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Tiananmen Square Massacre

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square, large public square in Beijing, China, on the southern edge of the Inner or Tatar City. The square, named for its Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen), contains the monument to the heroes of the revolution, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall (with Mao's embalmed body). Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic in the square on Oct. 1, 1949, an anniversary still observed there.

A massive demonstration for democratic reform, begun there by Chinese students in Apr., 1989, was brutally repressed on June 3 and 4. It was initiated to demand the posthumous rehabilitation of former Communist Party Chairman Hu Yaobang. The government was tolerant until after his funeral; then Deng Xiaoping denounced the protests. The demonstrators were joined by workers, intellectuals, and civil servants, until over a million people filled the square. General Secretary Zhao Ziyang expressed sympathy, but lost out to Deng, who supported the use of military suppression. Martial law was declared on May 20. The protesters demanded that the leadership resign, but the government answered on June 3–4 with troops and tanks, killing thousands to quell a "counterrevolutionary rebellion." Zhao was dismissed and a number of the student leaders were arrested.

Selected full-text books and articles on this topic at Questia

The Struggle for Tiananmen: Anatomy of the 1989 Mass Movement
Nan Lin. Praeger, 1992

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Tiananmen Square, Spring 1989: A Chronology of the Chinese Democracy Movement
Theodore Han; John Li. Institute of East Asian Studies University of California, 1992

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The Chinese People's Movement: Perspectives on Spring 1989
Tony Saich. Sharpe, 1990

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China's Legal Awakening: Legal Theory and Criminal Justice in Deng's Era
Carlos Wing-Hung Lo. Hong Kong University Press, 1995

Librarian’s tip: Chap. 9 "The 1989 Student Democratic Movement: A Legal Perspective" and Chap. 10 "Trials of Dissidents of the 1989 Democratic Movement: The Limits of Socialist Justice"

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China since the Cultural Revolution: From Totalitarianism to Authoritarianism
Jie Chen; Peng Deng. Praeger Publishers, 1995

Librarian’s tip: Chap. 4 "the Meaning of June 4, 1989" and Chap. 5 "China since the Tiananmen Crackdown"

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The Tiananmen Papers
Zhang Liang; Andrew J. Nathan; Perry Link. PublicAffairs, 2001

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Beijing Spring, 1989: Confrontation and Conflict: the Basic Documents
Michel Oksenberg; Lawrence R. Sullivan; Marc Lambert; Qiao Li; H. R. Lan; Jerry Dennerline. M. E. Sharpe, 1990

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Popular Protest and Political Culture in Modern China
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom; Elizabeth J. Perry. Westview Press, 1994 (2nd edition)

Librarian’s tip: Chap. 13 "History, Myth, and the Tales of Tiananmen"

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International Human Rights
Jack Donnelly. Westview Press, 1998 (2nd edition)

Librarian’s tip: Chap. Six "Responding to Tiananmen"

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Sino-US Military Relations since Tiananmen: Restoration, Progress, and Pitfalls
Yuan, Jing-Dong. Parameters, Vol. 33, No. 1, Spring 2003

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Tiananmen Square Massacre