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Songs of Youth （6）
Enlightenment |
| CCTV.COM 2002-11-20 16:11:36 |
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Beijing was at the peak of summer in August 1920. The turbulence that had arisen a year ago died down. It was quiet and cool in the Taoranting Park. A group of young students who were enthusiastic for social reform gathered here to discuss the future of China.
The meeting was sponsored by the Society of Awakening in Tianjin and organized by Zhou Enlai.
They invited Professor Li Dazhao from Beijing University. From him they learned the new theory and ideas of Marxism.
 After the May 4th Movement, the realm of ideology in China was extremely active. A hundred schools of thought contended. Young people were thirsty for knowledge. They also cherished ideals of social reform. They tried hard to seek the truth for national salvation. Those who had common goals formed different organizations.
In the same month, a booklet was published in Shanghai. It immediately aroused a keen interest among many young people. This was the first Chinese translation of the full text of the Communist Manifesto.
The booklet was translated by Chen Wangdao. All the copies were sold out within less than one month. So the spectre hovering over the land of Europe came to China.
At the beginning of the year, Chen Duxiu came back to Shanghai on the sly after he was released from prison. He changed the layout of the magazine New Youth to propagate the theory of socialism.
In 1920, Chen Duxiu in South China and Li Dazhao in North China joined hands to prepare for the founding of the Communist Party of China.
 On May 1, 1920, a meeting solemnly took place in Beijing University. This was the first large－scale activity held in China to celebrate International Labour Day. Workers and intellectuals in Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places stood together to celebrate the workers' festival. The latest edition of the "New Youth" published "Sacred Workers", an inscription written by Cai Yuanpei, and "The Whole World as One Community", an inscription written by Sun Yat－sen.
For the first time the Chinese proletariat awoke to the strength of unity and uttered its own voice.
Fresh air prevailed all over China. Buds of youth sprouted in the ancient country. In 1920, the Ministry of Education under the government in Beijing promulgated a decree to replace the classical style of writing with Mandarin Chinese. Hu Shi said, "The decree will carry out a reform of education in China at least 20 years ahead of time. The enlightenment movement of vernacular Chinese initiated towards the end of the Qing Dynasty has ended successfully at the right time."
People lived in a whirlpool of thinking. There was much debate in the academic circles after the May 4th Movement. Many foreign philosophers, poets and thinkers were invited to come to China and state their views.
 In September 1920, British philosopher Bertrand Russell came to China at the invitation of Beijing University.
Earlier, American educator John Dewey had travelled in many parts of China. His ideas of pragmatism were fashionable in those days.
In Zhongshan Park at the beginning of 1921, the Literature Research Society was established at the suggestion of Zheng Zhenduo, Shen Yanbing and others. It was the most influential literary society established after the launching of the magazine New Youth and the establishment of other avant－garde organizations. In July 1921, a group of younger Chinese students came back to Shanghai from Japan.
Among them were Guo Moruo, Yu Dafu and Tian Han. The Creation Society was established at their suggestion. A month later, The Goddess, a collection of poems by Guo Moruo, was published. The poems expressed the young people's unique and ambitious spirit and represented the ethos of the times. "The Youth", a prose by Li Dazhao, uttered the most powerful voice of the times. A passage from the prose goes, "Youth is progressive and full of endless changes. When such youth comes, it will be the day of self－liberation for the Chinese youth , the day of rejuvenation of youth for China！"
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Editor: Inner Wu CCTV.com
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