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Dissent in Tian’anmen Square
Though it was designed as a space for mass declarations of loyalty, Tian’anmen Square
has as often been a venue for expressions of popular dissent. The first mass protests
here occurred on May 4, 1919, when students gathered in the area to demonstrate
against the disastrous terms of the Treaty of Versailles, under which the victorious Allies
granted several former German concessions in China to the Japanese. The protests,
and the movement they spawned, marked the beginning of the painful struggle for
Chinese modernization. In 1925, the inhabitants of Beijing again occupied the square,
to protest over the massacre in Shanghai of Chinese demonstrators by British troops.
The following year, protesters angered at the weak government’s capitulation to the
Japanese marched on government offices and were fired on by soldiers.
The first time the square became the focus of outcry in the communist era was in
1976, when thousands assembled here, without government approval, to voice their
dissatisfaction with their leaders; in 1978 and 1979, large numbers came to discuss
new ideas of democracy and artistic freedom, triggered by writings posted along
“Democracy Wall” on the edge of the Forbidden City. People gathered again in 1986
and 1987, demonstrating against the Party’s refusal to allow limited municipal elections
to be held. But it was in 1989 that Tian’anmen Square became the venue for the largest
expression of popular dissent in China in the twentieth century; from April to June of
that year, nearly a million protesters demonstrated against the slow reform, lack of civil
liberties and widespread corruption. The government, infuriated at being humiliated by
their own people, declared martial law on May 20, and on June 4 the military moved
into the square. The ensuing killing was indiscriminate; tanks ran over tents and
machine guns strafed the avenues. No one knows exactly how many demonstrators
died in the massacre – probably thousands; hundreds were arrested afterwards and
some remain in jail (though others have since joined the administration).
These days the square is occasionally the venue for small protests by foreigners or
members of the cultish, religious sect Falun Gong – hence the many closed-circuit
TV cameras and large numbers of Public Security men, not all in uniform; look out,
for example, for the plainclothes bruisers who stand either side of Tian’anmen’s Mao
painting.
As a transport hub, the square is easy to get to: Qianmen subway stop is just
south of the square, with Tian’anmen Xi and Tian’anmen Dong stops nearby to
the west and east respectively; you can also get here on buses #1, #4, #10, #22,
#52 or #57.
The Museum of Urban Planning
The Museum of Urban Planning (, ; Tues–Sun
9am–5pm; ¥30), just off Qianmen Dong Dajie, is little visited; for some reason,
displays on solid waste management, air quality, and the eleventh five year plan
have failed to galvanise the public. Staff are so bored they stand by the motionsensitive
escalators and wave their hands to start the things for you. Still, the
showcase is worth a poke around if you ignore the tedious displays on the first two
floors. On the third floor you’ll find, on the wall, a fascinating bronze model
showing the city as it used to look in imperial times, back when every significant
building was part of an awesome, grand design. The star attraction, though, is an
enormous and fantastically detailed underlit model of the city that takes up the
entire top floor. At a scale of 1m:1km it covers more than three hundred square
metres, and illustrates what the place will look like once it’s finished being ripped
up and redesigned by 2020 – with lots of office blocks and few hutongs.
TIAN’ANMEN SQUARE AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY |
Tian’anmen Square
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