Women’s Roles during the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
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Many women participated in the
Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
for democratic reform in China. Lee Feigon states "women uring the Tiananmen Square Protestswere relegated for the most part to traditional support roles."
Chai Ling Chai Ling (; born April 15, 1966) is a Chinese psychologist who was one of the student leaders in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. She is the founder of All Girls Allowed, an organization dedicated to ending China's one-child policy, and t ...
and Wang Chaohua, however, were female student leaders taking part in leadership activities during the pro-democracy movement. Ranging from student leaders to intellectuals, many women contributed their opinions and leadership skills to the movement. Although women had substantial roles, they had different standpoints regarding the hunger strike movement on May 13.


Student leaders


Chai Ling

Chai Ling was a leader in the hunger strike movement and the commander-in-chief of
Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters was formed on May 24, 1989. The purpose of this organization was to create a strong leadership to lead the student movement. Structure Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters was set up by a small group of people. ...
. She assumed her role as a leader because she was seen as a candidate who could get men to put aside their arguments, and she became the liaison between the general student population at Beida and the Preparatory Committee. In early May, Chai Ling became a hunger strike leader. When the hunger strike was initiated on May 12, Chai's speech convinced several hundred students to add their names to the list of those willing to begin a hunger strike. Li Lu called her speech the "manifesto of the student hunger strikers."
Shen Tong Shen Tong (Simplified Chinese: 沈彤; Hanyu Pinyin: Shěn Tóng) (born 1968) is an American impact investor, activist, and writer. He founded business accelerators FoodFutureCo in 2015 and Food-X in 2014, the latter of which is recognized by Fas ...
commented that Chai was a charismatic leader who "could move you to tears with her speeches." Chai Ling explained in an interview that the hunger strike was "for the purpose of seeing just what the true face of the government is, to see whether it intends to suppress the movement or to ignore it, to see whether the people have a conscience or not, to see if China still has a conscience or not, if it has hope or not." Chai also attended the May 13 meeting with
Yan Mingfu Yan Mingfu (; born November 1931) is a retired Chinese politician. His first prominent role in government began in 1985, when he was made leader of the United Front Work Department for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He held the position unt ...
, the head of the CCP Central Committee's
United Front Work Department The United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (UFWD; ) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which is officially tasked with "united front work". For this endeav ...
. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the opinions of the students and to persuade students to withdraw from the Square before Mikhail Gorbachev's arrival. Chai became the general commander of the Hunger Strike Headquarters on May 15. On May 18, many student leaders decided to end the hunger strike because they feared the government would impose martial law upon the students. The student leaders then held a vote to decide if participants should end the hunger strike or not. Chai Ling, Zhang Boli, and Li Lu asked the students to vote on the proposal, and many favoured ending the strike.


Wang Chaohua

Wang Chaohua was a member of
Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation The Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation ( zh, s=北京高校学生自治联合会, p=Běijīng gāoxiào xuéshēng zìzhì liánhé huì) was a self-governing student organization, representing multiple Beijing universities, and acting as the ...
. She was more invested in organizational work than participating in demonstrations. She criticized the hunger strike movement and persuaded Chai Ling to call off the hunger strike. Wang was concerned that the hunger strike would "provoke a hard-line response and possibly lead to bloodshed." Chai responded, "The hunger strike was spontaneously initiated by students. No one has the right to stop it." Wang also participated in the May 13 meeting with Yan Mingfu to publicly discuss the students' views on the hunger strike and the movement itself. Along with Wang Dan and Wu'er Kaixi, she also attended the May 14 meeting that concluded that the Communist Party Central Committee would not hold the welcome ceremony for Gorbachev's state visit at Tiananmen Square, regardless of whether the students withdrew. On that same day, she went to Dai Qing to organize a meeting with eleven other intellectuals – Yu Haocheng, Li Honglin, Wen Yuankai,
Li Zehou Li Zehou (; 13 June 1930 – 2 November 2021) was a Chinese scholar of philosophy and intellectual history. He resided in the United States.. coloradocollege.edu He is considered an important modern scholar of Chinese history and culture whose ...
, Li Tuo,
Yan Jiaqi Yan Jiaqi (; born December 25, 1942) is a Chinese political scientist and dissident. Biography Yan was born on 25 December 1942 in Wujin District, Changzhou, Jiangsu, during the Chinese Civil War. In 1959, he entered the University of Science ...
, Liu Zaifu, Bao Zunxin, Su Xiaokang, Su Wei, and Mai Tianshu – to persuade the students to stop hunger striking. Wang reportedly cried and asked the intellectuals to use their influence to persuade the hunger strikers to leave the square. Dai Qing and the intellectuals tried to stop the students, but were unsuccessful. In her interview with Wang Dan and
Li Minqi Li Minqi (born 1969) is a Chinese political economist, world-systems analyst, and historical social scientist, currently professor of Economics at the University of Utah. Li is known as an advocate of the Chinese New Left and as a Marxian econom ...
on February 21, 1999, Wang stated that the final outcome of the movement in 1989 could have been "less disastrous" if the hunger strike had not occurred.


