Right to the Square. The Displays of Power Relations on Tiananmen Square

Right to the Square The Displays of Power Relations on Tiananmen Square

Tzu-shuo, Wu HTS 4 Tutor: Eleni Axioti

Foreword

Debates and theorization on public spaces have always been a constant affair in the realm of anthropology, sociology, philosophy and of course, architecture. Numerous theses have identified the polar powers exerted by the governors and that of being governed and thus, accentuated their antinomy. These discussions have been imbued into architectural designs by deliberate manipulations and inventions of some architectural prototypes that conform to one of the powers. Among them, are squares. In this essay, I will discuss the roles of public squares in China. Instead of abruptly frame the squares as totalitarian archetypes or democratic civic spaces, I will investigate the struggle between the two powers: admitting the domineering power of the state, yet opening up to the potential of civil reclamation.

The state's power displayed in Tiananmen Square, Dailymail, 2015 (image 1) The citizen's power displayed in Tiananmen Square,WNYCSTUDIOS, 2014 (image 2)

The 'Near Order' and the 'Far Order'

Henry Lefebvre has identified that although the city, a colossal mixture of public and private fabrics, depends on the relations of immediacy, of direct links between social constituents, should not simply be reduced to mere organizations nor metamorphoses of these relations. Instead, it is “situated at an interface, half-way between what is called the near order […], and the far order, that of society, regulated by large and powerful institutions (Church and State), […], by which the far order projects itself at this ‘higher’ level and impose itself.” [1] And Lefebvre continued to elaborate that far order is “abstract, formal, supra-sensible and transcending in appearances. […] It persuades through and by the near order, which confirms its compelling power.” [2] By objectifying the state ideologies and regulatory power into ‘far order’, and multitude's behaviors and wills in 'near order', Lefebvre has raised an interesting rhetorical oxymoron: a far order that seems to be detached from; but is indeed omnipresent in public spaces. In other words, the state power is constantly projecting itself onto individuals and social groups, attempting to forge them in the desired forms; however, the near order does not reflect transparently the far order. The two forces are in constant mediations, and the apparent expression of the later is civil disobediences. Nonetheless, we must admit that even though the potential for civil disobedience is never denied, the far order has been the constant dominant power in the development of public spaces.* Physical manifestations of political superiority can be demonstrated through two major ways: first, through selective inclusion and exclusion of bodies and behaviors; and second, through architectural coercions. These two political strategies are explicitly and thoroughly implemented, in a gorgeous manner favored by the rulers, at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.

[1] Henri Lefebvre, "The Specificity of the City," The Right to the City, The Anarchist Library, 1996, 26.

[2] Ibid., 26. *Here I can also introduce the concept of Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) and Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) raised by Louis Althusser in the book Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes Towards an Investigation). In this essay, I will not dig into RSAs (e.g. police and armed forces) that repress the subordinate social classes even though they were once deployed by the government on Tiananmen Square to suppress the public. Instead, I will focus on two means of ISAs adopted by the Chinese government (the bodies and monuments) to discuss the achievement of political repression and 'violence' via dissemination of ideologies in a concealed and symbolic manner.

The conflict between the near order and the far order, HISTORY, 2020 (image 3)

Squares in China

The prototype of square was originated in ancient Greece as agora, the gathering place for the social, political, economic, and spiritual affairs in Greek city states. It was the space where members of the council congregated for states’ affairs, where the public watched performers and engaged in philosophical symposiums; henceforth, the agora had been endowed with the representation of democracy and the freedom of act and speech. However, when the prototype was exploited by the Chinese Communist Party, its democratic characteristics and civil freedom shall be put under close examinations.

