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They were demonstrating against a predatory Japan and against the Western powers' decision to appease Japan by letting it take over German concessions in Shandong province rather than return them to China after Germany's defeat in the First World War.

But, most of all, they were protesting against a weak Chinese government, unable to safeguard China's rights, and a weak China. The intellectuals "” Chinese students then and now saw themselves as intellectuals "” advocated western learning, believing that Confucianism was responsible for the country's backwardness.

They called for two western concepts, Science and Democracy, personified as Mr. Science and Mr. Democracy.

The demonstrations on that day unleashed an emotional and intellectual torrent that...