Opinion | Xi Jinping would rather the Chinese forgot the true legacy of the May Fourth protests. But we mustn’t

In a recent speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement, President Xi Jinping called on Chinese youth to embrace the May Fourth spirit.

The May Fourth Movement was a critical moment that shaped contemporary history in China. It began in 1919 with student demonstrations in Beijing and across the country, after victorious Western powers in the first world war decided during peace talks in Paris to allow Japan to keep former German concessions in Shandong. The protests, against both Western imperialism and the Chinese government’s weak response to the decision, marked the emergence of nationalism and sparked more discussion about Chinese culture.

A heated debate had already begun a few years earlier as part of the New Culture Movement, which fed off disillusionment with traditional Chinese institutions and disappointment at the Chinese Republic. More than ever, Chinese intellectuals called for the rejection of Confucius values and the creation of a new culture based on Western ideas.

So what is the May Fourth spirit? Before the Communist Party took power in 1949, it was generally understood as democracy and science. Chen Duxiu, a leader of the New Culture Movement and the dean of the School of Letters at Peking University, referred to them as “Mr Democracy” and “Mr Science” – “only these two gentlemen can save China from the political, moral, academic and intellectual darkness in which it finds itself”, he wrote.