The Role of Cai Yuanpei in the May Fourth New Culture Movement

As one of the leaders of the New Culture Movement, the political position of Cai Yuanpei during the May Fourth period was not the one of the representative of the Nationalists in the Northern China, but the one of a typical liberalist intellectual. On the issue of students movement, Cai Yuanpei opposed students’ indulging in political movements, but supported the May Fourth Movement. This seems contradictory but is not indeed contradictory, it is decided by his liberalism and patriotism. In the domain of intellectual and culture, Cai’s propositions, which were different from those of Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi, reflect the depth of Cai’s thought and his special position in the intellectual history of modern China.