Google Translation of My Article on Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 That I Experienced
- samuelyan8888
- Jun 27
- 7 min read
Below is Google (Chrome) translation of an article I wrote six years ago about the Tiananmen Square Massacre I experienced thirty-six years ago.
Commemorating June 4】Railway: Chang'an Avenue 30 years ago
Posted on June 3, 2019 by wy
Thirty years ago, I experienced the most earth-shaking historical event in China's modern history from beginning to end in Beijing. I have always wanted to write some commemorative texts. On the eve of the June 4th anniversary a few years ago, I was browsing some commemorative articles on the Internet and saw Professor Ding Zilin's memoirs. I also looked for photos of this respectable Tiananmen mother on the Internet. When I saw the photo of her son who was lost on June 4th, many things that happened that year immediately came back to my mind. I will never forget that young and solemn face. Today I write down my personal experience on June 4th to commemorate those who died in that bloody rainstorm. Our motherland and people are so unfortunate. The most hopeful moment for our country and nation was ended by bullets on that night thirty years ago.
In April and May of 1989, students boycotted classes and took to the streets and even went on hunger strike. They peacefully demanded dialogue with the government, accelerated the democratic process, and opposed corruption. Later, workers went on strike and merchants closed their shops in response to support the students' patriotic actions. The government first used rogue means to delay and then responded with martial law. Finally, it was decided to send armed troops into Beijing to suppress. Beijing citizens and government employees all came out to support the students' democratic demands. Starting from the end of May, in order to protect the students who insisted on staying in Tiananmen Square, Beijing citizens poured into the streets, blocked military vehicles on Chang'an Avenue and at the entrances of major cities, and persuaded the soldiers not to use force against the students. I remember that at the gate of Renmin University, many people surrounded several layers to listen to the broadcast of the student radio station. I met a respected old scholar from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the crowd. During the conversation, I said, "The people are not afraid of death." The old man immediately followed up with "Why scare them with death?" The thin man clenched a fist and waved it. We smiled at each other.
June 3 was very hot. In the evening, the weather was cooler. My wife and I rode a bicycle. We wanted to go to Tiananmen Square to see the students and see what was going on. The radio broadcast asked people not to go out on the streets. But people ignored it. After many days of martial law, the army was blocked at various intersections. The situation seemed to be in a stalemate. We came from Haidian, and along the way, there were people expressing their dissatisfaction with the government. When we arrived at Muxidi near dark, there were already a lot of people there. Everyone parked their bicycles in the center of Sanlihe Street. My wife and I walked to the intersection of Muxidi Sanlihe and West Chang'an Street. We found that the people had overturned several buses in the middle of the road. Many military vehicles were parked not far away. When we arrived at this place, we found that there were not many people in the middle of the street. Most people stood farther away. We approached these buses blocking the road and seemed to hear someone shouting not to go forward. When we looked up. Many soldiers wearing helmets lined up in several rows, and were walking towards us with murderous looks on their faces just 20 meters away. At the same time, tear gas was fired directly into the crowd. In the extremely pungent smoke of tear gas, people scattered and ran away. My wife and I dodged and ran left and right, and finally came to a residential building not far behind the fence facing the street. Most people were squatting on the ground. At this time, gunfire was already raging. People shouted loudly, "Don't hurt students!", "The People's Liberation Army will not attack ordinary people!", "Down with fascism." In response to people's slogans, we could hear the troops suppressing them with more intense gunfire. As soon as the gunfire subsided, people started shouting slogans again. This went on for a long time, and it was thrilling. At this time, a young man in a white shirt who was squatting in front of me suddenly fell on his back on the ground. At first I didn't care, thinking he wanted to lie down and rest. Suddenly another young man shouted, "Someone's been beaten to death!" Wait for us to lift this young man up. I found that his eyes were closed and there was a blood spot on the right chest of his white shirt. He was shot in the chest. I will never forget that young face. This is Teacher Ding Zilin's son.
