Women's roles during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

Last updated

Many women participated in the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 for democratic reform in China. Lee Feigon states "women [during the Tiananmen Square Protests] were relegated for the most part to traditional support roles." [1] Chai Ling and Wang Chaohua, however, were female student leaders taking part in leadership activities during the pro-democracy movement. Ranging from student leaders to intellectuals, many women contributed their opinions and leadership skills to the movement. Although women had substantial roles, they had different standpoints regarding the hunger strike movement on May 13.

Contents

Student leaders

Chai Ling

Chai Ling was a leader in the hunger strike movement and the commander-in-chief of Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters. She assumed her role as a leader because she was seen as a candidate who could get men to put aside their arguments, and she became the liaison between the general student population at Beida and the Preparatory Committee. [2]

In early May, Chai Ling became a hunger strike leader. When the hunger strike was initiated on May 12, Chai's speech convinced several hundred students to add their names to the list of those willing to begin a hunger strike. [3] [4] Li Lu called her speech the "manifesto of the student hunger strikers." [5] Shen Tong commented that Chai was a charismatic leader who "could move you to tears with her speeches." [6] Chai Ling explained in an interview that the hunger strike was "for the purpose of seeing just what the true face of the government is, to see whether it intends to suppress the movement or to ignore it, to see whether the people have a conscience or not, to see if China still has a conscience or not, if it has hope or not." [7]

Chai also attended the May 13 meeting with Yan Mingfu, the head of the CCP Central Committee's United Front Work Department. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the opinions of the students and to persuade students to withdraw from the Square before Mikhail Gorbachev's arrival. [8] Chai became the general commander of the Hunger Strike Headquarters on May 15. [9] On May 18, many student leaders decided to end the hunger strike because they feared the government would impose martial law upon the students. [10] The student leaders then held a vote to decide if participants should end the hunger strike or not. Chai Ling, Zhang Boli, and Li Lu asked the students to vote on the proposal, and many favoured ending the strike. [11] [12]

Wang Chaohua

Wang Chaohua was a member of Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation. [13] She was more invested in organizational work than participating in demonstrations. She criticized the hunger strike movement and persuaded Chai Ling to call off the hunger strike. [14] Wang was concerned that the hunger strike would "provoke a hard-line response and possibly lead to bloodshed." [15] Chai responded, "The hunger strike was spontaneously initiated by students. No one has the right to stop it." [16]

Wang also participated in the May 13 meeting with Yan Mingfu to publicly discuss the students' views on the hunger strike and the movement itself. [17] Along with Wang Dan and Wu'er Kaixi, she also attended the May 14 meeting that concluded that the Communist Party Central Committee would not hold the welcome ceremony for Gorbachev's state visit at Tiananmen Square, regardless of whether the students withdrew. [18] On that same day, she went to Dai Qing to organize a meeting with eleven other intellectuals – Yu Haocheng, Li Honglin, Wen Yuankai, Li Zehou, Li Tuo, Yan Jiaqi, Liu Zaifu, Bao Zunxin, Su Xiaokang, Su Wei, and Mai Tianshu – to persuade the students to stop hunger striking. Wang reportedly cried and asked the intellectuals to use their influence to persuade the hunger strikers to leave the square. [19] Dai Qing and the intellectuals tried to stop the students, but were unsuccessful.

In her interview with Wang Dan and Li Minqi on February 21, 1999, Wang stated that the final outcome of the movement in 1989 could have been "less disastrous" if the hunger strike had not occurred. [20]

Intellectuals

Dai Qing

Dai Qing was a journalist at Guangming Daily and the foster daughter of Ye Jianying. Tao Kai, the director of the commentary department, described her as a "turmoil journalist". [21] Dai made speeches at People's University and "welcomed the pro-democracy movement as marking a new stage in China's search for democracy". [22] She participated in the May 14 meeting with Wang Chaohua and the eleven other intellectuals. Dai suggested negotiating directly with the students to bring an end to the hunger strike. [23] She phoned the United Front Work Department to express the intellectuals' willingness to persuade the students to cease hunger striking, and asked that the intellectuals be permitted to meet with student leaders in the Great Hall of the People. [24] Dai Qing and others drafted and made copies of "Our Urgent Appeal Regarding with Current Situation." [25] At the United Front Work Department, Dai Qing presented the "Urgent Appeal" and shouted an appeal to the students:

If we're going to break this stalemate, both government and students will need to make concessions. The government should make concessions first, and the students next. As for conditions, if the students are willing to trust us, we are ready to press the government. [26]

Dai Qing, however, could not convince the students to stop hunger striking. In her memoir entitled "Tiananmen Follies: Prison Memoirs and Other Writings," Dai realized that "her stature and reputation were hardly sufficient to have an impact on the students' actions or to play the important diplomatic role that the situation called for." [27] She and the other intellectuals were unable to resolve the crisis in Tiananmen Square.

