New Youth, also known as La Jeunesse, was a Chinese literary magazine founded by Chen Duxiu and published between 1915 and 1926. It strongly influenced both the New Culture Movement and the later May Fourth Movement.
Publishing history Chen Duxiu founded Youth Magazine (Chinese:《青年杂志》, later renamed New Youth) in 1915 in Shanghai, with the initial aim of spreading new thoughts and cultures—especially Western ideals of democracy and science—in order to promote the modernization of Chinese society. He created the magazine with the hope that young people would express their opinions and thoughts to help save China, and that authors could offer new thoughts for young people at that time.Ash, Alec. “China’s New Youth.” China Beat Archive, 2009, http://www.thechinabeat.org/. He also sought to advocate for a literary revolution by promoting the use of vernacular Chinese instead of classical Chinese, making literature more accessible to the general public. Another factor in his founding of the magazine was his desire to enlighten the youth; he considered them as the future of the nation, and he therefore wanted to foster in them a sense of patriotism and social responsibility. Chen also aimed to critique feudal traditions and promote individual freedom and equality, driving social reform and progress.
Chen approached Wang Mengzhou, the manager of the publishing house Yadong Library, with the idea of the magazine. The library could not fund the magazine, and Wang therefore suggested that Chen approach Qunyi Publishing House to print and publish the magazine. Qunyi Publishing House agreed to do so and paid Chen 200 yuan per month for manuscripts and editing.
In September 1916 Youth Magazine was renamed New Youth after the Shanghai YMCA complained that the name was too similar to their own. Historians have inferred from this that "the word 'new' was added to match the name with its advocacy of new ideas and culture." Chen Duxiu agreed to the name change, possibly to avoid conflict, or to give the magazine a fresh and distinctive identity that aligned with its mission of promoting new thoughts and culture.
The term "youth" was not originally part of the Chinese lexicon. It was introduced by missionaries around the turn of the 20th century. The YMCA, which was established globally in 1844 and introduced to China in 1876, had a significant influence on the use of the term. The YMCA's focus on youth work and publications aimed at educating and influencing young people underscored the term's adoption in Chinese society.a) 吕明涛."《青年》杂志与《青年杂志》." 书屋 .08(2005):63–66.
New Youth'''s headquarters moved to Beijing in January 1917 when Chen was appointed Chairman of the Chinese Literature Department at Peking University. The team of editors and authors gradually expanded. In Volume 3 of the magazine, senior scholars such as Zhang Shizhao, Cai Yuanpei, and Qian Xuantong were added to the group of authors. There were also contributions from young students such as Yun Daiying, Mao Zedong, Chang Naide, and Huang Lingshuang. In August 1917, after the publication of the third volume of New Youth, Qunyi Publishing House found it difficult to continue publishing because of the magazine's limited distribution and poor sales, and suspended publication. After Chen Duxiu's vigorous negotiation, the publishing house reluctantly agreed to renew the publication at the end of the year. In January 1918, New Youth was republished after a 4-month hiatus. Contributors to Volume 4 included Zhou Zuoren, Shen Yinmo, Shen Jianshi, Chen Daqi and Wang Xingqiong. Volume 6 was edited by Chen Duxiu, Qian Xuantong, Gao Yihan, Hu Shih, Li Dazhao, Shen Yinmo, all of whom were professors at Peking University. Thus, New Youth was transformed from a local publication dominated by writers from Anhui to a "national" publication dominated by Peking University professors. Those editors initiated the New Culture Movement, promoting science, democracy, and Vernacular Chinese literature.
Influenced by the 1917 Russian October Revolution, New Youth increasingly began to promote Marxism, becoming progressively more aligned with the communist movement. Especially after Chen Duxiu's contact with Grigori Voitinsky in 1920, New Youth took on a Marxist character and started using the logo of the Socialist Party of America on the cover of its magazine. The trend accelerated after the departure of Hu Shih, who later became Education Minister of the Republic of China. Beginning with the September 1, 1920 issue, New Youth began to openly support communism when its editorial office was moved back to Shanghai.Xia, Chen. “New Youth Magazine’s Former Office Restored in Beijing,” China.org.cn, 2015. http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2015-09/15/content_36590525.htm In 1921, Chen Duxiu became a cofounder of the Chinese Communist Party"China’s New Youth: On the Prowl for.” China Temper, 2024, https://chinatemper.com/the-series/chinas-new-youth and with the June 1923 issue, New Youth became the official Chinese Communist Party theoretical journal. New Youth was shut down in 1926 by the Nationalist government, but over its history influenced thousands of Chinese young people, including many leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.
