Mr. Xi was the latest Communist Party leader to retell the May 4 story to fit his agenda. Generations of Chinese students have absorbed textbooks that present the 1919 protests as a prelude to the founding of the Communist Party in 1921 and its unstoppable victory. The May 4 story of national awakening served Mr. Xi’s promise of a “new era” of confident Chinese power, Professor Wasserstrom added. But for other Chinese, the 1919 protests can evoke memories unwelcome to the party. The May 4 movement erupted after a time of intellectual ferment in China — later called the New Culture Movement — in which students called for “Mr.

Source: New York Times April 30, 2019 01:14 UTC