Tiananmen Exiles

Tiananmen Exiles: Voices of the Struggle for Democracy in China is a scholarly book by Rowena Xiaoqing He, published by Palgrave Macmillan in April 2014. The book is the oral history of Yi Danxuan, Shen Tong, and Wang Dan, all exiled student leaders from the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China. Paul Levine from American Diplomacy states that there was “a fourth major character: the author herself.”

^[1] Tiananmen Exiles is a part of the Palgrave Studies in Oral History and contains a foreword by Perry Link.

Author

Rowena He was born in China and was raised as a part of the "Tiananmen Generation".^[2] As of 2018, she is a history professor at St Michael’s College and has previously taught at Harvard University and Wellesley College.^[3] While teaching at Harvard, He earned the Harvard University Certificate of Teaching Excellence three consecutive times for her seminars on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.^[3]

Synopsis

Rowena He starts with introducing the idea of oral history and addresses her method style, as she swaps between Chinese and English in her interviews, and has combined the methods of life history, narrative inquiry and arts-based inquiry.^[4] She starts with an introduction to Wang Dan, Shen Tong, and Yi Danxuan. Wang Dan was a student leader who was arrested after the protests and served fourteen years in two different sentences, he would later be exiled to the United States and would receive his PhD.^[5] Shen Tong co-chaired the Student Dialogue Delegation, escaped China six days after the crackdown, and would later publish the autobiography Almost a Revolution. Tong is also still politically active while in exile.^[6] Yi Danxuan was the Vice-President of the Guangzhou Patriotic Student Federation, spent 2 years in prison, and was exiled from China but was allowed temporary entry during the Beijing Olympics.^[6]

The book starts with a portion of He’s autobiography which tells of her childhood and her connection to the Tiananmen protests. She then tells how her father became disenchanted with the Chinese Communist Party and shows how the school system pushed a pro-Party ideology.^[7] She then describes how she exiled herself to Canada and there became excited because of the literature on Tiananmen in the library.^[8]

Yi Danxuan was the exile that He was most excited to interview, mainly because of the lack works on him and his efforts outside of Beijing.^[9] Yi asked He to “stop thinking about your research for a moment while I talk to you” as the exiles are people and not just subjects; He notes how this was an important moment for herself.^[10] In the interview, He asked Yi about his current involvement in the community who were involved in the Tiananmen Protests.^[11] She further inquired about his imprisonment, but Yi gave little information to He on this matter.^[12] Finally, He inquired on how Yi was settling into the United States, and Yi stated that “I don’t enjoy settling down in North America. I won’t feel happy.”^[13]

Shen Tong was one of the more difficult and controversial exiles that He interviewed. The main problem that He faced was that Shen has published his own autobiography, He’s solution was to interview him on topics not covered in Almost a Revolution.^[14] In doing this she predominantly concentrates on his life prior to 1989 and in exile.^[14] When He asked Shen about his family and their reactions to his political activism Shen told He that his father was originally unsupportive but that changed with his exile as “the worst thing had already happened. He didn’t need to worry about me when I was abroad."^[15]

Much like with Shen, He was faced the challenge on interviewing Wang Dan who is “a symbol of the crushed democracy movement”; as with Shen, He concentrated on his “formative years as the basis of his later life”.^[16][17] Wang and He highlight throughout dialogue the influence of the Cultural Revolution on those involved in the Tiananmen protest.^[18]

The author ends her book with a group dialogue between the exiles. The major ideas focused on during the discussion are the ideas of ‘home’, a desire to return to China and a feeling of guilt for their families left in China.^[19][20][21] The other major issue discussed is how big of a role June 4 should play in their lives and Wang succinctly stated that “June 4 should not be the only meaningful thing in our lives."^[22] The author then ends by showing how the exiles have moved on with their lives after the protest.^[23]

Reception

Tiananmen Exiles has received mostly positive reviews, although some have pointed out some short comings.

Bjorn Alpermann states that He’s book “is a valuable contribution to the literature on the Chinese democracy movement and provides fascinating insights into the world of Chinese political exiles,” however, “the “infighting” among the exiled dissidents—apparently an important consideration to all three of the interviewees—is only alluded to,” as He seems to concentrate more so on the “questions of identity and citizenship.”^[24]

James Seymour points to more of these short comings. One such being the second chapter, He’s story, as it “is somewhat less successful than the others, because it has little to do with the Tiananmen experience.”^[25] Seymour further points the issue with “the accounts of Shen Tong and Wang Dan” as “those who have read their autobiographies will not find much that is new here,” however “we do learn a lot about Wang’s formative years,” and the controversial aspect of Shen’s political career.^[26]

Jonathan Mirsky of The Spectator has stated that the book and “its few factual errors do not detract from this book’s masterly narrative and analysis,” in reference to He’s statement that the “1989 Tiananmen movement was the most serious open conflict between the communist regime and the Chinese people since the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949,” as Mirsky cites that the first few years of the communist period were much more bloody.

^[27] Mirsky further cites He’s book as “profound” in keeping the Tiananmen movement’s significance alive.^[28]

Kirkus has stated that the book is “a compelling account of idealism and the price it exacts."^[29]

Vera Schwartz has cited that “Rowena He’s book is an essential corrective," to the "complex legacy of Tiananmen," and that He's work has made "sense out of failed political activism." ^[30]

References