The direct action taken by people such as the March 1st Movement of 1919 and the May Fourth Movement can be considered events where people asked questions while being in discord with the world in the situation of which the expansive impulse of possession by imperialism was taking dominant power of the world. The fact that the general will(will of all, volonté de tous)of people of 1919 burst as scream and action was not a product of an abrupt occurrence. This study was intended to make an in-depth approach to cultural movements of the 1910s and social reconstruction around the May Fourth Movement. Through this, this study will ask a question about dominant force of the world around 1919 and amply capture the context of “Movement/force of Heart” in the cultural sphere of East Asia intending to acknowledge life of their own and make an autonomous determination. Self-determination is not only an issue of a nation. It is also an issue of “a society” where people intend to become independent individuals acknowledging themselves and taking responsibility for themselves not as subjects like children under the protective power, furthermore, pursuing mutual cooperation, friendship and horizontal solidarity to constitute a common life.
During the contemplation of the imperfect Xinhai Revolution, this Movement of Heart intending to ask, reflect on and expand the substantiality of “the Republic” and “State” volatilizes the ethical nature, and creating disharmony with politics based on the Confucian code of ethics trying to extend power on the pretext of courtesy or Confucian code of ethics. The ethical revolution contemplates awareness of the existing class order and the moral sense, and seeks imagination of horizontal solidarity based on empathic abilities connecting with others. Moreover, since the First World War, taking this opportunity, people do not depend on the public interest and search for the world Republic, world citizenship and a common life to constitute by humanity, and make experiment of experience of labor towards a common life mediating mind and material. Such movements of heart aim at fundamental reconstruction. By looking into an abundance of approach to passion and imagination of cultural movements around the May Fourth Movement, this study explores if this era presents possibilities as a zone of ideology serving as a base of questions and debates.