May Fourth Memories: PRC Media Representations of a Historical Moment, 1959 and 1989
-
Keith Allan Clark
Abstract
On May 4, 1919, students in Beijing protested their government’s weak response to the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War. In what became known as the May Fourth movement, these students marched against transferring territories in Shandong from Germany to Japan, rousing the Chinese nation and catching the world’s attention. The movement eventually succeeded, and the former German concessions were later returned to China. Thereafter, the May Fourth incident became a celebrated moment in modern Chinese history. This work analyzes how state, municipal, and student media represented May Fourth in two periods after 1949. I detail how the Communist Party of China portrayed May Fourth to bolster its legitimacy and how those depictions changed to suit different moments. Through assaying party mouthpieces, municipal newspapers, and student periodicals, this paper examines how May Fourth was commemorated during the Great Leap Forward and the lead up to, time of, and then aftermath of, the 1989 student protests and occupation of Tiananmen Square. I argue the CPC repurposed a popular protest against the state into a rallying cry to serve the state.
Abstract
On May 4, 1919, students in Beijing protested their government’s weak response to the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War. In what became known as the May Fourth movement, these students marched against transferring territories in Shandong from Germany to Japan, rousing the Chinese nation and catching the world’s attention. The movement eventually succeeded, and the former German concessions were later returned to China. Thereafter, the May Fourth incident became a celebrated moment in modern Chinese history. This work analyzes how state, municipal, and student media represented May Fourth in two periods after 1949. I detail how the Communist Party of China portrayed May Fourth to bolster its legitimacy and how those depictions changed to suit different moments. Through assaying party mouthpieces, municipal newspapers, and student periodicals, this paper examines how May Fourth was commemorated during the Great Leap Forward and the lead up to, time of, and then aftermath of, the 1989 student protests and occupation of Tiananmen Square. I argue the CPC repurposed a popular protest against the state into a rallying cry to serve the state.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Introduction: Politicized Histories in Modern China 1
- From Renaissance Heroine to May Fourth Female Paragon: Laura M. White’s Recreation of Romola (1863) in her Chinese Translation Luanshi Nühao (1923) 23
- Globalized Memories: Creating a Historical Space for Medical Pioneers in Modern China 49
- The Social and Political Lives of G. William Skinner and Chinese Society in Thailand 85
- Between Chaos and Liberty: Chinese Uses of the French Revolution of 1789 119
- Imagining the Future from History: The Tang Dynasty and the “China Dream” 149
- May Fourth Memories: PRC Media Representations of a Historical Moment, 1959 and 1989 173
- Notes on Contributors 193
- Index 195
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Introduction: Politicized Histories in Modern China 1
- From Renaissance Heroine to May Fourth Female Paragon: Laura M. White’s Recreation of Romola (1863) in her Chinese Translation Luanshi Nühao (1923) 23
- Globalized Memories: Creating a Historical Space for Medical Pioneers in Modern China 49
- The Social and Political Lives of G. William Skinner and Chinese Society in Thailand 85
- Between Chaos and Liberty: Chinese Uses of the French Revolution of 1789 119
- Imagining the Future from History: The Tang Dynasty and the “China Dream” 149
- May Fourth Memories: PRC Media Representations of a Historical Moment, 1959 and 1989 173
- Notes on Contributors 193
- Index 195