Until recently, the notion ‘square’ was highly political in PRC. Every city, town and village was commanded to construct a square for communal meetings on important, henceforth, political moments --- holiday parades, pageant and announcements of the Party’s guidance and disciplines [3]. The movement of constructing public square reached its apex between 1950s and 1970s, when the government mobilized endless political campaigns in pursuit of national political cohesion and economic proposition.* Wu Hung, a Chinese art historian, has made a precise observation on these massive public spaces: “A square [is] a legitimate place for people to meet their leaders (or vice versa), an indispensable joint between high and low, brain and body. As various squares became established in all administrative centers, they comprised a ‘square system’ corresponding to the hierarchy of the state – a parallel that unmistakably indicated a square’s official function to shape a desirable public.” [4] Wu has made an important note here: squares in China are not merely public gathering places, their political intentions and manipulative inclinations make them the tactical and systematic approach to mold the desirable bodies that assist and consolidate the Chinese Communist agenda. Hence, bodies have become

both the subject and object (the instrument) on the square that receive and exhibit the political ideologies. That is to say, bodies are the subjects whom the political exhibitions are meant to display to; and bodies are also the objects to exercise political presentations on the squares. Accompanied the construction of squares were erections of monuments such as platforms, statues and governmental institutions to eulogize the glorious victory of the Chinese Communist Party and the people’s heroes while delivering political messages. These two elements, bodies and monuments, together, had formed the ubiquitous square landscape around the country.

Among all the squares in China, none has been more privileged than Tiananmen Square, situated at the very center of convergence for political ideologies and shared memory. The Square has been and will always be the center for physical and visual representations of Chinese political ambitions, a primary site to address the public and to constitute the public itself. [5]

[3] Wu Hung, "Tiananmen Square: A Political History of Monuments", Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space, London: Reaktion Books Ltd, 2005, 22.

[4] Ibid., 23.

[5] Ibid., 16. *In fact, squares have been exploited by most political regimes, not only the CCP, as apparatus to communicate political, economic, social or religious messages to their people. One well-known example is the St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, where followers gathered to witness the inauguration of every new Pope.

Tiananmen Square at the heart of Chinese political regime, Paul Louis (image 4)

Introduction to Tiananmen Square

Despite the enormous changes that occurred in Beijing in the first half of the 20th century, in 1949, Tiananmen Square had maintained its basic shape when it was constructed in 1417, in early Ming dynasty. It was a T-shape enclosure guarded by three free-standing gates on its east, west and south (Gate of the Great Ming or Gate of the Great Qing) ends, outside of these gates was the outer city. The imperial passage that links the Gate of the Great Ming (or Qing) and Tiananmen was flanked by various government departments outside its enclosure. During the Ming, the departments in the east group included, among others, the Prefecture of the Imperial Clan and the Ministries of Officialdom, Revenue, Manufacture, Rites and Medicine. Those in the west group included the headquarters of the Five Armies, Imperial Guard, Police and Justice. A popular saying went: "Those to the east govern our lives; those to the west govern our deaths." [6]

une of Tiananmen, the rulers can proudly observe their two meticulously exploited political strategies: the mass parades that embody the very notion of ‘the people’; and the monumental architectures that reflect Mao’s political ideologies.

The locations of these offices and the nature of the scope of their official duties were purposefully set at the front of Tiananmen to sustain the relation between the emperor and the people, the ruler and the ruled. Even though this T-shaped enclosure had been demolished and imperial ministries and institutions were no longer exist after 1949, the power relation remained. Modern-day Tiananmen Square is an immense open filed annexed by the Museum of Chinese History on the east and the Great Hall of the people on the west. The central axis linking Tiananmen, the national flag, the Monument to the People’s Heroes and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall forms a continuous monumental tie. Locates on the south of Chang’an Avenue, Tiananmen Square allows more than one million people to cheer for the glory of the People’s Republic. Standing on the trib-

[6] Ibid., 21.

A plan of Tiananmen Square in Qing dynasty, UDN Global, 2015 (image 5)

Bodies and Behaviors: Displaying the People via Mass Parades “The march-past begins.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army, which grew up and strengthened during the revolutionary struggle, is holding the red banner of Mao Zedong's military thoughts and is marching from victory to victory.

