八九民運溯源

Abstract

一九八九年的大陸民主運動，其血源溯及一九一九年的五四運動，其後一九五七年的新五四運動、一九七六年的四五運動、一九八六年的新一二九運動，可謂一脈相傳，彼此的內容固不盡同，但抗議的精神則一。五四運動帶動了新文化運動，四五運動揭開了日後「北京之春」的序幕，兩者皆由政治運動擴展成思想運動。五四運動為民族主義兼民權主義的表現，四五運動則偏重對民權的追求，反對秦皇島的封建社會重現即其一例，新五四運動主張除三害─主觀主義、宗派主義、官僚主義亦為同例。後二者的另一共同點，是對大陸當局表達強度的不滿，也都造成共產主義的信仰危機。新五四運動領袖高與五四運動的旗幟，希望將學生運動括展成全民運動，但終被封殺。相形之下，五四運動可謂從精英主義演變為民粹主義，新五四運動本身則表現精英主義的色彩。至於四五運動，自始即為民粹主義的濃後氣氛所籠罩。以上三種運動的參與著，出身不盡相同，但主力皆為青年，八九民運即得其真傳。

The impetus for of the 1989 democratic movement in the People’s Republic of China can be traced back to the May Fourth Movement in 1919, the New May Fourth Movement in 1957, the April Fifth movement in 1976, and the New December Ninth Movement in 1986. Although their objectives were not completely the same, all these movements embodied the same spirit of protestation.The May Fourth Movement added momentum to the New Culture Movement and the April Fifth Movement set the stage for the “Beijing’s Spring.” Both developed from a political to an ideological movement. The May Fourth Movement was a manifestation of both nationalism and democracy. The April Fifth Movement especially emphasized the pursuit of democracy, including, for instance, opposition to the reemergence of Qin Shi Huang’s feudal society. Similarly, the New May Fourth Movement advocated the elimination of the “three evils” – subjectivism, factionalism, and bureaucratism. Another common feature of the April Fifth Movement and the New May Fourth Movement was that the strong dissatisfaction with the Beijing authorities expressed during both movements gave rise to a crisis of faith in Communism.The May Fourth Movement evolved from elitism to populism, but the New May Fourth Movement was characterized more by elistism. Holding high the banners of the May Fourth Movement, the leaders of the New May Fourth Movement tried in vain to expand a student movement into a national movement. By contrast, the April Fifth Movement was imbued with strong populism since the very beginning. The main participants of all these movements are young people, as were those of the 1989 democratic movement.