Unidentifiable member

Huang Qingling

In Jan Wong's book Red China Blues, she interviewed Huang Qingling, who was reportedly a student in public relations at China Social University and the commander of the Dare-to-Die Squad, a group sworn to protect student leaders like Chai Ling. Huang assumed her role as the head of the Dare-to-Die Squad because nobody wanted to take the responsibility. She ordered students to interrogate the ink throwers who defaced the portrait of Mao. On the night of the massacre, Wong was worried about Huang and decided to search for her. When she asked several students about Huang, the students replied that the public relations department at China Social University did not exist, and therefore she was unidentifiable. Wong speculated that Huang either gave a false identity to protect herself, or was a government spy. It still remains a mystery. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre Chinese pro-democracy movement and subsequent massacre

The Tiananmen Square protests, known as the June Fourth Incident in China, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops armed with assault rifles and accompanied by tanks fired at the demonstrators and those trying to block the military's advance into Tiananmen Square. The protests started on April 15 and were forcibly suppressed on June 4 when the government declared martial law and sent the People's Liberation Army to occupy parts of central Beijing. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded. The popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests is sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement or the Tiananmen Square Incident.

Chai Ling Chinese psychologist

Chai Ling is a Chinese psychologist who was one of the student leaders in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. She is the founder of All Girls Allowed, an organization dedicated to ending China's one-child policy, and the founder and president of Jenzabar, an enterprise resource planning software firm for educational institutions.

Dai Qing Chinese journalist and activist

Dai Qing is a journalist and activist for China-related issues; most significantly against the Three Gorges Dam Project. Dai is also an author who has published many influential books, articles, and journals.

<i>The Gate of Heavenly Peace</i> (film) 1995 documentary film

The Gate of Heavenly Peace is a 1995 documentary film, produced by Richard Gordon and Carma Hinton, about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

<i>Red China Blues</i>

Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now is a 1996 book by Chinese-Canadian journalist Jan Wong. Wong describes how the youthful passion for left-wing and socialist politics drew her to participate in the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Speaking little Chinese, she became one of the first Westerners to enroll in Beijing University in 1972.

Moving the Mountain is a 1994 feature documentary directed by Michael Apted and produced by Trudie Styler, with cinematography by Maryse Alberti and music by Liu Sola.

<i>All Men Are Brothers</i> (TV series) 2011 Chinese television series

All Men Are Brothers is a 2011 Chinese television series adapted from Shi Nai'an's 14th century novel Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The series is directed by Kuk Kwok-leung and features cast members from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The series was first broadcast on 8TV in March 2011 in Malaysia.

The Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation (BWAF), or Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Union was the primary Chinese workers' organization calling for political change during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The group was formed in the wake of mourning activities for former General Secretary Hu Yaobang in April 1989. The BWAF denounced political corruption, presenting itself as an independent union capable of "supervising the Communist Party," unlike the Party-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).

The April 26 Editorial was a front-page article published in People's Daily on April 26, 1989, during the Tiananmen Square protests. The editorial effectively defined the student movement as a destabilizing anti-party revolt that should be resolutely opposed at all levels of society. As the first authoritative document from the top leadership on the growing movement, it was widely interpreted as having communicated the party's position of "no-tolerance" to student protesters and their sympathizers.

Feng Congde

Feng Congde is a Chinese dissident and Republic of China Restoration activist. He came into prominence during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 as a student leader from Peking University, which placed him onto the Chinese government's 21 Most Wanted list. He spent 10 months hiding in various locations in mainland China, until he was smuggled out to Hong Kong on a shipping vessel.

The Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation was a self-governing student organization, representing multiple Beijing universities, and acting as the student protesters' principal decision-making body during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Student protesters founded the Federation in opposition to the official, government-supported student organizations, which they believed were undemocratic. Although the Federation made several demands of the government during the protests and organized multiple demonstrations in the Square, its primary focus was to obtain government recognition as a legitimate organization. By seeking this recognition, the Federation directly challenged the Chinese Communist Party's authority. After failing to achieve direct dialogue with the government, the Federation lost support from student protesters, and its central leadership role within the Tiananmen Square protests.

Yan Mingfu is a retired Chinese politician. His first prominent role in government began in 1985, when he was made leader of the United Front Work Department for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He held the position until the CCP expelled him for inadequately following the party line in his dialogues with students during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Yan returned to government work in 1991 when he became a vice minister of Civil Affairs.

A Heart for Freedom: The Remarkable Journey of A Young Dissident, Her Daring Escape, And Her Quest to Free China's Daughters is an autobiography by Chai Ling (柴玲), one of the student leaders in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Beijing, China. The book was published in 2011 by Tyndale House, a Christian press based in Illinois.

