1989 was a turbulent year for China. In Jan 1989, Fang Lizhi, former university vice president of China Science & Technology University in Anhui Prov, wrote an open letter to Deng Xiaoping in demand of the release of Wei Jingsheng [i.e., Democracy Wall activist]. In following months, more intellectuals joined Fang Lizhi, demanding political reform. In the section on "Enlightened Intelligentsia" below, we will cover the parallel thread to the student movement.
On April 15th 1989, deposed CCP Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang passed away. On the campus of Peking University, big character posters showed up with calls for political reform. On April 17th, ten thousand students swarmed onto Tian'an'men Square to show respect for the late leader. The next day, tens of thousands of students converged upon the square and in front of "People's Great Wall" for a demonstration against CCP Central's deliberate low-tone mourning arrangement. Students raised "seven demands". This would be what I termed here as Second Students' Movement in communist era, not counting the "red guards" movements that were officially sanctioned and launched by the CCP. Intellectuals, students and ordinary people across China began to show respect for this open-minded rectifier of communist faults and torts with various articles or publications. Newspaper across the country, including "World Economic Herald", began to publish series of articles extolling Hu Yaobang's feats for which he was sacked by "paramount" leader Deng Xiaoping in early 1987 in the aftermath of First Students' Movement in Dec 1986. Hu Yaobang [1915-1989] was a veteran communist cadre who joined the Red Army Long March as a Hunan Province teenager in 1934. By 1952, Hu Yaobang was apparently serving the PLA's Second Field Army in Sichuan Province as some kind of propagandist whom writer Bai Hua likened to short statured instigator Lenin. (I had at one time thought short statured Deng Xiaoping might have picked Hu Yaobang for the same physique.) Some writer pointed out that Hu Yaobang differed from most other communists on the matter of "hiding or revealing emotions", e.g., crying sadly upon news of his father's death, something that was a deviation from communist iron-fist style. Bai Hua's article at http://www.secretchina.com/news/articles/4/4/2/62703.html, however, showed that Hu Yaobang was not much different from General Heh Long gang who were notorious for monopolizing detached houses and villas as well as holding twice-weekly dancing parties with skillfull women dancers [i.e., those women who were selected by KMT spy chief Dai Li for serving the American military observers and American officers of "Sino-American Cooperation Office" which was a collaboration project with US navy information bureau.]
Bai Hua, i.e., the party organizer and dancer picker in Sichuan Province in 1952, stated that only Deng Xiaoping did not like to dance with women but play bridge card game. Not long time ago, in 1945, CCP was accusing KMT of taking custody of five 'zi' suffixed commodities including fang-zi [houses], nuu-zi [women] and jin-zi [gold] from collaborators with Japanese invaders. General Heh Long was commonly known as a monster of lust, by the way. And, first CCP Sichuan provincial secretary Li Jingquan or his pal Yan Hongyan could possibly be the executor who decapitated Wang Shiwei on the bank of Yellow River in 1947. In Sichuan Province, Gao Wenjun witnessed the execution of two classmates as a warning to 3000 KMT Whampoa 23rd Session cadets who were sold out to PLA by the schoolmaster. Throughout early 50s, People's Liberation Army had engaged in banditry quelling, often slaughtering KMT captives in hordes. http://www.secretchina.com/news/articles/4/5/14/65096.html carried an eyewitness account of PLA officers [from Qin Jiwei's unit] eating livers from KMT captives.
Hu Yaobang, who was sent to Sichuan Province, hence bonded his relations with communist leaders of Sichuan Province nativity, including Deng Xiaoping. After Deng Xiaoping re-asserted his control over CCP by toppling Mao-designated heir Hua Guofeng in 1981, both Zhao Ziyang and Hu Yaobang were selected as the right-hand and left-hand men. [To gain a historical review of Zhao Ziyang, check Li Dali's comment on Zhao Ziyang's implication in the "each and every village must have blood-letting" movement in Guangdong Province in early 1950s. Also check Jin Zhong's writing on the execution death of Zhao Ziyang's father [Zhao Wenbin] while Zhao Ziyang was CCP deputy regional secretary for Puyang of Henan Prov.)
