New Enlightenment (China)
[12] After Deng Xiaoping's southern tour in early 1992, however, the academic and intellectual circle in mainland China thrived again but became divided, forming two major schools of thought: the Liberalism and the New Left.
[18][21] Li Rui, Wang Ruoshui, Liu Xiaobo, Gu Zhun and a number of other CCP officials and notable scholars published articles in the New Enlightenment journal.
[24][27] In 1984, Jin Guantao and others began to publish the Toward the Future Book Series, which played a major role in introducing "universal values" and a variety of other modern concepts to the Chinese public.
[27] Other important newspapers, journals and book series included Economics Weekly (经济学周报), Dushu magazine (读书), Culture: China and the World (文化: 中国与世界) edited by Gan Yang, and so on.
[12][42] The former reflected on the Cultural Revolution and the disasters that it brought to the Chinese society, while the latter expressed the true emotions of individuals through its unique style and has been described as a continuation of the enlightenment tradition of the May Fourth Movement.
In order that everyone sees clearly and remembers clearly, it is necessary to build a museum of the "Cultural Revolution," exhibiting concrete and real objects, and reconstructing striking scenes which will testify to what took place on this Chinese soil twenty years ago!
[58][59] Since the opening of China in the late 1970s, Mandarin popular music or Mandopop from Taiwan and Hong Kong had made a widespread and long-lasting impact on the Chinese public.
[72][73] Subsequently in 1986–87, the left-wing conservative power continued to launched the campaign of "anti-Bourgeois liberalization", as a response to the 1986 Chinese student demonstrations.
[74][75] Hu Yaobang, then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, was forced to resign due to his sympathetic stance on the student movements.
[74][75][76][77] Fang Lizhi, Wang Ruowang and Liu Binyan who played important roles in the New Enlightenment movement were all expelled from the CCP by direct order from Deng Xiaoping.
[6][14][12][79] Zhao Ziyang, then General Secretary of the CCP, was purged from the central leadership due to his sympathetic stance on the student movements.
[80][81] In an official government report, Chen Xitong, then mayor of Beijing, labelled certain activities of the New Enlightenment as "some political gatherings with very wrong or even reactionary views".
[6][14] After Wang Hui published his article "Contemporary Chinese Thought and the Question of Modernity" in the mid-1990s, the two schools went into heated debate regarding the future of China.
[6][13][14][86] The Liberalism school argued that China should continue its reform and opening, further developing market economy while pushing forward political reforms for human rights, freedom, democracy, rule of law and constitutionalism;[13][69][86] high-ranking Chinese officials including Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and Premier Wen Jiabao have expressed various degree of support over this view.
[6][28][92][93][94] On the other hand, as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Hu Yaobang and his successor Zhao Ziyang were both staunch supporters of thought liberation and were sympathetic over the student movements in the 1980s.
[76][77][80][81] Hu was forced to resign in early 1987 due to the 1986 Chinese student demonstrations, while Zhao was ousted in June 1989 right after the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
