<p>Many Chinese students have never heard about the Tian An Men massacre that occurred 25 years ago. All information about it has been scrubbed out of the Chinese internet, and virtually no mention of it in the required Chinese history courses. Those who talk about it are arrested, including Prof. Ding Zilin who teaches philosophy at Beida. Her 17 year old son was killed on June 4 and she has founded an organization called "Tian An Men Mothers" for those who lost their children in the massacre. She wants the government to provide a full account of how many people died and who they were. She also has written a moving oral history about parents who lost their children and some chapters are excepted here in English: <a href="http://www.june4commemoration.org/resources3616428304/category/tiananmen-mothers">http://www.june4commemoration.org/resources3616428304/category/tiananmen-mothers</a> </p>
<p>I would recommend that Chinese students preparing to study or currently studying in the U.S. learn about their country's recent history. This is a history that your parents lived through but may be reluctant to talk about with you. Coming to America is your opportunity to learn what happened without fear of political repercussion. You represent the future elite and agents of change within China, so learn as much as you can about your country and the rest of the world while here. Unfortunately, not all students take full advantage of this opportunity. Here is a nice article in the Chronicle (a magazine for college academics) on this topic:</p>
<p>A young American journalist's brief report on the Tian An Men Massacre including interviews with Perry Link, Professor emeritus of East Asian Studies at Princeton and several eyewitnesses. (Mostly in Mandarin)</p>
<p>lol Although I’m not sure whether I count as one of the so-called future elite or something, I’m quite sure you have some significant misunderstandings regarding this issue.</p>
<p>Yes, talking about 6.4 is “officially” banned on Chinese Internet, just as talking about racial stereotypes is “politically correctly” banned on U.S. discussions boards. There are some minor differences but I found these two types of censorship to be rather similar based on my experience of hanging out in both Chinese and English discussion boards for years. Still, people talk about it in person, in anonymous chatting board, through IM software etc. </p>
<p>“so learn as much as you can about your country and the rest of the world while here”
I find this sentence to be VERY offensive as you made a ridiculous assumption that Chinese students have no idea about what’s going on in the world. Sorry, but we do have ideas, and I’d like to make an educated guess that some of us are probably more knowledgeable about world issues and better trained in critical thinking than you are given what you wrote in this thread. </p>
<p>I do appreciate your friendly notice, but it would be much better if you don’t write it in the tone of pretentiously telling some undiscovered truisms to a group of under-educated monkeys coming from wilderness.</p>
<p>Thank you for your note. I appreciate your comments. I certainly did not intend to come across as pretentious. However, I know a large number of students from China and I would say that the articles in the Chronicle and NYT accurately portray both the relative ignorance among young Chinese about what happened as well as the compartmentalisation or perhaps deliberate apathy by a significant number of Chinese students abroad towards 6-4. Your parents generation had to close their minds during the cultural revolution and ignore/forget what happened when students that simply wanted a government that treated citizens fairly and without corruption were tragically killed by those in power at that time. However, you do not have to follow their example particularly since you have access to much more information than they ever could have when they were your age. You represent the agents of change for China. Now that you know about 6-4, what is your response? How about those of your friends and fellow students abroad?</p>
<p>Here is an interesting article describing an interview by the artist, Ai Wei Wei, who is under house arrest and was beaten by police for simply expressing his views through his art. He has said that the real problem in China is not those in power but those citizens who acquiesce and compromise their own integrity, either out of fear of a desire to get ahead at all costs. Ai Wei Wei’s name also is banned on the internet in China.</p>
<p>It is very important for students to learn about the country’s recent histories, esp. those censored on Internet. It is indeed a tragedy for many Chinese students to forget the truth about Tiananmen incident. What makes me more dissapointing is that many of my students are very apthetic about politics and they sometimes even do not care about that. Yet, I think things will change one day, since most of them have a more liberal though and do not quite believe communist indoctrination.</p>
Hi Efelchizen,
Thank you for your note. No one likes to feel that their country or countrymen are criticized or disrepected, especially by foreigners or outsiders. However, sometimes it is the people who live outside the well that can better see what is going on inside it. Those living in the well have little idea what goes on outside it. In any event, I think Chinese (or American students studying in China) should not be afraid of challenging their assumptions and prejudices. However, it generally is much easier to do this in the U.S. than the other way around. I highly recommend that Chinese students do so when they study abroad. They will have easier access to information, less censorship in and outside the classroom, and less repercussions for trying to learn the truth.
Whenever, I travel to China, I find it particularly bothersome that I cannot access the NYT, Washington Post, or BBC with any regularity or that some articles are censored. It also is difficult to use google even though it is my preferred search engine. Certain websites for NGOs or other foreign government agencies are simply wiped out. Living in China is living in the well (sorry if I am harsh). Studying abroad is the chance for Chinese students to look at the world outside the well. My son, who was an exchange student who also worked in the IT field during the summer in China, had a wonderful time there; however, he found it difficult to find information on the internet or to talk to his Chinese classmates and work colleagues about certain “sensitive” subjects. He wanted to learn the Chinese perspective when there, but could not do so due to voluntary self-censorship or government censorship.
As a teacher, I do not want my students to get the “correct” answer, particularly, when there may not be one, or when the answer be very complex. Moreover, I recognize that solutions and the perceived pathway(s) to implement the may be very dependent upon the individual or country at issue. However, I do want my students to ask the right questions. By doing so, they will take the necessary first steps to find solutions. Not asking the right questions, or ignoring them when asked, is not going to solve problems and can create serious misunderstandings.
Efelchizen, I don’t write on CC very often and recently read your personal note to me. I have sent a personal reply. Thanks for taking the time to write to me.