People of 1989: Jiang Peikun (蒋培坤)

Jiang Peikun, a professor of Chinese literature at People's University, did not participate the movement himself. At the night of massacre, he and his wife Ding Zilin had been anxiously waiting for news of their 17-year-old son Jiang Jielian. They did not receive the dreadful words until noon of June 5th, that their son had been killed at Muxidi.

Ding Zilin, Jiang Jielian, and Jiang Peikun (from left to right) in May, 1989.

In the early 1990s, Jiang Peikun helped Ding Zilin and a group of other parents of those who were killed to found the "Tiananmen Mothers" organization, dedicated to collect, edit, and publish records of victims. They also call on the government to reexamine the event.

In 2008, Jiang Peikun suffered a stroke and was temporarily paralyzed. However, he persisted in completing the production of a documentary titled Road of Tiananmen Mothers.

Jiang Peikun died of heart attack on September 27, 2015. He was 82.


People of 1989

Pictures of 1989: The Glorious April 27 Demonstration

In the morning of April 27, 1989, people gathered in front of Peking University to see if students demonstrate this day.

Students of Peking University march toward the gate.

Student formation outside of campus.

Students from People's University.

Police forms one of the human barriers trying to stop the march.

Marching students meet up against policy barriers.

Student and policy standoff

Students push through policy barrier.

At Tiananmen Square, soldiers of the 38th Army are moving into positions.

Student formation pass by Tiananmen

People cheer as police withdraw from Tiananmen.

Demonstration on Beijing street.

Demonstration on Beijing street.

On April 29, 1989, students use poster to recount the great demonstration and celebrate.

Pictures of 1989

Former 1989 Student Sentenced to 10 Years

There is little public record on what exactly Liu Xianbin (刘贤斌) did in 1989. But whatever he, then a junior in People's University, did was enough for him to be arrested in the aftermath and sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in 1992. That was the first time he saw prison.

After serving that term, he joined forces with fellow student leader Wang Dan, who was also released from his own prison term at the time, and attempted to continue their pro-democracy efforts in China. In 1996, Wang Dan was arrested again and sent into exile shortly after receiving an 11-year sentence. Liu Xianbin stayed put. In 1998, he participated in the organization of an opposition party in China and was once again sentenced to a 13-year prison term.

By now he has been spending a significant chunk of his adult life in jail. But he wasn't done yet. Shortly after his most recent release, he plunged into the then-fledging "Chart of 08" signature drive. On July 5, 2010, he was arrested for the third time.

Today, Liu Xianbin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "subversion". His last public words were his desperate shouts in the courtroom: "I am innocent! I protest!"

Another "Last Lesson" on Tiananmen

Two years ago, near the 19th anniversary of Tiananmen massacre, Xiao Han (萧瀚), then an associate professor at the University of Political Science and Law, delivered an unexpected lecture to his departing class, commemorating that historical event. He then resigned from the school. The lecture was hailed as the "last lesson."

That history has repeated itself this year. Internet in China is currently abuzz on another occurrence of the "last lesson," this time from a teacher named Niu Yongbin (牛永斌) from the Jinan University in Canton. According to some of the posts, he interrupted a regular class in the evening of June 3rd, the 21st anniversary of the massacre and started to tell the story of what he called as "the biggest tragedy of the Republic." He went on for three hours without any break and showed videos of the event.

It seems that Niu Yongbin was a student at People's University in 1989 and participated in the movement himself.

Niu Yongbin also resigned from his school shortly after the lecture and left the campus. His whereabouts is unknown. Indeed, it was an effort of some of his students to locate him that initiated the current buzz on the Internet.