While teaching English in Beijing, I witnessed one of the most tumultuous protests in modern history.
If you were too young to remember Tiananmen Square, read this article posted by camarillobrillo. Regarding her students, the author writes: and then: Recently I read that the events of Tiananmen Square are mostly wiped from history and not part of the consciousness of students today. Do you remember the Kent State Shootings, when the National Guard shot four students? Imagine that horrible event multiplied by 100 or 1000. No one knows how many were actually killed.Two things stood out in what they shared: They were far more disappointed than hopeful, and they were fed up with feeling that way. Their frustration was compounded by material want, to be sure, but their yearning for a better life extended beyond the mere desire for personal advancement. Beneath their many complaints lingered the shadow of idealism—a sense that the political situation in their country should, and even might, change for the better. In retrospect, I know their simmering restlessness was shared by students and professors across Beijing’s campuses, and it would soon come to a boil.
It was a massacre. Most of the carnage occurred not in the Square or right around it, but in the western-approaching streets that led to the Square. I viewed the videotapes of bloody bodies that came in with camera crews, and I made phone calls to local hospitals and to the Chinese Red Cross. We kept a running tally of the number of dead, which had reached 2,600 before everyone was ordered to stop talking to us.
I wasn't even alive for Tienanmen Square, so all I can learn is what I can read and watch. This was a great article, and provided some background I never learned when it was covered in high school. While it's not surprising that this isn't something that Chinese students learn about, it is surprising that their attitude toward the event - and in turn towards protesting - is so negative. What was it like being a Western outsider looking in when all of this unfolded?
bfx - it was so exciting when it started. Every day, more and more students joined the protests in Tienanmen Square. There was talk of democracy. I recall the time well in spring 1989. My daughter had taught herself to read by the time she was four. We received a morning paper at the time and I recall her strapped into her car seat reading the headlines and sounding out the words. "Ten Thousand Students Protest in Tien-an-men Square" and then the massacre and chaos, people fleeing, hiding, totally crushing the movement. From elation to despair and helplessness. I continually have students from China now, but most are too young to remember. I'll mention it though to my next class, see what they say. I visited Tiananmen Square in 2007. It's an enormous space, six times bigger than Cairo's Tahrir Square. This will give you some idea of its comparative size.
What was it like being a Western outsider looking in when all of this unfolded?
Thanks very much for sharing this. This was a deeply troubling time for me when I was a kid. Before I was born until even now, my dad has traveled to China. When I was young, he went almost every year. He was supposed to go in June of 1989. I don't remember if he chose not to go, or if his visa was cancelled. Either way, I just remember being entirely freaked out. I was fortunate enough to go to China with my dad in 1998. I wept like a baby when I visited Tiananmen Square. A few years ago I watched a show on how the entire event has been removed from history in China. Here's a clip: