On HU Shi’s Attitude toward the May4th Movement from the Absence of His Diary of This Period

HU Shi neither participated in planning the Shanghai National Conference on May7th, nor made any speech in
the conference. He was only an indifferent onlooker. When he returned to Beijing, he blamed the students’ boycott classes. “Our Hope for Students” drawn up by him did not mention any patriotism of the movement. In contrast, he said“this is the most uneconomical in the world”. However, after16 years of the May4th Movement, HU wrote the article“Memorizing May 4th Movement” and described himself as“a leader of the new cultural movement”. When he found the relevant record and com- ment on“May4th Movement” were completely inconsistent with the described core role of the Movement, he destroyed the part of the diary from July11, 1917 to July9, 1919.