A Tiananmen Journal: Republic on the Square
| Author | Feng Congde |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | Chinese |
| Publisher |
Morning Bell Press (Hong Kong first edition) Free Culture Press (Taiwan first edition) Suyuan Books (Hong Kong second edition) |
Publication date |
2009 (first edition), 2013 (second edition) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback); also audio book |
| Pages | 608 pages (Taiwan edition) |
| ISBN |
(Taiwan first edition) ISBN (Hong Kong first edition) ISBN (Hong Kong second edition) |
| OCLC | 369552980 |
A Tiananmen Journal: Republic on the Square (in Chinese: 六四日記：廣場上的共和國) 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 content of A Tiananmen Journal is based on Feng's Memo of 1989 Student Protests (八九學運備忘錄), first drafted in 1990. To ensure the details of the activities are in correct order and what he heard from others during the protests was truthful, Feng started editing his Memo and adding footnotes in the following eighteen years, before finally publishing them in the book, A Tiananmen Journal.
The book is divided into nine chapters:
It briefly records the 1987 student protest at Tiananmen Square on New Year's Day. Some of the students were angry about the "Ten Regulations" (十條) issued by the government on 26 December 1987 because the "Ten Regulations" restricts people's freedom of demonstration in Beijing. Therefore, some students organized a protest to oppose the "Ten Regulations". Finally, around 20 university students were arrested and given warnings. At the end of the month, Feng Congde heard news of Hu Yaobang's resignation and recognized that he was forced to resign because he sympathized the student protest on New Year's Day.
On 15 April 1989, students were very emotional about Hu Yaobang's death. Some memorial slogans and radical words such as "Someone is still alive although he has died; someone has died although he is alive" (有的人死了, 他還活著; 有的人活著, 他已經死了) appeared on the notice board in Peking University. This slogan expresses two ideas. One is to criticize the governmental officers who ignored the need of the public. Another is to praise Hu's efforts on government reformation. To mourn Hu, around 3,000 students grouped in front of the monument at Tiananmen Square on 18 April 1989 and some gave public speech. At the same time, some military police stopped the memorial activity organized by students at Xin Hua Gate (新華門), where most of the foreign journalists were reporting the event.
On 19 April 1989, the Preparatory Committee in Peking University was formed. The members are Ding Xiaopin, Feng Congde, Xiong Yan, Zhao Tiguo, Wang Dan, and others. Some of these members played main roles later in the student protest of 1989. The first job of the Preparatory Committee was to plan a protest to against the "April 20 Incident" because the government distorted the truth of the incident and covered up the fact that the police beat students. The student protest against the "April 20 Incident" organized by the Preparatory Committee, however, was unorganized as the committee members lacked experience.
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