Party Emblem at Tiananmen

For the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, a new but temporary symbol -- the hammer and sickle emblem of Communism -- is now installed inside Tiananmen Square, right between the National Flag Pole and the Monument of People's Heroes.

The giant emblem, about 40 feet in diameter, is part of a red, heart-shaped floral display that will remain in the square during the celebration period surrounding July 1st, the official anniversary date.

It is the very first time in history that the party emblem is so prominently placed in the symbolic center of the country.

Confucius Departs Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is not a good place for Confucius, after all, at least not in plain sight. Just three months ago, a statue of Confucius was erected at the Square. Some hailed it as a new cultural landmark for the symbolic location. The contrast between the ancient philosopher and the modern leader Mao Zedong in the same Square created quite a buzz in symbolic interpretations.

Well, Confucius did not last long. The statue has now been quietly moved into a courtyard designated to be a "sculpture garden" in the same museum, but largely out of the sight.

"Arbor Day" at Tiananmen Square

As the symbolic center of the nation, Tiananmen Square is a vast area largely made up in concrete: floor, buildings and monuments. During the annual National Day cerebration, however, huge amount of potted flowers are transported into the Square and arranged in elaborate festive decorations. They last merely a week or so.

In more recent years, areas of grass lawns were planted on each side of the Square to show more greenness. Yet the lawns tend to get in the way of the floral decoration and have to be moved and replaced every year.

Until now.

A landscaping renovation is now in progress to make the lawns permanent with bush gardens of evergreens. The height of the trees will be kept under 1 meter tall. Officials explain that future National Day decorations will be done with smaller scales and not interfere with the new gardens.

The renovation will be completed within a month, in time for the May 1 International Labor Day.

Confucius Standing at Tiananmen Square

There is a new giant statue at Tiananmen Square. It is not that of late Chairman Mao Zedong, although it is similar in size of the numerous Mao statues all over China during the Culture Revolution era.

It is that of Confucius, the ancient philosopher that Mao Zedong had spent his last few years loathing.

The new statue stands in front of the National Museum of China on the east edge of Tiananmen Square. It is part of a grand renovation project for the museum. It is also a rare new addition to the famous Square.

No words on how Mao Zedong, whose body is still being preserved in his own Mausoleum in the middle of the same Square, reacts to his new neighbor.

Mao's Portrait Defaced Again

The Telegraph confirmed a story that had been circulated on the Internet for a couple of days, that the giant portrait of Chairman Mao on Tiananmen was defaced by a man throwing ink bottles on it on April 5. The man was comprehended but no detail about him or his motive was disclosed. April 5 is the memorial day in Chinese tradition.

During the 1989 student movement, three teachers from Mao's hometown defaced Mao's portrait, creating a temporary but not-so-insignificant side show for the movement. The three men were later sentenced to 16 years, 20 years, and life, respectively. (They have since been released and currently live in America.)

More recently in 2007, a man threw flaming object to the portrait and also managed to cause damage to it.

A Brief History of Slogans on Tiananmen

Joel Martinsen at Danwei wrote an elegant account on the evolution of slogans placed on Tiananmen as well as Xinhuamen. The article is accompanied with a few interesting photos from different era. As he pointed out, "the slogans have actually changed very little during the PRC's first six decades."

Here Comes 2009

Twenty years ago, the year 1989 came with a slew of conspicuous anniversaries which inspired Professor Fang Lizhi's open letter to Deng Xiaoping and the later student movement. The same anniversaries fall into this calendar year, with another twenty years added to them:

• the 90th anniversary of the famed May Fourth Movement
  
• the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
• the 220th anniversary of the French Revolution

Of course, another significant one has to be added this time around:

• the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Student Movement and Tiananmen Massacre.

There has not been much chatter about the French Revolution or May Fourth Movement this time around, although the anniversary of the 1989 seems to be in many people's mind. On Internet forums inside China, cleverly designed posts appear here and there trying to reminding audiences of the anniversary without explicitly running into automated censorship. They are usually followed by knowing comments.

The budding "movement" of Charter of 08 seems to have stalled with its main leader Liu Xiaobo still detained. Liu Xiaobo's wife was recently allowed to meet him briefly at a "neutral location" and told that Liu Xiaobo was not formally arrested. All other participants who had been detained or called in for questioning one way or another has been released. It looks like the government is being cautious in how to nevigate through this sensitive Spring-Summer season of political minefiled wihtout major incidents.

The economy is not helpful either. Hampered by the global recession, the manufactary sector in South China, long the engined of China's "peaceful rising", is in collapse. Unemployment is rising fast and spontaneous mass protests are becoming a common occurances in small cities. Twenty years ago, it was the rampant inflation and corruption that had helped feuling the popular support to student movement.

