Shen Zhigang：A New Study on the Student Movement During the Period of the May 4th Movement in Guangzhou Under Rule of the Military Government for Protecting the Constitution

When news of the “May 4th Movement” first began to spread, the response of the “Provincial Student Union” in Guangdong province was complicated. With its goal of saving the nation, some disagreements took place within the “Provincial Student Union.” These disagreements were intensified when representatives of the student unions in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai arrived at Guangzhou to provide an impetus for a class boycott, thus causing a split in the “Provincial Student Union.” Because Guangzhou was governed by the Military Government to Protect the Constitution, the students confronted an identity dilemma and decided to punish officeholders in the Beijing Government, Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang and Lu Zongyu, with the aim of bringing about a class boycott.  The belated strike movement in Guangzhou was triggered by a change in provincial governor, which seemed like a diplomatic issue but in actuality was really a struggle among the local factions. During the strike, the newly established “Student Union of Middle Schools and Above” played an important role. When the strike calmed down, the Guangxi Clique removed from office Ye Xiasheng, the president of Guangdong Public Law and Politics School, who supported the activities of the “Student Union of Middle Schools and Above” and it called for the return of former president Ou Dayuan, with the effect that the student movement in Guangzhou, which displayed obvious local characteristics, was transformed into a movement for “retaining Ye and rejecting Ou”.