Can you fit 1 million people into Tiananmen Square?
Some topics are so foreign to Westerners that to encounter something so blatantly different is like running head first into a brick wall. Such is the case for modern Chinese history. I talk specifically about the student movement of May 4 1989 in Tiananmen Square
I am torn by writing because I have contradictory feelings at odds with each other. On one hand there is undisputable proof from eyewitness accounts and news footage that the events did occur and many people were killed. On the other hand, it was 20 years ago, so why bring up such an old and tired topic.
I am not so old and have lived a relatively pampered life here in North America. Not much of great historical interest has happened here in Toronto. What has triggered my ramblings is that in the eyes of official Chinese historians, not much of interest happened on that fateful 6-4. This, to me is puzzling at best and blatantly fraudulent at worst. In the North American view, an event happened, you have proof, you document it, then you move on. Life marches on as before, and the past becomes an event in history. For better or worse, interpretation of cause and effect is left up for debate. I feel slighted that this has not happened in China. Events of history cannot and should not be suppressed according to the prevailing views of politicians in power. Amnesia should not be part of any country’s history.
Naive was I as well as most other Chinese and foreign university students. They marched to protest against government and party corruption, and to fight for freedom and democracy. Or so I was told, and have the t-shirt to prove it. I’m sure most students knew theoretically but not realistically. Actually at the time I did not even know the Chinese word for democracy. Chinese students started skipping classes to join protest marches down to the Square. I saw Dazibao (large protest posters) at Sanjiaodi (3 Corner Place) in Beijing University, though my Chinese was not sufficient to read them. No matter. I had read about Mao’s Hundred Flowers Campaign, where Dazibao was used to protest and used again to punish the writers. But that old tactic could not be used today, right? That was just Chinese history, right? It turns out that they can and did. Stick with the tried and true.
Chinese students used the event more as an excuse to party, rather than some political protest. Students started skipping classes, walking down to the Square, having parties in their rooms, all laughing and giggles. I learned the term “ba ke” or to strike classes. It felt more like an alcohol free pub crawl rather than anything serious. We foreign students had no clue what was going on and continued going to our classes. Was this such a big deal?
Of course no one forced anyone else to go down to the Square, but intellectual curiosity got the best of us all. They had banners representing the school and their department. All departments organized walks carrying their banners proudly. It was odd for me to see these banners, but what the hell did I know of Chinese university life? If University of Toronto Engineering students could do it, why not the Beijing University English department? Odd, yes, but many things in China are odd. Banners and carrying on was not much odder than the rest. Or so I thought.
As far as I could tell from talking to Chinese friends, social issues were not well thought out. Serious discussions about China’s social and political issues were not so very important. First and foremost these were young university students, eager to learn and try new things, to exercise their independence and stretch their wings on their journey of life. Certainly university students of 2009 are the same. No, the mood was festive, with no thought as to implications. How can one expect young people to think so far ahead into the future?
Some students started camping out at the Square, carrying bedding and food. That’s more than unusual for a liquor free pub crawl. No, all of my friends didn’t do that. It was festive enough to represent your university and department and walk under your banner down to the Square, but not festive enough to stay down there. They all returned to their dorm beds for the night. Conditions down at the Square quickly turned unhygienic. There are no outdoor toilet facilities at the Square then and today. Garbage started to pile up. There was no running water or a place to dispose of dirty water. There was news of various diseases growing and spreading amongst students. The Beijing Health Department had condemned the Square. We did not doubt the authenticity of the news reports. Who would tell a lie in the news about such things?
After a couple of weeks of skipping classes and partying, many students returned to their dorms hungry, sick and dirty. They certainly were partying hardy. I thought this quite odd. Eating poorly and getting sick did not sound like much fun to me. Ditto for not going to classes and losing the opportunity to learn. We were in university, and university students attend classes. Then again I was never the partying type.
After a month, the party had pretty much petered out. Beijing Chinese students returned to their campuses to recover, and were replaced by students from other universities throughout China. Enough was enough. Students were pretty much all in their dorms catching up on their sleep or recovering their health. Showers were in order for all. There were so many tired faces on campus, though Chinese students still did not resume classes. Our language classes continued as normal and I continued to study as normal.
It was at this juncture of time that the unthinkable would happen. The Chinese People Liberation Army would fire live rounds at students down at the Square and kill them. Unfortunately for the students, unlike their Beijing counterparts, they would not be able to return to their campuses, and like good comrades pat each other on the back for a job well done, take hot showers, sleep and regain their health. These students at the Square would never return to their families, and their families will never be able to track them down, to carry them home, and to bury them. The frailties of life and the harshness of Chinese politics were not lost on me.
To the lost students who would never return home, I pay my deepest respects, 20 years too late, and from a foreign country. To their families I offer my deepest condolences, 20 years too late and from a foreign country. I will always have a hint of disbelief, terror and regret when I recall this era of Chinese history. I will certainly not be alone.
Addendum 2017 Dec 28 Tiananmen was a tragedy Beijing won’t face up to, regardless of death toll
For many, history is easily forgotten. I believe that the arts can help, in that respect, and thus enjoyed taking my family to see The Madness of the Square when it was recently in production.
The premiere of this play in Toronto really isn’t sufficient. The play will have to be mounted again and again, until the history is recorded as an undisputed event.