ABSTRACT
As the First World War had finally brought the age of high dynasticism to an end, the European ‘super power’ (imperial power) began to decline in most parts of the world. While European countries re-dressed their identities in nationalistic uniforms, many of their colonial territories, such as India, Africa and Asia, also began step by step to transform into nation states. Thus, construction, or reconstruction, of a national identity became a vital aspect of the social, political and cultural life of these newly emerged, or independent, countries. As in many of these countries, the intelligentsia was central to the reconstruction of a national identity in China. They, unlike their parents’ generations and the earlier reformers, had to one degree or another acquired a modern education in the West or in Japan. For them, to construct their nation’s ‘new’ identity meant to break away from the ‘old’ traditional ethics and ‘superstitions’; instead, they introduced modern Western democracy, science and culture. This led to the emergence of the New Culture Movement around 1915. It was a movement of intellectual renewal, or a ‘cultural renaissance’ as claimed by the leaders of the movement, such as Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu. 1 The movement was highlighted by political demonstrations on the fourth of May, 1919, to protest against the resolution of the Versailles Peace Conference, which granted Japan rights in Shangdong province. The demonstrations later became more widely known as the May Fourth Movement and the period of the New Culture Movement became known as the May Fourth period.
