Xinhai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement
The Xinhai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement are the two main historical events China experienced in the 20th century. These two revolutions are brought a significant transformation in China as a republic because the Xinhai revolution of 1911 brought to an end the two thousand years of the monarchy while the May 4th movement which was mainly protests by students against the unfair treatment China got from the Paris Peace conference of 1919 introduced China into a new era of modernization. For this paper, the term revolution will mean a change of power while Movement is collective action demanding specific improvements. The purpose of this paper is to compare the Xinhai revolution to the May fourth movement and recommend the historical event which had more influence on China as a nation.
Comparison between XinHai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement
Before the 20th century, China was known as a powerful empire under the imperial Qing dynasty rule. However, at some point, this Chinese empire was replaced by a new system of government that made China a republic. Despite having a strong wall, imperial China could not last forever. During the start of the 20th century, imperial China was in sharp decline. The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 started as the Wuchang uprising in 1910, leading establishment of the Republic of China after the abdication of the child emperor Puyi on the 12th of February, 1912. The Wuchang protests started as the diverse groups joined in southern China against the Qing rule. With Sun Yat-sen as their leader, these groups formulated the Revolutionary Alliance, which advocated replacing imperial China with a republican government form.
The revolution was triggered by several factors, including corruption by Qing, Japanese and Western subjugation, warlordism, the growth of local spheres of power, and increased levels of poverty. Besides, more Chinese were exposed to the western school of thought, who advocated for a republic rather than an imperial form of government. Also, most republican supporters were motivated by the spirit of restoring Chinese rule to the Han majority after many centuries of the Manchu rule. The Chinese revolution was politically triggered by the three principles set by Sun Yat-sen, including the people, nationalism, socialism, and democracy. However, in the end, the Xinhai revolution failed to establish a republican government that the people demanded.
On the other hand, the May Fourth Movement was also a cultural, political, and anti-imperialist Movement which started as students protested in Beijing on May 4, 1919. The protests followed the failure of the Xinhai to establish a republican government, making the demonstrations to continue to the 1920s. Many historians view the May Fourth revolution as the political revolutions of the 20th century. The student protestors substantially blamed the traditional Chinese culture for China’s rapid and dramatic fall from its international position. They repeatedly accused the strict cultural values of china of preventing the nation from matching the military and industrial development of the West and Japan. The intellectuals advocated for a new culture that would reinstate China to its former international position. The students believed that abandoning the Confucian approach, which emphasized hierarchy in obedience and relationship and instead adopting the western concepts of democracy and equality, would save China’s downfall.
Politically, both the Xinhai Revolution and the May 4th Movement increased the Chinese people’s political participation and motivated many Chinese to participate in the political affairs of the people. Regarding the Chinese revolution, Sun established the Tongmenghui and Xingzhongui to ensure the revolutionary ideologies are widely spread. The leader led to the organization of many anti-Qing uprisings, such as the Huizhou uprising of 1900. Although the Xinhai revolution failed several times, times it exposed the internal failures of the imperial government by Emperor Qing. May Chinese people joined the revolutionary movement, which substantially led to increased political participation of the populace. Notably, it was out of the Xinhai that china became a republic from more than 2000 years of monarchy.
During the May 4th Movement, the intellectual were chanting slogans that called for the China government to not agree to resolutions made at Paris Peace Conference and called for severe punishment for pro-Japanese Officials. The Movement made people and students more involved in the political affairs of the country. As a result, the Movement forced the Beijing government to expel Zhang, Cao, and Lu from their political offices, signifying the increased political participation of the Chinese people in the country’s affairs. In general, both revolutions led to the popularization of political ideologies. They raised the Chinese people’s attention to the importance of their engagement in their political affairs.
