An official survey indicates that 40 per cent of university students regard the May Fourth Movement as mostly about patriotism. But on mainland campuses, many students cannot seem to find any relevance at all.
Results of a People's Daily survey of 12,000 university students, released yesterday, the 90th anniversary of the movement, revealed that the top answer given was that the spirit of the movement was 'patriotism'. Coming second, with just under a quarter of respondents, was the pursuit of democracy and science - the stated goals when students launched the movement, which is still considered one of the key events in China's modern history.
Liberal scholars, journalists and activists, both on the mainland and overseas, have long regarded those ideals as the core of the movement.
But do the ideals register with today's students?
A senior-year student at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou surnamed Xiong said most of his fellow students did not care about the movement, whatever it was about.
Mr Xiong, a chemistry major, said most students at science or engineering schools did not want to know about the movement. Others, majoring in such areas as social science or art, said they had to research the movement.
Mr Xiong, who entered university in 2005, said his school had no official commemoration for the May Fourth Movement that he knew of.