Tiananmen Square

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Tiananmen, the Gate of Heaven's Peace, the main square of Beijing, where in the early hours of 4 June 1989 a huge pro-democracy demonstration was repressed by armed force.

The democracy movement began during the Cultural Revolution when many Red Guards, while accepting Mao's instructions to attack the Party establishment, realized that rebellion would be fruitful only if it aimed at the achievement of democracy. The first expression of this was the Li Yi Zhe Poster of 1974 which while supporting the aims of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution argued for democratic institutions. The second was Chen Erjin's book, Crossroads Socialism, written just before the death of Mao and published during the Democracy Wall demonstrations of late 1978. This sought to extend Marxism by arguing that violent socialist revolution inevitably produces yet another exploitative social formation, the rule of the authoritarian revolutionary elite. A second revolution is always necessary to put real power in the hands of the people, through the establishment of democracy.

Mao's successors, themselves victims of the Cultural Revolution, had an interest in strengthening the rule of law, and an interest in relaxing political control enough to prevent another outbreak. Deng Xiaoping had a personal interest in mobilizing democratic sentiment against the left. He supported the Democracy Wall protest of late 1978 until the young radical factory worker Wei Jingsheng demanded democracy ‘as a right’ and poured contempt on Deng's half-measures. Wei was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment, fifty other participants were arrested, and the right to use ‘big character’ posters (which Mao had approved) was abolished. Thereafter, however, Deng sought to maintain a balance between the democratic elements within the Party and the conservative veterans. At the same time he supported his protégé Hu Yaobang (Secretary-General of the CCP from 1980), who had gone so far as to affirm (as Chen Erjin had done) that the forms of democracy have universal validity, whatever the content may be in terms of class.

However, when Hu refused to suppress the next great democratic demonstration 1986 at Kei Da University where the radical democrat Fang Lizhi was Professor of Physics, Deng forced Hu's dismissal. In early 1989 Hu died. By this time he was the hero of the democratic movement. When the leadership arranged a demeaning low-key funeral, students marched to Tiananmen Square to protest. Thus the demonstration began.

There were at this point three groups involved in democratic dissent. The first was among intellectuals who hoped for democratization from the top. The second was led by former Red Guards who encouraged democratic revolution from below and were engaged in mobilizing workers and peasants. The third called themselves ‘Neo-Authoritarians’; they argued that continued authoritarianism was required to carry through economic changes which would create a pluralist society capable of sustaining democracy. In spite of their views, they nevertheless supported the demonstrators.

In 2000, tapes and transcriptions of the debates within the Secretariat of the Politburo on how to handle the demonstration, drawn from materials to which only the five members of the Secretariat normally had access, were smuggled out to the USA (translated and published in A. J. Nathan and P. Link, The Tiananmen Papers, 2001).

It is obvious from the debate that most of the top leadership of the CCP had a good deal of sympathy with demands to abolish corruption, privilege, and the abuse of power, and some were also prepared to take further steps towards democracy to bring these evils under control. However, there was one step at which the majority baulked. Some of the demonstrators were demanding the right to form new political parties. Former Red Guard groups were encouraging the creation of autonomous groups of students, workers, intellectuals, and citizens; such associations could easily develop into political parties. The Politburo therefore refused to enter into dialogue with the newly formed nationwide Autonomous Federation of Students. Thus negotiation became impossible.

After an indecisive debate in the Secretariat, Deng Xiaoping demanded the publication of an editorial in the People's Daily to condemn the demonstration as ‘turmoil’, and asserted that it was controlled by a ‘tiny handful’ of people intent on destroying socialism and the CCP. Public support for the demonstrators soared. The students responded with a hunger strike, which further inflamed opinion throughout China until about four million people were involved in protest. The Secretariat met to consider the imposition of martial law. Two members voted in favour, two against. The fifth member abstained. Deng Xiaoping, the accepted arbitrator, used his casting vote for martial law. There was a national outcry, in which virtually every one of the Party's own institutions joined, and many army commanders showed great reluctance to become involved.

The Secretariat held firm, but insisted emphatically that there must be no bloodshed. This order was also repeatedly issued to the army. However, as the troops moved through the suburbs, a million or more Beijing citizens rose to beat them off. Harassed and humiliated and suffering casualties, by the time the army units reached the Square their mood was angry. They spared the students, who were allowed to evacuate the Square without molestation; but they took their revenge on the civilian crowds in the adjoining streets. The number of casualties is not known; it was probably in the hundreds.