In 1977, Wang Juntao was set free after spending nine months in prison for participating in April 5th 1976 movement. Also in 1977, Ba Hua first drafted a drama entitled "Twilight" to criticise the leftist catastrophe of the 1930s, and paralyzed CCP former public security minister Luo Ruiqing, for his red-handed role in 1930 persecution as well as his victim role in the cultural revolution, had doubts about exposing the communist darkness. In late 1970s, after the fall of the Gang of Four (ultra-leftists), CCP's 3rd Plenary of the 11th Central Committee proposed liberalization of thoughts in late 1978. Hu Yaobang, acting as deputy schoolmaster of CCP Party Academy, advocated for "practice being the sole measure for validating truth". By 1979, Hu Yaobang, as CCP Propaganda Department chief / CCP Secretariat secretary-in-chief, rectified hundreds of thousands of CCP persecutions dating to 1955 Hu Feng Clique. Hu Yaobang had been responsible for restoring reputation and rectifying CCP faults and torts beyond the cultural revolution. Bai Hua stated that initially Hu Yaobang was furious over one scholar when the said scholar gave an inverse question: "Don't you think there exists one case that should not be rehabilitated since the founding of the country?" 'Wounds Literature' popped out, describing various persecutions and tortures that the communist leaders and their families had endured during the CR. The movie 'Bitter Love' described two lovers and their stories during CR. Some movies ("Legends Of Tianyunshan Mountains", e.g.) carried 'Wounds Literature' further, beyond the CR, to the Anti-Rightists Movement of late 1950s.
Democracy Wall, which was built on top of a public poster area near 38th Route Bus stop, would erupt in 1978. Deng Xiaoping, for poster's targeting Huan Guofeng's observing "two whatever Mao Tse-tung said or did", would alert foreign reporters to the presence of "Xidan Democracy Wall". Soon, Wei Jingsheng publicly criticised Deng Xiaoping as someone who would become the second dictator and called for democracy [i.e., 5th modernization] in addition to "four modernizations". Inside of Beijing University, Wang Juntao & Zhou Weimin launched "Beijing Spring" magazine, while Wei Jingsheng participated in "Search" magazine. Hou Xiaotian mentioned that Wang Juntao, during a visit to secretariat-secretary Hu Yaobang in July 1979, was told: "Old brother, as to playing politics, the skillset of you guys was not up to par yet." (Hu Yaobang, in reference to Song Dynasty reformer Wang Anshi's failure, mentioned to Wang Juntao that he and 14000 soldiers could not defeat 3000 army commanded by KMT General Fu Zuoyi [see first shot of communist civil war for Fu Zuoyi's feats].) Liberal criticisms of CCP, heralded by "Xidan Democracy Wall" activists, would end as an episode called the 'Beijing Spring' by late 1979. Wang Juntao stopped publishing "Beijing Spring" magazine in 1980. Political control was tightened after Deng successfully overthrew Mao-designated heir (Hua Guofeng) on Jan 29th, 1981. A woman worker, by the name of Fu Yuehua, was arrested for carrying a poster on the Square in protest of 15 year sentence that Wei Jingsheng received.
In 1980, Wang Juntao, Hu Ping and Chen Ziming participated in first wave of "free elections" on university campuses for Peking district representatives of the National People's Congress. (For the active role in grassroot democracy movement, they were almost kicked out of Peking city at graduation in 1982.) Also in 1980, "bodily-system [i.e., structure] reform institute" was established, with members being mostly young scholars who were influenced by Western economic theories. Nicknamed "peasant party", young scholars, from 1980 to 1986, first proposed "contractual system" for peasants to develop agriculture.
As a reward for Hu Yaobang's proactive role in blasting Hua Guofeng [for "leftist" mistakes, including attempts at making himself an icon similar to Mao], Deng Xiaoping made Hu Yaobang into general secretary of the Communist party in 1980 and party chairman in 1981. Zhao Ziyang tacked on the premier post in 1980. At the 6th Plenary of CCP 11th Central Committee in June 1981, Deng Xiaoping himself changed seat to CCP Military Committee chair in lieu of the rubber-stamp post at People's Political Consultative Conference.
