The People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited

The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited is a book written by the award-winning journalist Louisa Lim and published by Oxford University Press in 2014.^[1] The People’s Republic of Amnesia is historical non-fiction that delves into the lives of those who were affected by the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre in China. Lim’s interest in writing her book came from her curiosity “to discover how memories could be reformatted and how China’s population had become complicit in an act of mass amnesia.”^[2] Lim uses the stories to provide the reader with unique, personal accounts of the events of the 1989 student protests and the aftermath.

Structure

The book contains stories and interviews of those affected by the 1989 student protests. The stories and interviews are grouped into eight major chapters. Lim’s book is from the perspectives of current and ex-military personnel, students, protesters of the 1989 student movement and their relatives, and how the protests affected them directly or indirectly. Some of the more famous interviewees are Wu'erkaixi, one of the student leaders of the 1989 student protests, Zhang Xianling, co-founder of Tiananmen Mothers and Bao Tong, former secretary to the Communist Party general secretary.

Synopsis

Chapter 1 "Soldier"

In this chapter,” Chen Guang, who at the time of the 1989 student protest was a military photographer, tells the events leading up to and throughout the 1989 protests, through the lens of a Chinese soldier whose job was to capture the events of the crackdown and how these memories are reflected in his work as an artist.^[3] Lim uses soldiers’ vivid recollections to piece together the events that took place on June 4, 1989, such as Chen’s memory of the ground floor of the Great Hall of the People having been “turned into a makeshift hospital” and the conflicting feelings he felt when he saw it.^[4]

Chapter 2 “Staying”

In this chapter, Lim interviews Zhang Ming, a participant in the 1989 students protest who spent 7 years in jail afterwards for his participation.^[5] He tells his story, his decision to participate, his contribution to the ’89 protest, and the mindset of the protesters that followed the voices of the student leaders. From “organizing massive student marches and a boycott of classes”, the decisions that Zhang made during the protest would ultimately shape the outcome of his life.^[6] Lim also focuses on the influence of commercialism and economics towards the amnesia of the 1989 student protests. Lim also interviews people such as Chen Ziming, an intellectual who had been sentenced to jail for 13 years as “one of the black hands behind the student movement.”^[7] He states that a number of student leaders have benefited from making compromises and that they are afraid of political interference towards their businesses, to the point where “they won’t even admit to having been student leaders.”^[8]

Chapter 3 “Exile”

In this chapter, Lim comes into contact with Wu’er Kaixi who provides insight into the mind of one of the 1989 student protest leaders, as well as his involvement in major events within the 1989 student protest such as the hunger strike. He reveals that the instigation of the hunger strike was his idea and that its was a “deliberate strategy to escalate the movement.”^[9] Wu’er Kaixi tells Lim of his struggles, ideas and life since his exile from China, his feelings towards those who had stayed behind and served jail time, and his appeal to China’s leaders hoping to one day return to his motherland.^[10]

Chapter 4 “Student”

In this chapter Lim explores the amnesia and censorship that the Chinese government has instilled on its youth and how it has affected their knowledge of the events of the 1989 student protests in Tiananmen Square. One of the students that Lim interviews, Feel Liu, 22 years old at the time, provides her with his information about what he had been taught in school on the subject of the 1989 student protest. He says that from a teacher’s perspective, the subject would be “best left untouched”.^[11] Lim takes a deeper look into the subject of censorship and amnesia as she writes about experiment she conducts in which she shows and asks them if they have ever seen of or heard about "Tank Man", an iconic image to those in the West.^[12]

Chapter 5 “Mother”

In this chapter, Lim writes about Zhang Xianling, the mother of a student protester, Wang Nan, who had been killed during the June 4th massacre, her attempts to cope with the death of her son and to find the truth behind the deaths of many other students that led to the creation of the Tiananmen Mothers, a group made up of relatives of those who were killed on June 4, 1989, in order to seek justice and bring light to their deaths. Zhang tells of her story, recalling the days prior to the June 4th massacre and the events that led up to her son’s death.

Chapter 6 “Patriot”

In this chapter, Lim delves into the execution of ideas such as “patriotic education” and interviews patriotic party members about the 1989 student protests, life after it and the implementation of ideas to move past it.^[13] One of ideas that Lim writes is of China’s attempt at “ideological re-education,” at such a wide scale that it would be one of the largest attempts in modern history.^[14] This includes the rewriting of textbooks in order to “change the prism through which the past and present were viewed.”^[15]

Chapter 7 “Official”

In this chapter, Bao Tong, former secretary to the Communist Party's general secretary Zhao Ziyang, tells Lim about the decisions that led to the crackdown of the 1989 student protests from the perspective of political leaders such as Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang. Lim also writes about Tong’s life after being released from jail and that even though he is no longer imprisoned, he is not fully free, for every movement of his is being monitored by the government. Tong however shows no concern towards it because this is the life he lives. He even states that “[he’s] totally used to it, if they’re not with me, I feel lost,” and continues to tell Lim about his knowledge of the 1989 student protests.^[16]

Chapter 8 “Chengdu”

In this chapter, Lim presents a picture of "Chengdu", a city in southwest China, after the 1989 student protests through “memories, declassified U.S. diplomatic cables, diaries, hastily written reports of the time, contemporaneous photographs, and Chinese government-approved accounts.”^[17] Lim uses the information and interviews to present the crackdown took place in Chengdu against protesters after they learned about the June 4th massacre in Tiananmen Square. One of these interviews is Dennis Rae’s vivid recollection of the mourning wreaths and signs carried around Chengdu, and the “panicked urgency” and injured people inside of the hospital.^[18]

Reception

The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited has received many positive reviews from a variety of critics including scholars and reputable magazines.

Jonathan Mirsky of The New York Times wrote that “[Lim’s] accounts of the amnesia of many Chinese, make [her book] one of the best analyses of the impact of Tiananmen throughout China in the years since 1989.”^[19]

Dr. Jennifer Altehenger of King’s College London Strand gave Lim’s book a positive review. She states that “the book is accessible, fluidly written and offers rich accounts of one of the most complex chapters in contemporary Chinese history.”^[20] Altehenger, however does leave the remark saying the citations are “unnecessarily complicated.”^[21]

Associate Professor Jeremy Brown of Simon Fraser University critiques Lim’s book by providing a mixed review stating that “the story of Chengdu does not fit in Lim’s overall structure […] but it is the book’s most original contribution.”^[22]

References