The April 27 demonstrations were massive student protest marches throughout major cities in China during the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989. The students were protesting in response to the April 26 Editorial published by the People's Daily the previous day. The editorial asserted that the student movement was anti-party and contributed to a sense of chaos and destabilization. The content of the editorial incited the largest student protest of the movement thus far in Beijing: 50,000–200,000 students marched through the streets of Beijing before finally breaking through police lines into Tiananmen Square.

Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters was formed on May 24, 1989. The purpose of this organization was to create a strong leadership to lead the student movement.

<i>A Tiananmen Journal</i>

A Tiananmen Journal: Republic on the Square by Feng Congde (封从德) was first published in May 2009 in Hong Kong. This book records the Tiananmen protest of 1989 from April 15, 1989, to June 4, 1989, in detail. Author Feng Congde is one of the student leader in the protest and his day-by- day diary entries, record every activity during the protest including the start of student protests in Peking University, the activities of major student leaders, important events, and unexposed stories about student organizations and their complex decision making.

The catalyst for the birth of the Pro-Democracy Movement was the death of Hu Yaobang on April 15, 1989. Beginning in late April until June 3 large crowds gathered in Tiananmen Square. During this period a significant amount of money was donated to the student organizations, it was spent on providing food, water and other supplies required to sustain the many thousands of protesters who occupied the Square.

The first of two student hunger strikes of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 began on May 13, 1989, in Beijing. The students said that they were willing to risk their lives to gain the government's attention. They believed that because plans were in place for the grand welcoming of Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, on May 15, at Tiananmen Square, the government would respond. Although the students gained a dialogue session with the government on May 14, no rewards materialized. The Chinese Communist Party did not heed the students' demands and moved the welcome ceremony to the airport.

<i>The Great Emperor in Song Dynasty</i>

The Great Emperor in Song Dynasty is a 2015 Chinese historical TV series directed by Gao Xixi, starring Chen Jianbin as Emperor Taizu of Song who founded the Song dynasty and reunified most of China proper.

The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, commonly known in mainland China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations in Beijing in 1989. More broadly, it refers to the popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests during that period, sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement. The protests were forcibly suppressed after Chinese Premier Li Peng declared martial law. In what became known in the West as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops with assault rifles and tanks fired at the demonstrators trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square. The number of civilian deaths was internally estimated by the Chinese government to be near or above 10,000.

References

  1. ↑ Lee Feigon, "Gender and The Chinese Student Movement," in Popular Protest and Political Culture in Modern China, ed. Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom and Elizabeth Perry (Boulder: Westview Press: 1994), 128.
  2. ↑ Chai Ling, A Heart for Freedom: The Remarkable Journey of a Young Dissident, Her Daring Escape, and Her Quest to Free China's Daughters (Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2011), 91-92, 102.
  3. ↑ Li Lu, Moving the Mountain: My Life in China from the Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square (London: Macmillan, 1990), 133.
  4. ↑ Dingxin Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen: State-Society Relations and the 1989 Beijing Student Movement (Chicago: The University of Chicago: 2001), 163.
  5. ↑ Li, Moving the Mountain, 131-133.
  6. ↑ Shen Tong and Marianne Yen, Almost a Revolution (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990), 276.
  7. ↑ Han Minzhu and Hua Sheng, "Taped Interview with Student Leader Chai Ling in Late May" in Cries for Democracy: Writings and Speeches from the 1989 Chinese Democracy Movement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 198.
  8. ↑ Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen, 164.
  9. ↑ Zhang Liang, The Tiananmen Papers, trans. Andrew J. Nathan and Perry Link (New York: PublicAffairs, 2001), 171.
  10. ↑ Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen, 182.
  11. ↑ Chai, A Heart for Freedom, 190.
  12. ↑ Li, Moving the Mountain, 200.
  13. ↑ Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen, 163.
  14. ↑ Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen, 163, 166.
  15. ↑ Han and Sheng, Cries for Democracy, 241.
  16. ↑ Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen, 163.
  17. ↑ Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen, 164.
  18. ↑ Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen, 166.
  19. ↑ Zhao, The Power of Tiananmen, 167.
  20. ↑ Wang Chaohua, "A Dialogue on the Future of China" in One China, Many Paths (London: Verso, 2003), 318.
  21. ↑ Dai Qing, Tiananmen Follies: Prison Memoirs and Other Writings, trans. Nancy Yang Liu, Peter Rand, and Lawrence R. Sullivan (Norwalk: EastBridge, 2005), 67.
  22. ↑ Zhang, The Tiananmen Papers, 139.
  23. ↑ Dai, Tiananmen Follies, 70.
  24. ↑ Zhang, The Tiananmen Papers, 165.
  25. ↑ Zhang, The Tiananmen Papers, 166.
  26. ↑ Zhang, The Tiananmen Papers, 166.
  27. ↑ Dai, Tiananmen Follies, 88.
  28. ↑ Jan Wong, Red China Blues: My Long March From Mao to Now (Toronto: Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1996), 242-244.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.