Intellectual movements in modern China : comparisons between the May Fourth Revolution and the June Fourth Incident

Abstract

Chinese intellectuals have acted an essential role in China’s modern democratic movements, particularly the May Fourth Revolution (1919) and the June Fourth incident (1989). The main force of these events was the intellectuals who had been deeply influenced by the Chinese political culture as well as the Western penetration (mainly the New Education and Western Ideologies of new society and democracy) into China at the beginning of 20th century. The research will examine the most significant movements in China’s modem history (the May Fourth Movement of 1919 and the June Fourth Incident of 1989) by comparing the similarities and differences between them. Happened in the same place (the capital city-Beijing) exactly seventy years after the May Fourth Revolution, the students in 1989 had decided to follow the footprints of their predecessors — demonstrate for democracy. However, the May Fourth Revolution was a success while the June Fourth Incident turned out to be a tragic failure.