The Memorial Hall of the Awakening Society, an organization founded in Tianjin in 1919 to inspire local youths during difficult times, is staging two exhibitions to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, according to Ma Yuan, the curator.

The organization is notable because Zhou Enlai, one of its founders, was also a founding member of the CPC in 1921 and served as premier and foreign minister after the People's Republic of China was established in 1949.

Led by Zhou, the Awakening Society, whose members were ages 16 to 25, worked in the city from 1919 to 1920 to raise young people's political awareness and advocate communism in the years before the CPC was founded.

The museum's courtyard is located in an alley in the city's Hebei district. An exhibition about the family traditions of Zhou and his wife, Deng Yingchao, also a founding member of the society, is already running at the memorial hall. Meanwhile, an exhibition to commemorate the life of Guo Longzhen, another founding member and a renowned CPC revolutionary, will open in the second half of the year.

In 1919, the organization left an impressive mark on the May 4 Movement, a patriotic campaign by young people to fight imperialism and feudalism. The 20 founding members wanted to awaken the country after the Paris Peace Conference, which was held the same year.

Li Dazhao, a CPC founder who helped lead the way for China's revolution and the May 4 Movement, and a number of leading scholars visited the Awakening Society to share their insights about communism and to raise the political awareness of young people to the call for revolution to build a new country with democracy and independence inspired by Marxism.

However, the society's gatherings were banned by local authorities and three members, including Zhou, were jailed on Jan 29, 1920, after they organized a movement to boycott Japanese goods in a local market.

Even during his six months in prison, Zhou continued to advocate communism and he wrote a 35,000-word diary in which he recorded his deep desire to help the country.

After Zhou left prison, the society, then led by Li, joined a gathering with four other leading youth organizations in Beijing. Its members were further encouraged by the collective efforts and spirit.

Zhou left China to study in France, and the society's activities came to an end.

Xu Na, an associate professor and deputy director of the teaching and research department at the Party School of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the CPC, said,"The society, which aimed to save the country and its people, saw its members become the most solid revolutionaries in the country."

Zhao Wei, one of Deng's secretaries, said: "Continuing the spirit of the Awakening Society is still of great significance. To lead young people on the correct road with patriotism is fundamentally important. Deng's commentary on the organization is crystal clear－the Awakening Society was the start of her revolutionary career and a shining part of the history of Tianjin."

The younger generation should understand how much their revolutionary forerunners loved the country and how they committed their whole lives to it, he added.