Democracy Wall was a wall in the Xidan District in Beijing. Beginning in December 1978, in line with the Chinese Communist Party's policy of "seeking truth from facts," activists in the democracy movement recorded news and ideas, often in the form of Big-character posters, during a period known as Beijing Spring. These activists were encouraged to criticize the Gang of Four and previous (failed) government policies, but the wall was closed in December 1979 when the leadership and the communist party system were being criticized along with past mistakes and leaders. The shutdown coincided with suppression of political dissent.
The Fifth Modernization was a signed wall poster placed by Wei Jingsheng on December 5, 1978 on the Democracy Wall in Beijing. It was the first poster there that openly advocated further individual liberties. It caused a spectacle, espousing that freedom was the only "modernization" that really mattered, rather than improved living standards. The poster was in response to the government's Four Modernizations campaign.
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