Wednesday, April 22, 2009

This Day in 1989: April 22, Students Participate Hu Yaobang Funeral at Tiananmen Square

On April 22, 1989, tens of thousands of students participated in Hu Yaobang's state funeral after staying in Tiananmen Square for the whole night. After the funeral, three students, Zhang Zhiyong, Guo Haifeng, and Zhou Yongjun staged a spontaneous kneeling down petition at the steps of the Great Hall of People. These dramatic scenes are described in my book excerpt.

Among the very few students who did not participate in the funeral demonstration were Shen Tong and his friends in a little club called Olympic Institute. They stayed in Peking University and started to plan for an independent media center for the student movement.


Days of 1989


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