The color red symbolizes the personal sacrifices of the students protesting against communist China. After experiencing economic growth and exposure to foreign ideas, students led a series of demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in Beijing and throughout the country to express their desires for pro-democracy reform. The protests were hastened by the death of Hu Yaobang, who had been a leader in the Chinese Communist Party and a supporter of political liberalization. While the government responded to protests with warnings at first, martial law was eventually implemented to suppress growing tensions and prevent anarchy. The ongoing political unrest culminated in the June Fourth government crackdown in which armed troops and tanks forcibly cleared Tiananmen Square, hurting or killing many protesters. In the aftermath of the Tiananmen massacre, the Chinese government has illustrated the protesters as “counterrevolutionaries” and avoided any acknowledgements of the event.
Here, we will explore the color red and the ways in which it depicts the individual struggles and sacrifice of those living during this time period. Poems written on the June Fourth movement conveyed red through the blood shed by students who lost their lives and the unrepairable relationship between individuals and their nation. Furthermore, red is present as a symbol of hope amidst seemingly impossible obstacles, and red highlights the deep individual distress experienced during this time.
Here, we will explore the color red and the ways in which it depicts the individual struggles and sacrifice of those living during this time period. Poems written on the June Fourth movement conveyed red through the blood shed by students who lost their lives and the unrepairable relationship between individuals and their nation. Furthermore, red is present as a symbol of hope amidst seemingly impossible obstacles, and red highlights the deep individual distress experienced during this time.
Altar
by Yuan Hongbing
Ardent hearts,
doused
in dead-cold desolation.
Blasted hearts,
changed
to massive crags, wind-riven.
At the top of these rocky crags,
an altar, endlessly rebuilt.
And offered there:
hardened blood, a single drop;
glittering ice, a single piece;
feathery sunlight, one gold gleam.
The sunlight is pain and sorrow, carved on iron bones,
the cold ice, grief and mourning; it will not melt away.
And
The hardened blood-
the hardened blood-
one night's legacy: 6/4.
by Yuan Hongbing
Ardent hearts,
doused
in dead-cold desolation.
Blasted hearts,
changed
to massive crags, wind-riven.
At the top of these rocky crags,
an altar, endlessly rebuilt.
And offered there:
hardened blood, a single drop;
glittering ice, a single piece;
feathery sunlight, one gold gleam.
The sunlight is pain and sorrow, carved on iron bones,
the cold ice, grief and mourning; it will not melt away.
And
The hardened blood-
the hardened blood-
one night's legacy: 6/4.
In Yuan Hongbing’s "Altar", the color red is present as a symbol through the “hardened blood” of protestors who lost their lives during the June Fourth movement. The poet illustrates a morbid depiction of the brutality of Tiananmen by describing the everlasting altar built by the blood of those who lost their lives. Although the military attempted to suppress the protests and brutally clear away any sign of rebellion, the blood shed at Tiananmen can never be washed clean. Even as records of the June Fourth movement are practically nonexistent in present-day China, the description of blood as “hardened” suggests a permanence to the broken relationship between the protestors and their country. The shattered youthful idealism is unrepairable and forever remembered by the devastating loss of so many students’ lives. Unlike red as a representation of socialist China, the color red in June Fourth poetry conveys the legacy of a bloody, bodily sacrifice in a failed movement for one’s motherland.
Fresh Flowers
by Xiao Qiang
It is the sixth dawn
After the hunger strike.
An old woman, both eyes blind and rheumy,
Leaning on a little girl,
Grasping a bouquet of fresh flowers,
Totters in among us.
The picket line instantly parts
And the raucous square falls silent.
In the vast darkness
Flowers as red as blood.
by Xiao Qiang
It is the sixth dawn
After the hunger strike.
An old woman, both eyes blind and rheumy,
Leaning on a little girl,
Grasping a bouquet of fresh flowers,
Totters in among us.
The picket line instantly parts
And the raucous square falls silent.
In the vast darkness
Flowers as red as blood.
In Xiao Qiang’s "Fresh Flowers", red is depicted by “flowers as red as blood”. The poem highlights a contrast between the young and old generations, the silence in the crowd, and flowers growing in the darkness. As the blind, old woman leans on the little girl, the poem shows how the June Fourth movement was led by students who not only fought for their own freedoms but also fought for older generations who had suffered greatly and were unable to call for change. The older generation relied on the younger generation to fight for democracy. The younger generation was advocating for their own futures and also mobilizing protests out of a sense of responsibility to those who came before them. The juxtaposition of flowers in the darkness “as red as blood” symbolizes a hope for change yet acknowledgement of the physical sacrifice required to overcome the obstacles standing before them.
The color red was also present in the flags that were flown during the June Fourth protests; however, the red flags symbolized something vastly different from the red of the Chinese national flag. While the red on the Chinese national flag represented the communist revolution and unification of the country under communist rule, the June Fourth movement fought directly against these political values and replaced the five stars on the flag with the names of universities. Students advocated for personal freedoms and democracy, and the red depicted their strong passion and devotion towards this cause.
While the June Fourth movement would not have been possible without the collective efforts of the masses of students, it carries a unique role in modern Chinese history and literature by examining one’s changing relationship with a nation on a more individual level. Unlike members of the military, the students were not numb to the sight of blood and instead experienced significant inner turmoil by the traumatic events unfolding around them. Zhao Dingxin writes about the deep personal impact of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the imagery of the sea of blood left behind by the wounded and dead. The effect of the violence and killings was so profound that Zhao ultimately decided to shift careers and study sociology in order to understand the movement more objectively (Rosen). In the movie Summer Palace, the events at Tiananmen are set in the background while focusing on the characters’ chaotic college lives followed by the disillusionment towards the lost idealism from their youth. This period of their lives was characterized by a sense of exhilarating turmoil yet unforgettable significance (Jones). At times, the color red is lost in the disorder and replaced by a gray, conflicted perspective towards the June Fourth movement. In contrast with most other illustrations of red in modern Chinese literature, the color red symbolized a sacrificial struggle with one’s motherland and the difficulties in achieving reconciliation between ideological beliefs and war with one’s own country.
While the June Fourth movement would not have been possible without the collective efforts of the masses of students, it carries a unique role in modern Chinese history and literature by examining one’s changing relationship with a nation on a more individual level. Unlike members of the military, the students were not numb to the sight of blood and instead experienced significant inner turmoil by the traumatic events unfolding around them. Zhao Dingxin writes about the deep personal impact of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the imagery of the sea of blood left behind by the wounded and dead. The effect of the violence and killings was so profound that Zhao ultimately decided to shift careers and study sociology in order to understand the movement more objectively (Rosen). In the movie Summer Palace, the events at Tiananmen are set in the background while focusing on the characters’ chaotic college lives followed by the disillusionment towards the lost idealism from their youth. This period of their lives was characterized by a sense of exhilarating turmoil yet unforgettable significance (Jones). At times, the color red is lost in the disorder and replaced by a gray, conflicted perspective towards the June Fourth movement. In contrast with most other illustrations of red in modern Chinese literature, the color red symbolized a sacrificial struggle with one’s motherland and the difficulties in achieving reconciliation between ideological beliefs and war with one’s own country.