This picture really says it all.
Fang Zheng was scheduled to be profiled on ABC's Nightline last night but was postponed at last minute. You can still read the story here.
Picture credit to CND.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Fang Zheng is Dancing
This picture really says it all.
Fang Zheng was scheduled to be profiled on ABC's Nightline last night but was postponed at last minute. You can still read the story here.
Picture credit to CND.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Songs of 1989: March of the Volunteers
With China gears up for an extravaganza to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, her blaring and rising national anthem is expected to be featured in TV news and featured stories.
China's national anthem, March of the Volunteers, was originally composed as a theme song for a patriotic movie during the anti-Japanese war era, when the nation was facing "its greatest peril." As such, the song was awe-inspiring in its grandiosity, urgency and even desperation. A while back, China Beat published a nice and comprehensive essay on the origin of the song and its lyricist and composer.
As a national anthem, March of the Volunteers was played at the beginning of most important public events in the country. That was no different in 1989, when Chinese students staged their protests. They sang the song early and often in their own marches and demonstrations, with utmost proud and passion. Quite ironically, at the end, when they were facing the tanks and soldiers of the Communist army, the two songs they repeatedly sang were March of the Volunteers and the Internationale, the anthem of the Communism.
A version of the song can be heard here.
China's national anthem, March of the Volunteers, was originally composed as a theme song for a patriotic movie during the anti-Japanese war era, when the nation was facing "its greatest peril." As such, the song was awe-inspiring in its grandiosity, urgency and even desperation. A while back, China Beat published a nice and comprehensive essay on the origin of the song and its lyricist and composer.
As a national anthem, March of the Volunteers was played at the beginning of most important public events in the country. That was no different in 1989, when Chinese students staged their protests. They sang the song early and often in their own marches and demonstrations, with utmost proud and passion. Quite ironically, at the end, when they were facing the tanks and soldiers of the Communist army, the two songs they repeatedly sang were March of the Volunteers and the Internationale, the anthem of the Communism.
A version of the song can be heard here.
Arise! All who refuse to be slaves!
Let our flesh and blood
Become our new Great Wall!
As the Chinese nation faces its greatest peril,
All forcefully expend their last cries.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
May our million hearts beat as one,
Brave the enemy's fire,
March on!
Brave the enemy's fire,
March on!
March on! March on! On!
起来！不愿做奴隶的人们！
把我们的血肉，筑成我们新的长城！
中华民族到了最危险的时候，
每个人被迫着发出最后的吼声。
起来！起来！起来！
我们万众一心，
冒着敌人的炮火，前进！
冒着敌人的炮火，前进！
前进！前进！进！
Friday, September 25, 2009
Fang Zheng Plans to Dance with his Wife
In an op-ed piece published in the Wall Street Journal, David Feith disclosed that Fang Zheng, who is undergoing physical therapy, plans to dance with his wife for the first time. The October 7 occasion will be broadcast on YouTube.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Fang Zheng is Standing Up Again
Fang Zheng, who lost both of his legs when a tank ran over him in the early morning of June 4, 1989, is finally receiving proper medical treatment near Washington DC:
Monday, August 31, 2009
Record of Cui Jian at Tiananmen Surfaced
During the later days of the hunger strike at Tiananmen in 1989, many prominent people had visited the hunger strikers to express their sympathy, support, as well as persuasion to stop the strike. None of them matched that of Cui Jian (崔健), the undisputed king of rock n roll in China. His impromptu concert at Tiananmen was an unforgettable scene highlighted both in the documentary The Gate of Heavenly Peace and my book Standoff at Tiananmen.
Sipping through some of the historical records, however, I was never able to pinpoint the exact date when he did the performance. Until now.
Danwei reported on a recently surfaced audio tape of Cui Jian's concert. At the beginning of the recording, a voice clearly stated that "it is the seventh day of the hunger strike...," which places the event at around May 18, a day before the hunger strike was finally called off with an impending martial law.
In the recording, Cui Jian altered some of the lyrics to dedicate his songs to the hunger strikers. Curiously, this recording is missing his most famous song, "Nothing to my Name." (一无所有)
Danwei also summarized the conversations during the performance which showed Cui Jian's reluctance to perform the boisterous music out of the concern of the condition of the hunger strikers. He was then persuaded by the crowd to continue. From the tape, voices could be heard in the background appealing for Cui Jian to stop, but it was overruled by the enthusiastic crowd in the foreground, which is most likely made up by those who did not participate in the hunger strike.
I had heard personal accounts from hunger strikers at the scene describing that the music was unbearable for their much weakened heart.
In the background of the recording, one could also hear the sirens of ambulances.
Sipping through some of the historical records, however, I was never able to pinpoint the exact date when he did the performance. Until now.
Danwei reported on a recently surfaced audio tape of Cui Jian's concert. At the beginning of the recording, a voice clearly stated that "it is the seventh day of the hunger strike...," which places the event at around May 18, a day before the hunger strike was finally called off with an impending martial law.
In the recording, Cui Jian altered some of the lyrics to dedicate his songs to the hunger strikers. Curiously, this recording is missing his most famous song, "Nothing to my Name." (一无所有)
Danwei also summarized the conversations during the performance which showed Cui Jian's reluctance to perform the boisterous music out of the concern of the condition of the hunger strikers. He was then persuaded by the crowd to continue. From the tape, voices could be heard in the background appealing for Cui Jian to stop, but it was overruled by the enthusiastic crowd in the foreground, which is most likely made up by those who did not participate in the hunger strike.
I had heard personal accounts from hunger strikers at the scene describing that the music was unbearable for their much weakened heart.
In the background of the recording, one could also hear the sirens of ambulances.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Reviews of Books About Tiananmen
Reviews of books about Tiananmen, more to come...
- Chai Ling: A Heart for Freedom, October, 2011
- Li Jinjin: From the Square to QinCheng, June 2011
- Tang Baiqiao: My Two Chinas, March 2011
- Phillip J. Cunningham, Tiananmen Moon, November, 2010
- Zhao Ziyang: Prisoner of the State, June 2009
- Wu Renhua: The Martial Law Troops in the June 4 Event, May, 2009
- Wu Renhua: Inside Story of the Bloody Clearance of Tiananmen Square, June, 2007
- George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft, A World Transformed, September, 1998
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