought to China.
Zhang Ming , a professor who has written many articles on the May Fourth Movement, said it had 'nurtured many communist leaders, such as Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao , the founding fathers and leading figures in the early days of the party in the 1920s', but had played an even bigger role in shaping China's modern history.