纪念日 Anniversaries

Chinese remember anniversaries with dates.

5/4 is the May 4^th Movement

10/1 is the founding of the PRC,

8/1 is the founding of the PLA (the CCP's/China's army)

Of course there are dates that aren't remembered publicly. For decades, people in Taiwan could not speak of 2/28, when KMT forces crushed pro-native Taiwanese protesters. And of course there is today: 6/4.

The beginning of the disconnect between Chinese and Westerners about this date is the name. If you refer to “Tiananmen” to a Chinese person, he or she will think of the Gate of Heavenly Peace and Tiananmen Square – symbols of national pride. If you refer to the “Tiananmen Square Massacre,” he or she will might not know what you are talking about. If you refer to the “Tiananmen Square protests,” he or she will probably wonder which protests you are referring to (there were protests in front of the gate in 1919 and in the square in 1976 and 1987 as well...and i'm probably forgetting some). However, if you say 6/4, he or she will (probably) know exactly what you are talking about.

Similarly, while today's Chinese students may not recognize the “guy in front of a tank” picture, which to the West is symbolic of 6/4, they still talk about and care about this event, even if they were not born at the time. I've talked to Chinese students from the high school camp this past summer about it as well as current college students. They've told me their parents' experiences and are interested in the ideas that 6/4 brings up, even if they realize that such a movement would not be possible today.

While I will readily admit that the Western media over uses this incident as proof of the Chinese government's brutality, etc, I also firmly belief in the right to peaceful protest and am firmly against the covering up of history. So...

永远不要忘记 – Never forget.