Intellectuals


Dai Qing

Dai Qing was a journalist at '' Guangming Daily'' and the foster daughter of
Ye Jianying Ye Jianying (; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary leader and politician, one of the founding Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976 coup that overthre ...
. Tao Kai, the director of the commentary department, described her as a "turmoil journalist". Dai made speeches at People's University and "welcomed the pro-democracy movement as marking a new stage in China's search for democracy". She participated in the May 14 meeting with Wang Chaohua and the eleven other intellectuals. Dai suggested negotiating directly with the students to bring an end to the hunger strike. She phoned the United Front Work Department to express the intellectuals' willingness to persuade the students to cease hunger striking, and asked that the intellectuals be permitted to meet with student leaders in the Great Hall of the People. Dai Qing and others drafted and made copies of "Our Urgent Appeal Regarding with Current Situation." At the United Front Work Department, Dai Qing presented the "Urgent Appeal" and shouted an appeal to the students:
If we're going to break this stalemate, both government and students will need to make concessions. The government should make concessions first, and the students next. As for conditions, if the students are willing to trust us, we are ready to press the government.
Dai Qing, however, could not convince the students to stop hunger striking. In her memoir entitled "Tiananmen Follies: Prison Memoirs and Other Writings," Dai realized that "her stature and reputation were hardly sufficient to have an impact on the students' actions or to play the important diplomatic role that the situation called for." She and the other intellectuals were unable to resolve the crisis in Tiananmen Square.


Unidentifiable member


Huang Qingling

In
Jan Wong Jan Wong (; born August 15, 1952) is a Canadian academic, journalist, and writer. Wong worked for ''The Globe and Mail'', serving as Beijing correspondent from 1988 to 1994, when she returned to write from Canada. She is the daughter of Montreal ...
's book ''Red China Blues'', she interviewed Huang Qingling, who was reportedly a student in public relations at China Social University and the commander of the Dare-to-Die Squad, a group sworn to protect student leaders like Chai Ling. Huang assumed her role as the head of the Dare-to-Die Squad because nobody wanted to take the responsibility. She ordered students to interrogate the ink throwers who defaced the portrait of Mao. On the night of the massacre, Wong was worried about Huang and decided to search for her. When she asked several students about Huang, the students replied that the public relations department at China Social University did not exist, and therefore she was unidentifiable. Wong speculated that Huang either gave a false identity to protect herself, or was a government spy. It still remains a mystery.Jan Wong, ''Red China Blues: My Long March From Mao to Now'' (Toronto: Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1996), 242-244.


See also

*
Tiananmen Mothers The Tiananmen Mothers ( zh, 天安门母亲) is a group of Chinese democracy activists promoting a change in the government's position over the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. It is led by Ding Zilin, a retired university professor whos ...
*
List of Chinese dissidents This list consists of activists who are known as Chinese dissidents. The label is primarily applied to intellectuals who "push the boundaries" of society or criticize the policies of the government. Examples of the former include Wei Hui and Ji ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Women's Roles during the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre 1989 in China Chinese dissidents