Socially, the two historical events led to the emergence of new sociological ideologies across China. About Xinhai revolution, three philosophies of Sun, such as socialism, democracy, and nationalism, had a significant ideological impact on the Chinese that made them realize the need to transfer the nation’s sovereignty to the people and open their eyes to having the right to elect government representatives for themselves. Also, Sun established numerous newspapers in the anti-Qing societies. For instance, the People News introduction substantially impacted spreading western ideologies, such as democratic ideology across the nation. On the other hand, the May Fourth Movement introduced a new cultural movement, which often criticized the moral principles and China’s traditional culture. For instance, scholars reviewed ancient classics such as the Confucian tests using the critical methods and modern text while introducing western advanced scientific and political ideologies such as Realism and Marxism. These new ideologies led to a diversity of ideologies in China.
Despite sharing many similarities, both historical events also share some differences. For instance, the Xinhai revolution was not purely anti-imperialism and had a little contribution to foreign empires’ invasion. The revolution was only aimed at overthrowing the Qing rule. Throughout this revolution, the revolutionaries did not do anything against imperialism, but their focus was on the neutrality of foreigners. In contrast, while intellectuals took an active part in the May Fourth Movement, their primary emphasis was to urge the government to negotiate and take back Shandong.
The Fourth Movement as More Historically Significant Than Xinhai
The May Fourth Movement as a more significant historical impact on Chinese people than the Xinhai revolution. Many historians believe the 1911 revolution was all about the personal optimism of Sun Yat-sen in politics. However, the May 4th movement initiated modernization in social, political, and cultural terms. Today, there is still a hot debate among historians on whether the idea to make China a republic was a good idea. Before China became a republic, people were governed by an imperial government system for more than 2000 years. After the revolution, the government became a centralized Beiyang government, only to control the few provinces. The rest of the political control rested on local politicians who had powers over their armies and were beyond the central government’s control. Another controversy with the Chinese revolution was that the leaders had no idea of which type of government was useful after the revolution. The revolutionaries’ main goal was first to overthrow Manchus first then later discuss the form of governing system to use either the cabinet system or presidential system. The dispute on the form of government to use reduced the political influence of the leaders such as Sun Yat-sen as the government’s foundation would not be formed on the people’s political goodwill.
In contrast, the May Fourth Movement was led by some 300 elites who took to the streets a well-organized demonstration after the failure of the Chinese revolution. The Movement put more pressure on the government to agree with China and Japan to restore all Germany leased territories and restore the custom authority in Qinda to the Chinese government. The Movement also put more pressure on the government, leading to the resignation of all cabinet members. In essence, the Fourth Movement returned the powers to the people, where the Chinese people had the right to decide who to lead the nation. Unlike during the Xinhai Revolution, during the Mary 4th movement, unions started exercising their powers in democracy, and most of the blocks begun forming in the major cities. Workers, students, and low and middle-class people began expressing their opinions freely and demonstrated their influence on the government. Notably, the Movement also led to the spreading of communism across the country. The communist party currently ruling the nation could not have come this far if it was not for the May 4th Movement. Generally, the Xinhai revolution restored the Chinese rule, but Sun Yat-sen failed to create a republic that allows people to express and enjoy their democratic rights.
During the Chinese revolution, the majority of the Chinese population had no idea what a republic was. Most people believed in the Confucianism ideology. The concept suggested that the emperor at the top of the hierarchy was indefinite, and any opposition to the power would mean execution. People were not aware of the president or republic because these ideologies were mainly for western civilization. Thus, the Chinese revolution only meant the end of the Manchu’s ruling; the monarchy was still the main form of the day’s government. The measure of the 1911 revolution could only be how people understood the ideas of free speech, republic, and political awareness. This was not the case because people had limited political understanding during this time. The majority of the Chinese people believed that Sun was their new King instead of a President.
However, after the May 4th Movement, many western ideas were adopted in China, one being communism. The Movement, which was led by a student, made the public members understand most of these ideas. The demonstration is a symbol of great political awareness of the youths and students at the time. The young population was able to exercise its rights to protest legislation that was against their will. The Movement introduced new ideas of democracy and science, which has led to China’s significant political, social, and economic growth.