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A visitor takes a photo at the exhibition “Hot Blood: Historical Artifacts and Archives Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the May Thirtieth Movement,” on March 31, 2025. Photo: Lu Ting/GT

An exhibition titled “Hot Blood: Historical Artifacts and Archives Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the May Thirtieth Movement” opened at the Memorial Hall of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Shanghai on Monday, highlighting the great revolutionary movement among the Chinese people a century ago.

The May Thirtieth Movement was a great revolutionary struggle led by the CPC, in which the Chinese working class and the broad swathes of people across China rose up against imperialism and feudalism. In early 1925, protests erupted in Shanghai against foreign-owned factories after a Chinese worker was killed by Japanese supervisors, later triggering nationwide strikes, boycotts, and protests.

“We organized this exhibition to commemorate this historically significant event that profoundly impacted the fate of the Chinese nation,” said Xue Feng, director of the memorial.

The exhibition’s main title, “Hot Blood,” was inspired by the first daily newspaper established by the CPC during the movement, Rexue (hot blood) Daily. “It (hot blood) represents the fervent patriotism, indomitable spirit of resistance, and the selfless dedication to the cause of national liberation demonstrated by CPC members and the Chinese people during the movement,” Xue told the Global Times on Monday.

The exhibition has put 127 pieces of revolutionary exhibits related to the movement on display, including hard copies of Rexue Daily, and various leaflets, manifestos, and letters that showcase the united resistance among Chinese workers, students, and merchants at the time. Among the 127 pieces on display, 11 are part of China’s national first-class cultural relics.

Li Xiaoling, the exhibition curator, shared some of the most representative exhibits with the Global Times. They include a long gown worn by a worker who distributed leaflets during the movement. While Chinese workers were being threatened and even massacred by imperialist countries, the worker risked his life to hide leaflets promoting progressive ideas in his gown, distributing them on the streets.

“If visitors closely study the gown, they will find many bloodstains on it,” Li told the Global Times. “This embodies the indomitable spirit of our revolutionary martyrs at that time, who continued to resist and fight back even in the face of brutal repression by imperialism.”

Apart from valuable historical artifacts and archives, this exhibition features interactive AI installations to enhance the visitor experience, such as an interactive screen that can generate songs using AI.

“In preparing for this exhibition, we found that some progressive newspapers and publications during the May Thirtieth Movement published many inspiring revolutionary song lyrics, but most of these lyrics either lacked musical scores, or the scores were not preserved,” said Li. This prompted the exhibition to include an AI melody-generating machine that allows visitors to compose music for these lyrics.

“We hope that in this exhibition, visitors, especially young ones, can immerse themselves in the vibrant power of the Chinese working class movement from a century ago,” said Xue.

The exhibition is scheduled to run until June 8.