After the soldiers and military vehicles forced their way through this section of Chang'an Avenue, my wife and I returned to the street to look for our bicycles. Sanlihe Street was covered in blood. Everyone was cursing. They were extremely angry. Several people were holding half-foot-long shrapnel in their hands and excitedly describing the situation. When I found my bicycle, I discovered that the handlebars and body of the bicycle were all covered in blood. The front wheel of my bicycle was bent by people trying to avoid bullets. People said they had nowhere to hide. Soldiers used machine guns to sweep the crowds on the street. People responded with slogans. The most people died here on Muxidi Sanlihe Street. I saw it with my own eyes. It was also the beginning of the darkest moment in China's modern history. Unarmed Beijing citizens used their flesh and blood to stop a state machine armed to the teeth from suppressing young students. The last hope of Beijing citizens for this regime was shattered.
Seeing the brutality of the soldiers, my wife and I decided to go to Tiananmen Square and ask the students to retreat. I flattened the front wheel of my bicycle, and my hands were covered in blood, with nowhere to wash them. When we finally arrived at Liubukou, it was already two o'clock in the middle of the night. We learned that the soldiers had entered Tiananmen Square and blocked Tiananmen Square from West Chang'an Avenue. Six or seven military vehicles were parked here. The young soldiers sat in the vehicles without saying a word. Knowing that the soldiers had opened a bloody road to the square, the people here anxiously surrounded the military vehicles. Some cried, and some loudly persuaded the soldiers in the vehicles not to attack the students. At this time, a military jeep rushed from the west with guns fired all the way, but was blocked by the stopped military vehicles and slowed down. The jeep was immediately surrounded by the angry crowd. Someone shouted to overturn the car! I was standing next to the jeep, and the soldiers in the car immediately opened fire again. The gunshots rang in my ears. The sound was very loud. The crowd immediately dispersed. The jeep took this opportunity to drive at full speed towards Tiananmen Square. After the jeep left, I saw two people whose legs were shot, crawling on the ground trying to stand up. At this time, I was separated from my wife. When I found her, she was trying to explain something to two panicked Western students. When she saw me, my wife almost cried, thinking that I had been beaten to death as well.
Liubukou was relatively quiet at this time. From time to time, we could hear the sound of gunfire and people shouting in the distance. Not long after we left Liubukou at five o'clock with anxious and angry mood, some students were evacuated from Tiananmen Square and were crushed by tanks from behind. Many students were killed or injured. Later, when I returned to school, I found that one of my students' arms was broken by a bullet at the shoulder. A graduate student of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who had stayed in my dormitory many times was beaten to death in Muxidi. The younger brother of a classmate who was a graduate student was also beaten to death. On the evening of June 4th in Beijing, the radio station was no longer broadcasting normally. Starting at midnight, the Central Radio Station simply played "The Internationale". With tears in my eyes, I sang loudly for a long time. That day was my birthday. From then on, I decided not to celebrate my own birthday anymore. June 4th, 1989 should be the National Day of Humiliation.
One hundred years ago, the May Fourth Movement was also a patriotic movement initiated by young students and participated by the whole nation. The president of the Republic of China at that time was able to resign. The government was able to obey the will of the people and refused to sign the Twenty-One Demands. Seventy years later, on June Fourth, the Communist government used machine guns and tanks to fight against the students' peaceful democratic demands. Thirty years after the June Fourth Movement, Chinese politics has regressed further. The Communist government uses modern network technology to monitor everyone's every move and every word. "Stability maintenance" funds have long been the country's highest expenditure item. 1989 was a year that did not exist in China. The term June Fourth is a word that cannot be found on the Chinese Internet. The generation after June Fourth has no knowledge of this earth-shaking history thirty years ago. The Communist regime has successfully erased this history in China. It is a pity for China and the 1.4 billion Chinese people that they are left with only the freedom to eat and breathe. This has been the human rights standard of the Chinese government for many years. After June Fourth, Chinese society has no faith, no thoughts (and is not allowed to have them), and only measures everything with money.
But things will turn around when they reach their extremes. One day, a monument will be erected for the young people who died under the bullets of June 4th. This erased history will be truly written into Chinese textbooks. The 1.4 billion Chinese people can breathe the air of freedom, say what they want to say, and do what they want to do. Freedom is so precious and beautiful.
Author contributions
China Digest Issue 1470 (cm0619a)