Tiananmen Square Book Review

“Saboteur”, written by Ha Jin exposes a difficult period in post-revolutionary China and the negative consequences on people’s lives. Mr. Chiu, a scholar who does not view himself as a common citizen, was wrongfully arrested while on honeymoon with his bride. As an egotistical man who thinks he is above everyone else, Mr. Chiu is arrogant and never takes ownership for his actions. This machoism subjects Mr. Chui to maltreatment from the police that ironically transforms the once seemingly innocent Mr. Chiu to a man consumed by vengeance. Ha Jin’s proficient use of ironic tone and conflict told through the omniscient view of his main character reinforces the story’s main theme: life experiences shape our character and have the power to transform us into a person we despise.

Using a controlled and direct writing style Ha Jin have helped the readers to understand the theme of his short story more precisely. At the same time symbolisms used in the story conveys a direct approach to the theme. “In the center of the square stood a concrete statue of Chairman Mao, at whose feet peasants were napping with their backs on the warm granite and with their faces toward the sunny sky. A flock of pigeons perched on the chairman’s raised hand and forearm”, there are three symbolisms in these lines. First is the statue of Chairman Mao situated in the center of the city symbolizing the beliefs of Chinese people in communism.

Xiong uses battles, executions, assassinations, and scandals to appeal to readers of any genre. Once a reader gets into the book they are hooked in the epic events of the book and the deep look into the ruling class. Unfortunately, Xiong’s novel might somewhat difficult to get into for many readers with no experience in Chinese history. Xiong also attempts to utilize dialogue that often comes off as underdeveloped or simplistic.

“Her actions remind me that, even under unbearable circumstances, one can still believe in justice,” in David Henry Hwang’s foreword, in Ji-Li Jiang’s memoir Red Scarf Girl, commemorated even during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution anyone can overcome adversity (9). Ji-Li Jiang was a young teenager at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and living through a very political time in China’s history made Ji-Li into the person she is today. Ji-Li’s intelligence, her choices, and family devotion made her into the headstrong and successful person she is today. Even when Ji-li thought she was unintelligent, others saw she was wise. There were many moments when Ji-Li was reminded she was very smart.

On the other hand, it leaves a kind of profound thinking about the typical ordinary Chinese ideology and how great is the impact of such a decision on people’s

In this essay William Lutz would be considered someone who fakes history for the government like in the Ministry of truth, to please the government. Although this essay states there was blood on their shirts during that time, individuals continue to say, “I was wrong” and “No one died in Tiananmen Square”. No one denies this and they protect the government in results of fear. They are being forced to lie and say the army did not hurt anyone nor killed anyone. The government in China wants people to “Love the Party, love the socialist motherland”, similar to Nineteen Eighty - Four because “The two aims of the party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought”

The Tiananmen Square protests, commonly known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (六四事件)[a] 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 referred to as the '89 Democracy Movement (八九民运). The protests were forcibly suppressed after the government declared martial law. In what became widely known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops with assault rifles and tanks killed at least several hundred student demonstrators trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square. The number of civilian deaths has been estimated at anywhere between the hundreds to the thousands.

The two-part documentary, Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Tiananmen Square Protests, provides an overview of the events leading up to and during the Tiananmen Square protests during the spring of 1989. In my opinion the documentary accurately explains the issues that drove the students and citizens of China to march to the square and remain there for approximately two months. The protests were sparked by the death of Hu Yaobang on April 15th 1989, who favored political liberalization and advocated for dialogue with the demonstrators (LO #4, pp. 1). The students began arriving on Tiananmen Square on April 16th, and by the end of the month the protests began to encompass broader grievances with the Chinese Communist Party like corruption, lack of

Student protests/Tiananmen square Tiananmen square is a large public area in Beijing, China. The square is named after its “Gate of Heavenly Peace, the National Museum of China, and the Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall.” (Encyclopedia) Mao Zedong used the square on October 1, 1949 to declare the founding of the People’s Republic, an anniversary still celebrated at the square. Due to the square’s importance, Chinese students began protesting in favor of democratic reform, a demonstration that began in April 1989. The protest was sparked due to unrest at the Communist Party after the death of Chairman Hu Yaobang.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution was a widespread sociopolitical movement that permeated every aspect of Chinese society. When analyzing such a complicated event as the Cultural Revolution, it can be hard to formulate an accurate understanding of what actually transpired. However, with the help of historical sources historians are able to develop an understanding of the past and construct their interruption of what occurred. There are a variety of source types that a historian can draw from, each with its own unique set of values and limitations. This essay explores the values and limitations of personal memoirs, such as Li Kunwu’s A Chinese Life, in understanding the Chinese Cultural Revolution in comparison to the documentary film Morning

Richard McGregor, an Australian who spent nine years in Beijing the capital of China as bureau chief and as a correspondent for the Financial Times, has written a historic novel about the Chinese Communist Party’s influence over Chinese society. The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers, first published in Britain in 2010, is an assembly of stories and hypothesis about the Chinese system which McGregor composed after his years in China. This book provides the best explanation of China’s government and the Party today while being easily understood by a foreigner. Many examples are provided based on the USA and Taiwan as well as British government that assist the reader in further understanding China’s policies. Additionally,

When Mao praised the very first big-character poster, which was posted by the “Leftists” in Peking University in May, as the “the first Marxist big-character poster in China”, along with the publications in People’s Daily, the Cultural Revolution officially started in the schools and universities, mostly among students. Those students claimed to be Red Guards who guarded Mao’s thought and expelled all the “reactionary rightists”. In fact, Red Guards played the most significant role during the first period of the revolution, and they facilitated the result of Mao re-controlling the Party and purging his enemies. As Mao and the official policy publicly supported the actions of Red Guards, asking even military forces to provide help (Schoenhals, 53), the revolution

In the United States, many people take for granted that we have the freedom of speech, while others in the world get persecuted for their voice of peaceful resistance. Ilham Tohti, an ethnic Uighur professor was sentenced to life in prison by being found guilty of separatism. “Separatism is when a group of people either advocate, or practice of separation from a larger body”. Although Professor Tohti was the symbol of a peaceful resistance of Uighurs to Chinese policies, many have thought that it was unjust, and far too harsh a punishment especially considering that Professor Tohti has a history of heart problems, along with bad lungs. Unfortunately, while the punishment of life in prison is rare, the authorities tend to pass much harsher punishment

I. Does a political opening by the government spark student protests in China? It is assessed by Mason and Clements (2002) that students’ choice to protest is based on the probability of state to attack on the development. They contend an individual will challenge just if the state is unlikely to attack, or if there are such a large number of individuals dissenting that it is more outlandish for the performing artist to be singled out and rebuffed. In spite of the fact that this case sounds truly sensible, it appears that the understudy challenges in China are definitely not just adapted by potential government reaction, however all the more vitally, launched by government-headed political openings.

From within, it seems to be as though a cloud of amnesia has spread over the citizens ever since the pro-democracy demonstrations of 1989. One student remarked that “ ‘No matter what they do, their priority, their focus, is stability’ ” (Makinen), and that certainly is the case with the pro-democracy demonstrations. All found participants were punished for their actions; many of these punishments include arrest or detainment. The fear of punishment would affect people in ways that would change even their spending habits, which is an effect of China’s “broadest attack on corruption” (Wei).