ABSTRACT
Students from all the colleges and universities in Peiping and Tientsin represented in the North China Student Union assembled to demonstrate and protest against the government. In Peiping, five university and college students had just been arrested by the Garrison Commander on charges of Communist conspiracy and were being held incommunicado. The students then formed a long procession and marched around “Democratic Ground,” singing songs and shouting slogans: “Oppose oppression,” “Protect the student self-governing association,” “Stop illegal arrests and cruel acts.” May 4, 1919, was the day on which the Chinese Student Movement was started, at least in a formal sense. The Peita Student Self-Governing Association is a good example of existing student bodies, although it may be stronger than most. The political interests of students in Peiping center almost entirely on the one basic issue of the civil war and its outcome. They show little concern about more immediate problems or possible solutions.
