IB History Rise of National Identity in China Key Definitions

The New Culture Movement (1919-1920s) was a Chinese intellectual movement that challenged traditional Confucian values and promoted science, democracy, and vernacular (everyday) Chinese writing. Centred on Beijing University and journals such as New Youth, it grew directly from the May Fourth Movement (1919) and shaped a generation of reformers and revolutionaries, including early Chinese Communist Party members.

The Qing dynasty (1644-1912) was China's last imperial dynasty, founded by the Manchu people of Manchuria. It ruled a vast multiethnic empire but faced mounting crises from the mid-19th century, including military defeats by Western powers and Japan, domestic rebellions, and growing nationalist movements. The dynasty was overthrown by the Xinhai Revolution and replaced by the Republic of China in 1912.

Sun Yixian (1866-1925), also known as Sun Yat-sen, was the Chinese revolutionary leader who founded the Guomindang (Nationalist Party) and served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China in January 1912. He developed the Three Principles of the People (nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood) as the ideological foundation for a modern Chinese state.

The Xinhai Revolution was the Chinese uprising that overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911-1912. It began with a military mutiny in Wuchang on 10 October 1911 and spread rapidly as provinces declared independence from the Qing court. The revolution led to the abdication of Emperor Puyi on 12 February 1912 and the establishment of the Republic of China.