Introduction: Yuhua Wang, Professor of Government, Harvard University
Programmer: Sam Maclean, Communications Manager, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies

Followed by a Zoom Q+A with filmmakers Shi Jian, co-director of Tiananmen

The eight-part documentary series Tiananmen, about life in Beijing in the 1980s, was produced with official sanction by a brilliant young team of filmmakers at China Central Television (CCTV). It had a planned airing commencement date of National Day — October 1, 1989 — to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. However, production halted in the spring of 1989, when students calling for democracy and an end to corruption took to the streets in Beijing. Following the violent crackdown on June 4th, CCTV canceled the series, concluding that any with the title “Tiananmen”—regardless of its political slant—would be too controversial to air.

But co-directors Shi Jian (时间) and Chen Jue (陈爵) decided to finished Tiananmen independently. The series was invited to screen at the Hong Kong Film Festival, in 1992, but the Chinese film delegation boycotted it, and the screening was canceled. Since then, the full documentary has only screened publicly once (in Chicago, this past summer).

This historic series weaves a tapestry of sociopolitical life whose scope stretches from the survivors of the pre-revolution imperial court to the competitive struggles sparked by the transition to a planned economy, to liberalization in the shadow of the not-too-distant Cultural Revolution, to the vibrant artist communities and counterculture movements, and ultimately, to what registers as a sense of guarded optimism about China’s 21st century trajectory.

Yuhua Wang (王裕华) is Professor of Government at Harvard University, whose research focuses on two aspects of the politics of state building. He looks at what contributes to the emergence of effective and durable statehood, and after an effective state emerges, how it can be constrained. Professor Wang’s third book, The Rise and Fall of Imperial China: The Social Origins of State Development (2022, Princeton University Press) won the 2023 Lubbert Best Book Award in Comparative Politics from the American Political Science Association. His articles have appeared in American Political Science Review, Annual Review of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, and China Quarterly.

The Fairbank Center’s film screening series explores the largely unseen early history of independent film in China, beginning in the late 1980s, aiming to unearth films long-suppressed by Chinese authorities to fill out the narrative of modern film history in the PRC.

Tiananmen’s 8 parts will screen in groups of two throughout Friday, October 4, with short breaks:

12:00 PM: Introduction by Yuhua Wang, Professor of Government, followed by Part 1: “The Old City” (56 min.), about survivors of the imperial court, including interviews with the last living imperial eunuch and Puyi’s family members, and Part 2: “Residences” (51 min.), which explores everyday life in courtyard homes.

2:15 PM: Part 3: “On the Street” (52 min.), about various forms of commerce and social activities, and Part 4: “On Stage” (54 min.), a survey of theater actors, street performers, and rock musicians.

4:15 PM: Part 5: “Going Places” (48 min.), about intellectual life at universities and inside private enterprises, and Part 6: “Guest Performers” (48 min.), which follows foreigners who live and work in Beijing.

6:00 PM: Part 7: “On the Way” (50 min.), about entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry, including ad agencies and models, and Part 8: “Memories” (1 hour), a look at China’s history of sociopolitical unrest.

The final episode will be followed by a Zoom Q+A with Tiananmen directors Shi Jian and Chen Jue.