China and the May Fourth Movement 1919. The Reassessment of Confucianism

Abstract The beginning of the 20th century brought great economic, political and cultural challenges to China after the collapse of the Qing dynasty. A crucial moment was the May Fourth Revolution, a cultural and anti-imperialist movement initiated by Beijing university students who challenged the poor representation of China’s national interests at the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. This treaty ceded Shandong province, which had been under German control, to Japan. This research aims to analyse the characteristics, stages and evolution of this movement in the national and international context of the time, as well as its influence on Confucian philosophy in modern China.