Tiananmen Square

May 19, 2014 at 9:20 am  •  Posted in China, Education, History by

I feel as though I have always more or less known about what happened at Tiananmen Square. Although, I do not recall when I first learned of the events that took place during at said place in 1989, nor my feelings after that introduction. Sometimes I would catch myself staring out the window while absently thinking about “that place where a bunch of students were shot down by tanks in China.” I always associated this thought with John Lenin’s song “Imagine for some reason; it would always be playing in the back of my head while I daydreamed the drama as I imagined it going down. Obviously by my description in quotation marks above, I didn’t know much about it, but regardless, it would, believe it or not, frequently cross my mind.

Seeing Tiananmen Square for the first time was like finally seeing the face of that person you always hear so much about from your friend or family member: they almost never look anything like the way you pictured them. Tiananmen Square did not surprise me in terms of shape, for it was square as I suspected, but it fell decisively short in the awe-factor. In other words, I guess I expected more of this place I heard so much about in home and school. The way my teacher droned on and on, you too might have suspected some sort of mystical aura to be radiating off of the well-worn tiles. But alas, it was a square; a red square full of flustered tourists, flashy cameras, and perpetual commotion.

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Now, while we are approximately a world away from China, I realize that the Square is not about what you can physically see, but what it represents. Nobody in “The Hunger Games looks at Katniss’ Mockingjay pin and sees a gold pin. They see an idea, they see revolution against the Capitol.  But the thing about ideas is that they can be interpreted differently depending on perspective.  Some see a gold pin and hope, while others may see a gold pin and chaos.  What do you see when Tiananmen Square comes to mind?  I think that the name one uses to refer to the protests of 1989 gives you a lot of insight into what their thoughts about the whole event are.  I made this chart to help categorize people based on my understandings:

Wikipedia: If you are Wikipedia, a walking dictionary, or extremely passive person, you will use an amenable term like “The Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989.”

The Everyday Westerner:  We as Westerners are typically critical towards the manner in which the protests were dealt with on June 4th. By manner, I am of course referring to the way in which the government slaughtered hundreds to thousands of unarmed civilians in the streets. We call it as we see it: “The Tiananmen Square Crackdown,” “Protests,” or “Massacre.”  I will refer to not only the mass killings that took place in Tiananmen Square, but the event as a whole using the term, “Tiananmen Square Crackdown.”  I went with “Crackdown” for no philosophical reason other than because it sounded familiar: not as harsh as “Massacre,” but more descriptive than “Protests.”

 An Obedient Chinese Citizen:  The Chinese Government puts a lot of effort into diluting the severity of the Tiananmen Square Crackdown.  When talking with a friend of ours who grew up in China, the subject of Tiananmen Square came up.  We were shocked when he promptly told us that the Government refuses to talk about it.  The teachers are not allowed to cover it in school at all, nor are they permitted to answer any questions about the event.  Uneducated Chinese citizens commonly use names such as the “June Forth Incident” or simply “June Fourth,” the day that the People’s Liberation Army actually began killing protestors.

 A Slightly More Rebellious Chinese Citizen:  These citizens don’t let something like “government censorship” stop them from learning what they want to learn.  They are slightly more pugnacious and critical towards the government and use slightly more critical names like “June Fourth Massacre” or “June Fourth Crackdown.”  To bypass Internet censorship they use code names like “May 35th,” “VIIV” (Roman numerals for 6 and 4), and “Eight Squared” (which is equal to 64).  It’s pretty awesome.

 A Chinese Government Official:  If you are a government official in the country of China than you are most likely trying to eradicate the existence of the Tiananmen Square Crackdown from history, because, like those who were against killing the protestors, you would probably be ejected from the government if that is not your objective.

 

Ever since the Crackdown, the government has slowly been changing the name they use to refer to the event. It started off as a “counter-revolutionary riot,” however that was dialed down to simply “riot” after a while, this evolved into “political storm,” and finally they settled on an extremely neutral phrase: “political turmoil between the Spring and Summer of 1989,” which they continue to use to this day.

Tiananmen Square represents something different depending on your perspective.  The aura that I desperately searched for on the day that I visited Tiananmen Square was there, but I just couldn’t see it at that time. It is metaphysical; an intangible idea that varies depending on who you are. Now that aura is obvious to me. I can feel it radiating from all the way across the globe in an extremely symbolic square that came to life once I stepped across it’s storied past.

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2 Comments

  1. Maggie Tate / August 24, 2014 at 8:10 pm /

    We had an exchange student from China stay with us in 1993 and she didn’t believe that the event happened. I usually find it interesting to read or hear news reports about our own country from other places. It often offers a different perspective as I’m sure you’ve experienced this year.

  2. Vanessa Greaves / August 25, 2014 at 9:02 am /

    Great post! Insightful, wise, and very well written. “I realize that the Square is not about what you can physically see, but what it represents.” I wonder where your curiosity about the world will take you next? I hope you keep asking questions and questioning the answers.

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