An awakened and united people is invincible, and no difficulties or obstacles can stop us from striding forward. […]

Now walking towards us are 1000 railroad workers carrying commune flags and a huge model of the national emblem, followed by 1500 performers and 15,000 Young Pioneers, who will be the successor of Communist Party.

Now walking towards us is a procession of 90,000 industrial workers…

Now walking towards us is a procession of 20,000 farmers…

Now walking towards us is a procession of the ‘Grand Athletic Army’ formed by 3,000 athletes…

Now walking towards us is a procession of the ‘Grand Artistic Army’ formed by 5,000 artists. […]” [7] This is a scene of 1959 National Day’s parade in Tiananmen Square. Holding red flowers and colorful ribbons, the mass raised a huge national emblem, celebrational slogans (e.g. ‘Long live the Great Leap Forward”, “Long live the People’s Commune”, “Long live the People’s Republic of China”, “Long live the Chinese Communist Party”), and lifted lanterns printed with two dates (1949 & 1959) annexed with huge flower banquets in the middle. They waved their hands, played the marching song and cheered for their Party and leaders. They marched in coherent paces, each square procession was des-

ignated with unique uniform and performance task: industrial workers in blue and white were followed by students in red performing patriotic dances, then

by Young Pioneers holding balloons readied to release in front of Tiananmen. Extending beyond it, an east-west axis was formed by the obedient uniform flow of bodies, overwhelming the traditional northsouth axis of the old city of Beijing.

The order of the groups’ appearance in the parade indicated the degree of their importance to the state: thus, industrial workers – the leading class in the People’s Republic – marched first; farmers and other groups followed because they subjected themselves to the workers’ leadership.[8] The parade derived its internal structure from Mao’s prescription of a socialist society, which values the farmers as the cornerstones of the ongoing revolution and workers are their heads and brains to emancipate the proletarians and to achieve the revolutionary goals in the Great Leap Forward. The mass, henceforth, was not simply rendered as amorphic uniform bodies, but a hierarchical representation of the state’s ideology and political agenda: industrial workers were valued as pioneers and major contributors to the Great Leap Forward since 1958, which aimed to bring industry into countryside and to ‘catch up with and surpass the UK in 15 years’.

[7] “1959 CHINA NATIONAL DAY 《庆祝建国十周年》.” YouTube, REVOLUTIONARY FORCE, 7 May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5psI_ao2q0&t=1049s&ab_channel=REVOLUTIONARYFORCE. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021, translated by author.

[8] Wu Hung, "Displaying the People: National Day Parades and Exhibition Architecture", Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space, London: Reaktion Books Ltd, 2005, 100.

Parade for the Natioanl Day in 1959 , Wantubizhi.com (image 6)

While the parade continued, another visual spectacle displayed itself on Tiananmen Square. Along the north end of the Square and behind the ceremonial slogans, Young Pioneers formed a decorative band with colorful flowers and balloons; 19,441 bodies of college students constructed the national emblem in the middle; 32,661 industrial workers formed the two dates (1949 & 1959); while more than 50,000 staffs from government institutions and Beijing citizens’ representatives lined up on two sides to construct decorative bands and the background.[9] This was an enormous celebrative image composed by bodies displayed on Tiananmen Square.

Through close observation of parades and visual displays on Tiananmen Square, Wu suggested that "These [bodies] are not necessarily ready-made and collected; they are often fashioned and assembled for a display, especially when this display serves to showcase a self-fulfilling political ideology. Although still a representation, such a display has less to do with describing and depicting the phenomenal world; its challenge is instead to turn political ideology inside out, revealing […] the source of political power and legitimacy, the structure of political institutions and geographies, and the short – and long-term objectives of a regime."[10] Therefore, bodies were exploited as the direct instrument to convey political agendas through visual symbols and abstract notions. The presence of shapeless bodies does not only show to the entire Chinese population and the world the solidarity and cohesion of the mass, but the political loyalty and ideological convergence through synchronized actions and performances of bodies. To articulate, what had been displayed in Tiananmen Square were not aesthetic artworks, but ‘the people’, ‘the bodies’, and the anonymous masses accredited by the country’s ideological framework as the sources of power and the constructors of the nation's glorious future.

