Editing New Youth (section)

===Chen Duxiu===
New Youth magazine was established due to the failure of the Anhui Common Speech Journal, which only lasted for two years. After that, Chen bounced back and forth between Japan and China as the Qing Dynasty crumbled to wait for an opportunity to engage in Chinese politics.<ref>Chapter 7: New Youth: Chen Duxiu, Wealth and Power, 2024, https://sites.asiasociety.org/chinawealthpower/chapters/chen-duxiu/</ref> Then, [[Chen Duxiu]] founded ''La Jeunesse'' and also edited it in the early years.<ref name="Cambridge-267">{{Cite book|last=Ebrey|first=Patricia Buckely|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of China|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1996|isbn=0-521-43519-6|location=London|page=267}}</ref> The editorial policies clearly reflected his personal values by supporting the new and growing [[New Culture Movement|vernacular literature]] movement and the revolution against established societal norms, [[Confucian]] values, and the use of [[Classical Chinese]].<ref name="Cambridge-271"/> Chen was the leader of the [[May Fourth Movement]] student demonstrations. He was also a founding member of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] and provided their theoretical platform.

[[File:Former Editorial Office of the New Youth.jpg|thumb|right|Former Editorial Office of the New Youth in Shanghai]]
 
Chen published "A Letter to Youth" (Chinese: 敬告青年) in the first issue of September 15, 1915.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yuchen |first1=Chang |title=From New Woodcut to the No Name Group: Resistance, Medium and Message in 20th-Century China |journal=Art in Print |date=2016 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=10–14 |jstor=26408640 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26408640 |access-date=21 February 2023 |issn=2330-5606}}</ref> 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.