Meanwhile, the government is preparing for a major celebration of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic, in which the mighty military will once again march through Tiananmen Square. The last time a celeration of this kind was done is way back in 1984, which was a joyous occasion for Deng Xiaoping. Partyly due to Tiananmen Massacre, it has been staged for a quarter of century.

May we live in interesting times.

Tiananmen Cleanup

Ahead of the Beijing Olympics, a mighty, if not efficient, effort is underway to clean up every inch of the Tiananmen Square, as reported by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Thousands Rally At Tiananmen Square For Earthquake Victims

China just started its three days of mourning for earthquake victims, during which the Olympic torch relay was also halted. On the first day, thousands gathered at Tiananmen Square to observe the three minutes silence with the national flag flying at half-staff.

The gathering appeared to be entirely spontaneous. After the silence, the crowd burst into rhythmical chants of "Go China", "Long live China", as seen in the CCTV broadcast:

New Year's Day, 1987

Two years before 1989, the biggest and also strangest student protest at Tiananmen Square in modern China occurred in a manner that surprised everybody, even the students themselves. It was a protest that was almost not meant to be.

In the Fall of 1986, a wave of student protests, triggered by local elections, had swept several southern cities. It climaxed at Shanghai, where on December 20, 1986, in defiance of direct orders from then Mayor Jiang Zemin (江泽民), about 100,000 students marched on the street and virtually shutdown the entire city. They were protesting brutal police actions the day before, as well as asking for liberty and democracy, a stable of student movements in China.

But things were unusually quiet in Beijing that December. Perhaps for the first time in China's history, a major student movement was going on, elsewhere, without Beida (Peking University, 北大) in the lead, or involved at all. It was so amazing that newspaper in Beijing ran stories praising Beida students for their focus in studies. Some in Beida quipped that since we didn't get to lead [the movement] this time, why bother to follow?

The Beijing authority was nevertheless very nervous. On December 26, the City Council rushed to approve a 10-point regulation on public demonstrations. It required organizers to apply for a permit way in advance and appeared to declare key areas, such as Tiananmen Square, off-limits for assemblies and protests. This so-called Beijing 10-Points might just have finally provided the trigger for Beida students to spring into action.

Near the end of the year, a few unsigned posters appeared in Beida with a simple message: “Let’s Go March at Tiananmen Square on New Year’s Day!” Other than challenging the new regulations, there appeared to be no purpose for the march and no organizers were noted. It was difficult to determine whether the posters were genuine or just a practical joke. In any event, few thought a march was a good idea and almost nobody openly indicated they would be going. But the government was nervous enough that they put out a stern warning in the press, promising to severely punish anyone who dared to defy the regulations and protest at Tiananmen. City residents were warned not to go to Tiananmen for any reason that day. The stakes for this phantom march was now on the rise.

The New Year's Day of 1987 was heavily overcast and very cold in Beijing. An interesting scene was unfolding at the Tiananmen Square in the morning. A large group of Young Pioneers, the Communist equivalent of Boy/Girl Scouts, were staging a large ceremony at the center. With that as a pretense, police lined up three-deep, completely sealed off the Square. Outside of the police line, however, there were onlookers who were obviously college students, milling around and gathering in spontaneous clusters here and there. A few attempts to rush the police line developed, but failed. Police started to tighten up their lines and ready for any charge from the crowd.

Around noon, a crowd with make-shift banners formed at the northeast corner of the Square. The leading banner was a large sheet of pink plastic cloth with a curious message: “Support Xiaoping! Support the Reform!” Whoever made that banner obviously did not want anyone to think that the crowd was anti-government. As the crowd marched around to gather up more participants, it turned away from the Square, chanting slogans and singing patriotic songs. The policemen were puzzled but relieved. After all, they were ordered to protect the Square itself. It was okay if the students wanted to march somewhere else.

But the relief was short-lived. As the crowd gathered momentum, it turned around and suddenly charged back into the Square. What followed was a scene of chaos and horror. Caught off-guard, the police rushed in to grab any students they could reach. Those caught were thrown into waiting police vans. Other students were beaten. When the crowd was finally dispersed, more than fifty students were detained; 34 of them were from Beida. Among them were two who would play very significant roles in 1989: Liu Gang (刘刚) and Feng Congde (封从德). They did not know each other then.

The evening news reported that some hundreds of "hooligans" tried to engage in disruptive behavior at Tiananmen Square that day but were unsuccessful when the police had "taken some of them away from the scene." The report was careful not to term those students as "arrested" or even "detained".

Later that night, in freezing cold and snow, thousands of students marched out of Beida again. They pushed through a police barrier and headed towards Tiananmen Square. They wanted to get their classmates back. It was not until 3am, when the march was half-way there, news caught up with them that all detained students had been released.

The march finally stopped, in an incredulous mode of disbelief, excitement, and relief. For the first time under the Communist rule, the government had succumbed to people’s pressure and released wrongfully detained citizens.

It was a special New Year, indeed.