Spring and summer · 1989 · Beijing and beyond
Remember,
so silence is not the ending.
A record of the events of spring and summer 1989: the mourning after Hu Yaobang’s death, the actions of students, residents and workers, and the use of military force in Beijing in early June—along with the questions that followed.
From a day of mourning
to a history that resists simplification.
On April 15, 1989, Hu Yaobang, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, died. Students in Beijing went to Tiananmen Square to mourn him. The mourning soon became intertwined with calls concerning corruption, inflation, press freedom, political reform and dialogue. Students were joined by residents, workers and others.
On the night of June 3 and into June 4, troops used force at multiple locations in Beijing. Civilians were killed and injured in large numbers; a definitive total has not been independently established. Events in and around the square, and the choices made by many different groups, form a complex and painful history.
Read the timeline ↗Documents · witnesses · memory
Let testimony
illuminate testimony.
Official statements, student declarations, diplomatic records, journalists’ accounts and families’ searches preserve different views. Each source has an origin, a perspective and limits.
Read student declaration excerpts ↗Learn · Listen · Remember
History has more than one entrance. Follow the chronology, read words published at the time, then leave a quiet moment for remembrance.
Historical timeline
From April’s mourning and petitions to martial law, the use of force in early June and its aftermath.
Read by date →02“Students’ words
Excerpts from the May 13 hunger strike declaration and a guide to demands voiced at the time.
Read translated excerpts →03◎China and the world
Explore actions across China, the crackdown’s aftermath, international responses and credited images.
Explore places and images →04✳Memorial
A quiet candle for those killed or injured, detained or missing, and families still seeking answers.
Enter the memorial →The 2022 White Paper protests
Read six chapters on the chronology, different demands, internet controls, power and accountability, China and overseas, and remembrance.
Beijing · May 1989Local text mirror · article and references
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The complete locally preserved Chinese-language article is available offline. This English edition includes a concise guide to its structure and images.
Images are stored with the site and display offline. Credits, licenses and original file pages are identified alongside them.
Democracy is not the work of a few; it requires generation after generation.
— May 13, 1989 hunger strike declaration, excerpt in this site’s English translation