Freshman: The modern history of China began at 1840. The modern history of China can be divided into two stages. The first stage was from the Opium War in 1840 to the eve of the May 4th Movement in19/9, which was the stage of the old democratic revolution. The second stage is from the May 4th Movement in 19 19 to the eve of the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, which is the stage of new-democratic revolution.