China: May Fourth Movement missed · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Not a lot of bloggage today on the cultural, political and anti-imperialist May Fourth Movement which began on this day in 1919, in an environment and with a course of events somewhat similar to that of the spring and early summer first in Beijing then nation-wide seventy years later.
Although having a foundation in the context of foreign powers in China during the first world war, the May Fourth Movement also brought about significant changes in the nation's literature. With the rejection of an elitist classical style of writing for a modern venacular which could be understood by all, the tone was set which led to the emergence of such contemporary Chinese writers as Lu Xun and later, Qian Zhongshu.
Here's what was written today on the Pinyin News blog in May Fourth remembered:
Today is the 87th anniversary of the demonstrations in Beijing that marked the beginning of what is now called the May Fourth Movement. What concerns me here is not the surge in Chinese nationalism (something the present-day PRC — and some would say Taiwan, too — could use rather less of) but the literary revolution that largely overthrew the use of Literary Sinitic (Classical Chinese).
A good source of information on the literary aspect of the May Fourth Movement is The Chinese Renaissance, by Hu Shih (Hú Shì, 胡適), one of the main figures in this movement.
A poem posted today on Wu Zuolai's blog [zh] gives a sense of the fears and concerns of living under the war at that time:
痛悼五四青年节
一九一九年到现在
也有近九十个春秋
那时的热血青年
现在是枯枯已朽
那时代的人真的伟大啊
有李大钊有鲁迅还有我们的陈独秀
他们不用通过组织同意
就可以印传单做演讲游行呼吼
那是一个年少的中国啊
年轻的心沐浴着时代的血与火
他们用生命全部能量与旧时代决裂
他们为思想为自由而学习生活
今天中国已没有了青年少年
刚背上书包就老了成为学奴
每天在教室里接受心灵的摧残
一条独木桥上万马竞走
一部分年轻人长大了成了官奴
每天梦想着做官光宗耀后
一部分年轻人成了洋奴
学习的目标就是去国背祖
一部分人成了房奴
一部分人成了车奴
一部分人成了性奴（三陪与二奶）
一部分人成了农奴（农民工兄弟）
这是一个需要奴隶且生产奴隶的时代
这个时代不需要什么思想与自由
这里只有老而又老的规则与方式
这是一个废弃青少年与梦想的伟大国度