Deng Xiao-ping, to justify his crackdown on the 'Xidan Democracy Wall', would launch the theory of 'Four Insistencies', namely, Insisting On Communist Dictatorship [i.e., People's Democratic Dictatorship]. A warning, related to the criticism of the Movie 'Bitter Love', was issued to the entertainment industries and propaganda ministry. Bai Hua said that Hu Yaobang had protected him on the matter of "Bitter Love" though Hu Yaobang refused to watch the movie himself in Jan 1981. On April 20th 1981, "People's Liberation Army Newspaper" issued a commentary stating that "four insistencies should not be violated". ("People's Liberation Army Newspaper", "Peking Daily" and "Peking TV Station" were said to be controlled by the most conservative faction of CCP.)
Throughout 1981, Hu Yaobang, on numerous occasions and during several meetings, tried to compromise between the "enlightened" writers [i.e., Bai Hua and Ba Jin etc] and conservative [i.e., reactionary] communists. In late 1983, a short term movement called 'Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization & Anti-Westernization' was launched, but it lasted 27 days due to lack of support. CCP devised a term called "spiritual contamination" for the Westernized thoughts. On Dec 29th 1985, Chinese Writers' Association, per Bai Hua, held a liberalized meeting which senior CCP leaders, like Hu Yaobang, Wan Li, Xi Zhongxun, Hu Qili and Bo Yibo etc attended.
In 1984, Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming both courageously resigned their jobs at government agencies for launching non-governmental research institutes, respectively. Societies and associations flourished both in society and on campuses. Various science & technology development companies were established across the country, leading to formation of so-called "China-Silicon Valley" in Zhongguancun of Beijing where Sitong [Stone] Computer Company would be labeled a 'black hand' after the massacre for the sympathy and donations to student movement. German "superman philosopher" Friedrich Nietzsche writings revived as happened during the "new culture movement" of 1910s, and young students, like me, nevertheless felt lofty after reading a few pages about "superman". (Incidentally, at about this time, entering China's market would be Christopher Reeve's 1978 3-D movie "Superman" which college students watched as part of so-called "communist youth league" entertainment activity.) Coinciding events would be the publication of Bai Yang's "The Ugly Chinaman" in 1985. Also prevalent among college students would be ideas of "futurologist school of thought", Alvin Tofler, and "The Third Wave" that were propagated by Wen Yuankai. Su Xiaokang, i.e., a then cultural-national nihilist in my present opinion, presided over a six-part anti-tradition/anti-culture TV serial entitled "River Elegy" ("He [Yellow River] Shang [mourning]). (What Su Xiaokang did not know, by embracing wholesale Westernized "blue sea civilization", would be something more disturbing: Su Xiaokang may never realize a racial weakness, i.e., that blue or green color had the spellbound effect of a magician on servility Chinese women.) In the summer of 1986, Deng Xiaoping proposed "hastening up political reform". Fang Lizhi toured colleges and universities with preaching of democracy. With Zhao Ziyang and "bodily-system [i.e., structure] research institute" in charge of economic reform, Hu Yaobang sought the assistance of Chen Ziming and Min Qi in establishing a separate "China Politics & Administration Research Institute". Wang Juntao was hired over from Wuhan city by Chen Ziming.
After Hu Yaobang's loss of job, "China Politics & Administration Research Institute" was renamed to "Social, Economical & Scientific Research Institute of Peking". (Chen Ziming, Min Qi & Wang Juntao claimed to herald "economic positivism" in China beginning from 1987.) Zhao Ziyang was to become "interim CCP General Secretary" while Li Peng tacked on the premier post. Another 'Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization Movement' followed in early 1987. Three prominent intellectuals, i.e., Fang Lizhi, Liu Binyan and Wang Ruowang, were singled out by CCP Central, to be stripped of party membership. Soon, Zhao Ziyang himself began to act in a "liberal" [or bourgeoisie] way, wearing Western suits and sun-glasses, playing golf, and executing on sensitive politics without consultation with "paramount" leader. (Lin Mu cited Li Honglin's May 17th 1989 conversation in pointing out that Zhao Ziyang disbanded Deng Liqun & Xiong Fu's conservative CCP organs right after assumption of CCP general secretary, and further protected Bao Tong, Li Honglin & Yu Haocheng etc from Deng Liqun's blacklist.)
