Danwei looks at domestic magazine coverage of the 90th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement:
“Youth” is the day’s keyword. May 4 was designated National Youth Day in 1949 to commemorate the students in the street, but it is the “new youth” from the pages of the magazine who dominate retrospectives ninety years on.
The April issue of Modern Media’s Life magazine included a supplement modeled on Chen’s magazine. The Modern Media La Jeunesse is printed vertically (in simplified characters) and includes advertisements for books and journals done up in the style of a Republican-era publication. The cover even bears an imprimatur from the PRC publishing authorities where New Youth has an authorization from the Republican post bureau.
See also a Xinhua report on the official commemoration of the historic day:
The “May Fourth Movement” started with mass student protests on May 4, 1919 against the government’s response to the Treaty of Versailles that imposed unfair treaties on China and undermined the country’s sovereignty.
It then spearheaded a national campaign to overthrow the feudal society and promote scientific and democratic ideas.
“We have seen many young people devoted themselves to the revival of great China since the ‘May Fourth Movement’,” said DengXiquan, an expert from China Juvenile Research Center. “The movement’s legacy is deeply rooted and powerful. China needs it now to unite people to work for a better country.”
The past 90 years have shown that upholding the leadership of the CPC has always been the fundamental guarantee to drive forward all social undertakings of the country, Li said in the speech.
See also an essay in People’s Daily comparing the youth protesters of 1919 to today’s “angry youth” (“奋青”).