This is a practice of ‘showing and telling’ via bodies, as Tony Bennett described in his book The Birth of the Museum, it is an act of ‘exhibiting artefacts and/ or persons in a manner of calculated to embody and communicate specific cultural meanings and values.’[11] Apparently, the cultural value in Tiananmen Square’s context is a political one. By transforming abstract ideologies into images, performances and narratives, people and representative bodies engaged as the actors and constituted the primary audiences of the display. And these displays, grandiose in their scale and impression, "serve both to inscribe the bodies of individual citizens and to inscribe the state as a political body."[12] Undoubtably, the anonymity and uniformity of parading masses on Tiananmen Square had continued to grow after 1959. While larger and more complex bodily performances were showcased on Tiananmen Square, bodies were banned from loose ‘walkthrough’, and only strictly staged processions were displayed.[13] This reflects the state’s greater ambition to exploit the mass and their bodies to represent the formidable force of the people, to incite their passionate revolutionary impetus and to recall their collective memories and loyalty to the Party while erasing any sign of individual existence.

While the display of bodies through mass parades was a major form of exploitation for the Chinese government to spread its political ideologies, and thus, governing citizens’ bodies and minds, we should not overlook the monuments built in and around Tiananmen Square and their coercions.

[9] Ibid., 104.

[10] Ibid., 85.

[11] Tony Bennett, The Birth of Museum: History, Theory, Politics, Abingdon: Taylor and Francis, 2013, 6.

[12] Ann Anaghost, "The Political Body", Standford Humanity Review, 1991, 86.

[13] Wu Hung, Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space, 99.

Dancing and parading mass in Tiananmen Square in 1959, Wantubizhi.com (image 7)

Monuments: Architectural Coercions

Among all the architectures that surround Tiananmen Square, two monumental buildings deserve extensive emphasis: the Monument to the People’s Heroes and the Tiananmen. Tiananmen, as one of the emperor architectures since Ming dynasty, is seated on the central axis of Beijing. On the other hand, the Monument to the People’s Heroes only began its construction on 30th September 1949. Together with these two monuments, the Great Hall of the People on the west and the Museum of Chinese History on the east envelopes the belly of Tiananmen Square, defining the sacredness and the political supremacy of the space.

The Monument to the People’s Heroes locates at the center of Tiananmen Square, 463 meters south of Tiananmen. The First Plenary Session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference ordered its construction to memorize the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in revolutions in modern Chinese history. The Monument is square in its contour, with the building area of 3000 sqm. It is composed of a begonia-shaped pedestal circumscribed by white marble balustrade and stairs on four sides; above the pedestal are two finely craved podiums (called ‘xumizuo’ in Chinese). The upper smaller podium is craved with eight garlands composed of peony, lotus and chrysanthemum---the symbols for gorgeousness, gracefulness, cleanliness and perseverance. On the waist of the lower larger podium, eight huge marble relief carvings are inlaid on four sides. Each relief depicts one crucial moment in People’s Republic of China’s revolutionary history. These moments are ‘Crossing the Yangzi River’, ‘Burning Opium in Humen’, ‘Jintian Uprising’, ‘Wuchang Uprising’, ‘May Fourth Movement’, ‘May Thirteenth Movement’ and ‘Guerrilla Warfare against the Japanese Invasion”. With the total length of 40.86 meters, more than 170 life-size figures are depicted on relieves. As the committee emphasized,

these figures are designed and portrayed from the people’s collective characteristics. None of these figures are identifiable to a specific individual. Its anonymity, this absence of individuality has created an empathetical illusion that whoever visits the monument could be the hero, the figure on the reliefs could be you and your ancestors. This diluted clarity and ambiguity stimulated the Déjà vu to relate oneself with the revolutionary history and thus, remind the people that themselves are still undergoing a revolution, which victory and honor could only be achieved through complete obedience to the Party’s commands and altruistic sacrifices of oneself (the individual).

