五四运动 (Wǔsì yùndòng): May Fourth Movement (1919)

The protests began at Tiananmen Square after news that the Paris Peace Conference had awarded former German holdings in Shandong to Japan. Often treated in Chinese textbooks as the dividing line between modern and contemporary Chinese history.

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五四运动 Wǔsì yùndòng

May Fourth Movement

Student protest beginning May 4, 1919 in Beijing against the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred German concessions in Shandong to Japan rather than returning them to China. Marks the start of modern Chinese nationalism and accelerated the New Culture Movement, the spread of vernacular writing (白话文), and the introduction of Marxism. May 4 is observed as Youth Day (青年节).