Notable contributors
Chen Duxiu Chen Duxiu established New Youth in response to the failure of the Anhui Common Speech Journal, which published for only two years. After that, Chen divided his time between Japan and China as the Qing Dynasty lost power, waiting for an opportunity to engage in Chinese politics.Chapter 7: New Youth: Chen Duxiu, Wealth and Power, 2024, https://sites.asiasociety.org/chinawealthpower/chapters/chen-duxiu/ Three years after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, Chen Duxiu founded New Youth, also serving as its editor in its early years. The magazine's editorial policies clearly reflected his personal values by supporting the new and growing vernacular literature movement and the revolution against established societal norms, Confucian values, and the use of Classical Chinese. Chen was the leader of the May Fourth Movement student demonstrations in 1919 and was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party.
Chen published "A Letter to Youth" (Chinese: 敬告青年) in the first issue of September 15, 1915. The letter issued six challenges: Be independent and not enslaved (Chinese: 自由的而非奴隶的) Be progressive and not conservative (Chinese: 进步的而非保守的) Be in the forefront and not lagging behind (Chinese: 进取的而非退隐的) Be internationalist and not isolationist (Chinese: 世界的而非锁国的) Be practical and not rhetorical (Chinese: 实利的而非虚文的) Be scientific and not superstitious (Chinese: 科学的而非想象的)
The letter further emphasized the urgency of pursuing science and liberty in order to remove the twin chains of feudalism and ignorance from the general population.
Chen Hengzhe Chen Hengzhe (; 1890 – 1976) was the first Chinese female professor at Peking University and the country's first professor of Western history. She was among the first ten women to study overseas on government scholarships, graduating from Vassar College and the University of Chicago. She was the first Chinese person to publish a history of the Western world that was not translated from a foreign language.Gimpel, Denise. Chen Hengzhe: A Life Between Orthodoxies, 2015. She wrote the first published work of vernacular Chinese fiction: her short story "One Day" (Chinese: 一日), published 1917 in an overseas student quarterly (Chinese:《留美学生季报》). This was a year before the publication of Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman", which has often been incorrectly credited as the first vernacular Chinese fiction. Her short story "Little Raindrop" (Chinese: 小雨点), published in September 1920 in the eighth volume of New Youth, was the first Chinese children's story to be published in the new style. She also published a collection of her works entitled Raindrops in 1928.
Hu Shih Hu Shih (; 1891 – 1962) was a highly influential Chinese intellectual of the 20th century. He frequently published speeches at Peking University, amongst other venues. Over his lifetime, Hu authored 44 books and numerous articles, establishing significant influence. Hu promoted family planning, female equality, free marriage, and reproductive freedom.China’s Great Liberal of the 20th Century – Hu Shih Founders of Modern Chinese Language,” Hong Kong, 2023, https://asiasociety.org/hong-kong/events/chinas-great-liberal-20th-century-hu-shih-founder-modern-chinese-language He was one of the early editors of New Youth and published a landmark article "Essay on Creating a Revolutionary `New Literature" (Chinese: 建设的文学革命论) in the April 18, 1918 issue. He wrote that the mission of this language revolution is "a literature of the national language (Guoyu, Chinese: 国語), a national language of literature" (Original Text: 国语的文学，文学的国语。). Hu then went on to reason that for thousands of years, the written language was bound by scholars using Classical Chinese, a dead language. The vernacular, on the other hand, is living and adapts to the age. He urged authors to write in the vernacular in order to describe life as it is, reasoning that Chinese literature had a limited range of subject matter because it used a dead language. Using a living language would therefore open up a wealth of material for writers. He also argued that large-scale translations of western works would both increase the range of Chinese literature and serve as examples to emulate. This was a seminal and prescient essay about the modern Chinese language. Hu Shih was an important figure in the transformation of the modern Chinese written and printed language.
In the July 15 issue, Hu published an essay entitled, "Chastity" (Chinese: 贞操问题). In the traditional Chinese context, this refers not only to virginity before marriage, but specifically to women remaining chaste before they marry and after their husband's death (Chinese: 守贞). He wrote that this is an unequal and illogical view of life, that there is no natural or moral law upholding such a practice, that chastity is a mutual value for both men and women, and that he vigorously opposes any legislation favoring traditional practices on chastity. (There was a movement to introduce traditional Confucian value systems into law at the time.) Hu Shih also wrote a short play on the subject (see Drama section below).
Hu Shih's views were quite radical for the time, which was only a short six years after the overthrow of the Chinese imperial system. The Xinhai Revolution, as it was called, created two branches in the 1920s: the Nationalist (Kuomintang) and Chinese communist parties. Hu tried to focus the editorial policy on literature. Chen Duxiu and others insisted on addressing social and political issues. Hu was a lifelong establishment figure in the Nationalist government and left La Jeunesse when its communist direction became clear.
Lu Xun