The Monument's effort to create an altruistic atmosphere by lifting people’s confidence and stimulating people’s empathy resonates with the inscription made by Mao on the front (the north), saying ‘Eternal glory to the People’s Heroes’, and on the back (the south), saying ‘Eternal glory to the people’s heroes who laid down their lives in the people’s War of Liberation and the people’s revolution in the past three years.

Eternal glory to the people’s heroes who laid down their lives in the people’s War of Liberation and the people’s revolution in the past thirty years. Eternal glory to the people’s heroes who from 1840 laid down their lives in the many struggles against internal and external enemies for national independence and the freedom and well-being of the people’. Surrounded by these awesome reliefs and inspiring inscriptions, this traditional palatial style obelisk has resembled the Party and the state’s glorious valor and dauntlessness in the past and formidable ambitions in the future. Henceforth, the Monument to the People’s Heroes is an architecture where state ideologies imbed and radiate upon not only the Tiananmen Square, but the entire nation.

The Monument to the People's Heroes, Daniel Case (image 8)

Tiananmen, the ancient city gate of the Imperial City also sits on the central axis. Although it no longer serves as the emperor’s entrance, its monumentality remains. Remodeling and redecoration of Tiananmen since 1949, had constantly augmented Tiananmen as a 'living’ monument. On the end of September 1949, before the inauguration of the People’s Republic, two large slogans written in red Song-typeface characters against a white background were attached on Tiananmen. The one of the left reads ‘Long Live the People’s Republic of China’; the one of the right reads ‘Long Live the Central Government of People’ (which was changed to ‘Long live the Union of People in the World’ in 1950). Along with the attachment of two propagandist slogans, the building itself was also remodeled and rebuilt in 1969 and 1970 where ‘the duogong brackets under the eaves were enlarged to enhance their sculptural appeal, resulting in the monument’s height being increased by almost a meter.’[14] Then red lanterns and contour lights were added to vitalize Tiananmen during days and night, transforming Tiananmen from an imperial heritage to a ‘shining, brand new monument with unmatched dignity and significance.’[15]

Mao, but is also conveying Mao’s political messages through his eternal glaze to the public. As people parading and occupying the Tiananmen Square are practically impossible to see Mao on the tribune of Tiananmen, the portrait has become the substitute for them to receive Mao’s review. People are ‘uplifted by Mao’s gaze to a new level of spirituality: under this imaginary gaze, they are no longer scattered individuals but has become part of an immense body, a body that had Mao as its head and brain.’[17] Together with the glory of Tiananmen’s architectural elegance, the slogans and Mao’s portrait elevates the building to a political monument, a locale where people’s hearts and gazes converge and where Mao’s ideologies and gaze radiates.

Hence, the space between Tiananmen and the Monument for the People’s Heroes had been and will continue to be the point of convergence for political ideologies, the heart of political activities and the very coerced space where the state agenda overwhelms both bodies and psyche of the people.

Between the two slogans, right above the central vaulted entrance, hangs the portrait of Mao. This huge image of Mao, 6 × 4.6 meters wide, seals Mao’s relationship with the monument, links Mao’s personal achievement and lofty characteristic with historical Chinese emperors, who were adored by their people as ‘sons of heaven’. The personality cult to Mao is thus stimulated when people pass by the huge portrait. Mao’s portrait on Tiananmen has remained until now even his ‘mistakes’ were publicly discussed after his death; the immortality of the portrait has become the symbol of the Party and the nation.[16] The placement of the portrait not only determined the irreplaceable political status of

[14] Wu Hung, Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space, 66.

