May Thirtieth Movement Monument Explained

May Thirtieth Movement Monument
Location:Shanghai, China

The May Thirtieth Movement Monument is an outdoor sculpture and memorial commemorating to the May Thirtieth movement, installed at People's Park in Shanghai, China.

Description and history

The steel sculpture was installed just south of Nanjing Road in the 1990s. It depicts a flame and the two characters for 五 and 卅. Behind the sculpture is a bas relief explaining, in Chinese, the events that took place in 1925.[1]

Reception

In 2008, Shanghaiist wrote, "we wouldn't recommend it. The city's homeless population apparently fails to grasp the monument's historical richness and instead tend to use its relative seclusion to literally take a piss on their shared heritage. But, in the spirit of the monument, it's kind of fitting the way underclasses are making their voices heard. Power to the people, right on."[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sandhaus. Derek. Today in Shanghai History: The May 30th Movement. Shanghaaist. 13 December 2015. 30 May 2008. 5 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171105195956/http://shanghaiist.com/2008/05/30/today_in_shangh.php. live.