The Secretary-General Zhao Ziyang, successor to Hu Yaobang, was dismissed for having opposed martial law. A new Secretariat was appointed. Surprisingly, it consisted mainly of moderates, led by Jiang Zemin; but these were for the moment powerless in the face of the enraged conservative veterans. Democratic leaders were rounded up and imprisoned, and the democratic debate suppressed. Attempts were also made to reverse economic reform. However, at the end of 1992 in a series of speeches Deng Xiaoping condemned this reaction. The precarious tolerance of debate was restored and economic reform speeded up. When Jiang Zemin, visiting the USA, was challenged to justify the Tiananmen suppression, he could only mumble that ‘mistakes are sometimes made’.

— Jack Gray

Location in Beijing of prodemocracy demonstrations that were brutally suppressed in 1989 by troops loyal to the communist regime of the People's Republic of China.

Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square from as seen from the Monument to the People's Heroes
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	天安門廣場
Simplified Chinese	天安门广场
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng - Wade–Giles T'ian'anmen Kuangch'ang - IPA [tʰjɛ́n.ánmə̌n kwɑ̌ŋtʂʰɑ̀ŋ] Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping tin1 on1 mun4 gwong2 coeng4 - IPA [tʰɪ́nʔɔ́ːnmʊ̏n kwɔ̌ːŋtsʰɔ̏ːŋ]
Manchu name
Manchu	abkai elhe obure duka

Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world (440,000 m² - 880m by 500m or 109 acres - 960 by 550 yd). It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. Outside China, the square is best known in recent memory as the focal point of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, a pro-democracy movement which ended on 4 June 1989 with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the government and the death of several hundred civilians.^[1][2]

Contents 1 History 2 Panorama of the Square 3 Configuration 4 Events 5 Access 6 Gallery 7 References 8 External links

History

Tiananmen Square in the early 20th century, viewed from Zhengyangmen Gate (Qianmen Gate) with the Gate of China, later removed in the 1950s, in the place of the present-day Mao Zedong Mausoleum. The "corridor of a thousand steps" is visible behind the Gate of China, and Tiananmen Gate is in the distance.

The Tiananmen Gate to the Forbidden City was built in 1415 during the Ming Dynasty. Towards the demise of the Ming Dynasty, heavy fighting between Li Zicheng and the early Qing emperors damaged (or perhaps destroyed) the gate. The Tian'anmen square was designed and built in 1651, and has since enlarged four times its original size in the 1950s.^[3][4]

Near the centre of today's square, stood the "Great Ming Gate", the southern gate to the Imperial City, renamed "Great Qing Gate" during the Qing Dynasty, and "Gate of China" during the Republic of China era. Unlike the other gates in Beijing, such as the Tiananmen and the Qianmen, this was a purely ceremonial gateway, with three arches but no ramparts, similar in style to the ceremonial gateways found in the Ming Dynasty Tombs. This gate had a special status as the "Gate of the Nation", as can be seen from its successive names. It normally remained closed, except when the Emperor passed through. Commoner traffic was diverted to two side gates at the northern and eastern ends of today's square, respectively. Because of this diversion in traffic, a busy marketplace, called Chessgrid Streets developed in the big, fenced square to the south of this gate.

British and French troops who invaded Beijing in 1860 pitched camp near the gate and briefly considered burning down the gate and the entire Forbidden City. They decided ultimately to spare the palace and to burn instead the emperor's Old Summer Palace. The Qing emperor eventually agreed to let the foreign powers establish headquarters in the area. During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 the siege badly damaged the office complexes and several ministries were burnt down. In the conflict's denouement, the area became a space for foreign troops to assemble their armies and horses.

