Remembering 五四 （Wǔsì - May 4th）

Here’s another guest post from our friend Jim in New Hampshire. Thanks, Jim!

 Today is the 106th anniversary of the 五四 （Wǔsì  - May 4th） student uprising in Beijing. 

Part I:

‘The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles decision to allow the Empire of Japan to retain territories in Shandong that had been surrendered by the German Empire after the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914. The demonstrations sparked nationwide protests and spurred an upsurge in Chinese nationalism, a shift towards political mobilization, away from cultural activities, and a move towards a populist base, away from traditional intellectual and political elites.’

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Fourth_Movement

This photo in Tiananmen Square commemorates that day. (My photo)

Part II:

In cosmic resonance, it is also the 56th anniversary of the murder of four Kent State University students by Ohio national guardsmen under orders to shoot from then Governor James Rhodes. 

It marked the end of popular support for the Vietnam war, another undeclarted war, a police action started in the Eisenhiower administration, continued in the Kennedy administration, increased in intensity a thousandfold by Johnson, and continued at a high level by Nixon, finally ending in the Ford administration.

The folly of colonialism and its cousin imperialism were protested in both of these student uprisings, but remain with us today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings

Finally, it is also the anniversary of the passing in 2024 of the artist Frank Stella,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Stella

whose well-known work ‘Chocorua’ refers to the mountain that towers over us to the north.

https://www.nga.gov/artworks/62591-chocorua

And here is Chocorua, where we have lived for nearly nine years.