[15] Ibid., 66.

[16] Ibid., 73.

[17] Ibid., 99.

Mao's protrait on Tiananmen, Raimond Spekking (image 9)

Rebellions: Potentials of the Near Order Although the influence of political apparatuses I analyzed in previous chapters are omnipresent and dominant on Tiananmen Square, the near order did not reflect the far order transparently. Even the failure of the far order (or rebellions of the near order) was temporal and transitory, we shall not overlook this dynamic and potential.

During the dawn of 30 May 1989, a seven-meter-high polystyrene foam statue, representing a young woman holding a torch with both hands were erected on the central axis of Tiananmen Square, blocking the connection between Tiananmen and the Monument of the People’s Heroes. This short-lived statue, symbolizing college students’ anguish, their desire for freedom of speech and their quest for democracy abruptly altered the Square’s spatial structure and political significance. People from Beijing Student’s Autonomous Federation and Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Federation occupied the Square with their bodies, tents and simple shelters, to mourn for the death of Hu Yaobang, to resist economic reform, political corruption and to fight for democracy. Hu Yaobang’s portrait was placed before the Monument to the People’s Heroes, a position that is directly opposite to Mao’s portrait, as he was respected as the true hero of the people.

Together with the symbolic statue, these revolutionary bodies defined a new center of gravity in Tiananmen Square. The political center had temporarily shifted from Tiananmen and the Monument to the statue and individual bodies. Presence of bodies were no longer an act of political subordination, but a scene of civil disobedience. Accompanied this counterrevolution in Beijing, were uprisings in more than 60 cities in China; interestingly, majority of them were realized through illegal occupation of squares in city centers, including the People’s Square in Shanghai, Tianfu Square in Chengdu and

Wuyi Square in Changsha. Radiated and copied, disobedient bodies in other cities mimicked the form of occupations in Beijing. Tents, billboards, students’ and workers’ bodies on hunger strike occupied these political centers to demonstrate their discontent and anger.

These phenomena had provoked a different voice on Wu Hung’s pessimistic claim on Chinese squares. From the series of occupations in the June Fourth Incident mentioned above, we should not perceive squares as completely antagonistic spaces against the multitude. Instead, it is precisely because of squares’ proximity to political centers, and their convergence of political symbols, bodies and ideologies, that they have bred the most suitable hotbeds for political uprisings and civil disobediences. Henceforth, the ‘square system’ is also a network that sustains individualities and propagates oppositional voices.

Thousands gathered in Tiananmen Square to demand democarcy and freedom of speech, INDEPENDENT, 2017 (image 10)

Beyond the Far Order

Although I will no longer elaborate on the details of this riot, I intend, by mentioning this counterrevolution as a representative incidence, to suggest the capacity of the people, the near order, or in other words, the bonds and relations between individuals and social constituents. Although there is no doubt on the overwhelming dominance of state ideologies, the far orders, on Tiananmen Square through exploitation of bodies and monumental architectures; the night is not completely dark, I can still observe transient and faint tints that vitalize the lonely sky.

As David Harvey argued, “The right to the city is far more than the individual liberty to access urban resources: it is a right to change ourselves by changing the city... The freedom to make and remake our cities and ourselves is, I want to argue, one of the most precious yet most neglected of our human rights.”[18] As a conscious citizen, we shall always keep in mind our rights to manipulate and to reclaim the ground. Although it might be fantastic to change the status quo of Tiananmen Square, the political locus of the Chinese Communist Party; yet the riots on this most ideologically charged space had inspired active reclamations of rights in squares in other Chinese cities. This is not only a retrospect to square’s initial prototype, but a reexamination of the most basic rights that all Chinese citizens bestowed.

[18] David Harvey, Social Justice and the City, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2010, 315.

Occupation of Tiananmen Square by students and workers during 1989 Tiananmen Square Protest, The Guardian, 2019 (image 11)

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