Part of the broader New Culture Movement. Hu Shi's 1917 essay 《
文学改良刍议》 and Chen Duxiu's 《
文学革命论》 argued for writing in spoken Chinese (
白话) instead of classical Chinese (
文言). By 1920, the Ministry of Education made
白话 the medium of instruction in primary schools — a break with two millennia of
文言 tradition.