In the early 1950s, the Gate of China was demolished, allowing for the enlargement of the square. In November 1958 a major expansion of Tiananmen Square started, which was completed after only 11 months, in August 1959. This followed the vision of Mao Zedong to make the square the largest and most spectacular in the world, and intended to hold over 500,000 people. In that process, a large number of residential buildings and other structures have been demolished.^[5] On its southern edge, the Monument to the People's Heroes has been erected. Concomitantly, as part of the Ten Great Buildings constructed between 1958-59 to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the People's Republic of China, the Great Hall of the People and the Revolutionary History Museum (now National Museum of China) were erected on the western and eastern sides of the square.^[5]

The year after Mao's death in 1976, a Mausoleum was built near the site of the former Gate of China, on the main north-south axis of the square. In connection with this project, the square was further increased in size to become fully rectangular and being able to accommodate 600,000 persons.^[5]

The urban context of the square was altered in the 1990s with the construction of National Grand Theatre in its vicinity and the expansion of the National Museum.^[5]

Panorama of the Square

Panorama image map of Tiananmen Square from the north atop Tiananmen's gate tower, showing the Square beyond Chang'an Avenue, with the Monument to the People's Heroes and Mao Zedong Mausoleum at background center, the National Museum of China to the left and Great Hall of the People to the right. (mouse over for labels)

Configuration

The Tian'anmen Square in Beijing

Used as a massive meeting place since its creation, its flatness is contrasted by the 38-meter (125 ft) high Monument to the People's Heroes, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.^[3] The square lies between two ancient, massive gates: the Tian'anmen to the north and the Zhengyangmen, better known as Qianmen to the south. Along the west side of the Square is the Great Hall of the People. Along the east side is the National Museum of China (dedicated to Chinese history predating 1919). Chang'an Avenue, which is used for parades, lies between the Tian'anmen and the Square. Trees line the east and west edges of the Square, but the square itself is open, with neither trees nor benches. The Square is lit with large lampposts which are fitted with video cameras. It is heavily monitored by uniformed and plain clothes policemen.

Events

Tiananmen Square has been the site of a number of political events and student protests. These include the May Fourth Movement in 1919; the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949; annual mass military displays on all subsequent National Days until October 1, 1959; the 1984 military parade for the 35th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, the 50th anniversary in 1999, and the 60th anniversary in 2009; the Tiananmen Square protests in 1976 after the death of premier Zhou Enlai; and the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. For more information on the latter event, see Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Access

The Square, located in the center of the city, is readily accessible by public transportation. Line 1 of the Beijing Subway has stops at Tiananmen West and Tiananmen East, respectively, to the northwest and northeast of the Square on Chang'an Avenue. Line 2's Qianmen Station is directly south of the Square.

City buses 1, 4, 10, 22, 37, 37区, 52, 59, 120, 125, 126, 203, 205, 210, 728 and 802 stop north of the Square. Buses 2, 5, 7, 9, 17, 20, 44, 48, 53, 54, 59, 110, 120, 120支, 309支, 337, 703, 726, 729, 742, 744, 744支, 803, 808, 819, 820, 821, 826, 848, 859, 922, 特2, 特4 and 特7 stop to the south of the Square.

Gallery

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  Tiananmen gate tower to the Forbidden City north of Tiananmen Square

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  National Museum of China on the east side of the Square

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  The Great Hall of the People on the west side of the Square

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  Zhengyangmen Gate Tower marking the south end of Tiananmen Square

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  Monument to the People's Heroes and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong occupy the center of the Square

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  Monument to the People's Heroes

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  Mausoleum of Mao Zedong

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  Monument in front of Mao's Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square

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  Iconic image of the Tiananmen Square from the May Fourth movement of 1919

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  Students attending the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

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  A temporary monument in Tiananmen Square marking the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2011

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  National mourning on May 19, 2008 for the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

180-degree panorama of the Square

References

1. ^ Miles, James (2 June 2009). "Tiananmen killings: Were the media right?". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8057762.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2010. 
2. ^ Jan Wong, Red China Blues, Random House 1997, p.278
3. ^ ^{a b} Safra, J. (Ed.). (2003). Tiananmen Square. In New Encyclopædia Britannica, The (15th ed., Chicago: Vol. 11). Encyclopædia Britannica INC. p. 752. Britannica Online version
4. ^ "Tiananmen Square". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 2007. http://encyclopedia2.tfd.com/Tiananmen+Square. Retrieved 2008-08-03. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Li, M. Lilliam; Dray-Novey, Alison J.; Kong, Haili:Beijing: From Imperial Capital to Olympic City, Palgrave, 2007, ISBN 978-1-4039-6473-1

External links

China portal

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• Tiananmen Square

Coordinates: 39°54′12″N 116°23′30″E / 39.90333°N 116.39167°E / 39.90333; 116.39167

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