【New Left Seminar: Chinese Communism and Democracy—May Fourth Movement in the Eye of Chen Duxiu and Mao Zedong】

 

The epochal significance of the May Fourth Movement is not only about the cultural enlightenment or the gospel of patriotism that it brought. As a milestone in the history of democracy in China, the May Fourth Movement witnessed China’s efforts in searching for its fate among Constitutionalism, Liberalism and Republicanism, thwarted in the Paris Peace Conference, where the slogan of “national self-determination” was chanted. This meant China would need another way out for the development of democracy. At the same time, the October Revolution in Russia unfolded a new model of democracy which transcends the nationalist and capitalist imaginations with an international socialist federation, further radicalizing the intellectuals at that time.

Chen Duxiu is a representative figure among them. His life can be described as the crystallization of China’s search for modernity. From Confucianism to Western thought, then Marxism, and finally Trotskyism, Chen’s dynamic thoughts remain faithful to democracy. The May Fourth Movement in his eye, is an important coordinate in the unfinished democratic revolution in China, standing in contrast to Mao Zedong’s May Fourth, which defended his idea of “New Democracy”. How did these two Chinese Communist leaders remake the historical significance and political direction of the May Fourth Movement amid the revolutionary wave? What kind of future will their discourses on May Fourth lead to in China? The New Left Society has invited  Gregor Benton, Emeritus Professor of Chinese History from Cardiff University, to talk about the two May Fourth Movements in the eyes of Chen Duxio and Mao Zedong, and their praxis of socialist democracy in China.

｜Details:

Date and Time: 13/5/2022 (Sat), 7pm (HKT)

Speaker: Prof. Gregor Benton

Venue: Zoom

Quota: 30

Application Form

｜Recommended Readings:

Chinese Communism and Democracy Gregor Benton