Shen Tong Almost a Revolution

Shen Tong, in his Almost a Revolution, provides the first autobiographical account of the student uprising in Beijing during the summer of 1989 to reach western audiences. The book as come under attack for being somewhat self-serving and Tong has been accused of attempting to "cash-in" on the tragedy that occurred at Tiananmen Square by publishing his own, insider's account.

Despite these accusations, Almost a Revolution is a valuable rendering of the student movement's atmosphere and ideologies because it comes from the perspective of those who were involved. It should be regarded as something of a primary historical source, in this respect; accordingly, we should expect it to be filled with personal and nationalistic bias, but this does not detract from its capability to illuminate the events that took place for those of us who were not there.

Accepting Tong's position with reference to the movement, other critics have noted specifically in what way the book characterizes the activism that took root in China during the summer of 1989. One critic noted that it "reveals the vibrant, humanistic spirit of China's young activists," while another pointed out that it uncovers the "confusion, arrogance, and contradictions that were never far from the movement's heart."

On the surface, these two points-of-view surrounding Tong's book seem utterly incongruous; however, both are reasonably accurate takes on the way in which Tong presents his story. Tong manages to capture the pure revolutionary spirit that permeated the students involved and their actions, as well as the fragmentation, internal conflict, and power struggles that worked its way from within. The latter is, perhaps, Tong's most important contribution to the ongoing discussion of the Beijing uprising because it requires the direct account of one who was there. After all, the mere images on television were somewhat successful by themselves in conveying the revolutionary spirit of the protesters; the inner breakdown is an aspect of the story that no-one before Tong was able to illustrate. Still, both facets of the movement were present: the sheer idealism that brought them together and the ideological contradictions that pulled them apart. Denying one or the other would be to deny the very nature of all revolutions.

It is significant to note that revolutions are never the cohesive, single-minded struggles that they are often made out to be. The Civil Rights Movement in the United States, for example, was divided deeply over the issues of violence and pacifism, inclusion and exclusion, as well as revolution and reform. The French Revolution, additionally, became so fragmented that the philosophical ideals that backed the movement were formally abandoned in the goal of preserving them. Even the American Revolution immediately took a form that was wholly inconsistent with respect to its officially stated ideals and the means by those involved sought to bring them into fruition. In short, revolutions, by their very nature, become factionalized and tend to be characterized by the battles between each other for ideological and individual control as much as the establishments they aim to bring down. The protests in Beijing in 1989 were no different: this is what Almost a Revolution makes evident, while preserving the deep moral underpinnings that gave the movement meaning.

Generally it would be accurate to say, "Almost a Revolution offers no overall explanation for what happened at Tiananmen Square; it provides an accumulation of clues and suggestions by weaving an intricate tapestry of one individual's experiences and thoughts."

This interpretation of the book is in keeping with what Tong sets out to accomplish with Almost a Revolution. He does not claim that his work will be the definitive piece on the uprising. Instead he states, "The story I want to tell is the story that lies behind the closed door. There is my childhood, the silent Changan Avenue that holds our history and our future."

Significantly, this establishes book as a unique contribution because of its extremely limited point-of-view -- Tong does not claim to be able to characterize the entire social movement, only to detail what he saw, how he felt, and what caused him to act as he did. This is the story behind the closed door: western television viewers only saw the ultimate result of what childhood, education, and organization brought thousands of Chinese citizens to do.

Tong is raised in a rough and rowdy portion of Beijing, and although superficially his childhood years seem fairly typical, the seeds are set for his later revolutionary activities. His parents, although staunch supporters of the Communist part in China, raise Tong in a setting lacking the authoritative paternal control that exemplifies the archetypal Chinese familial structure. This allows Tong to begin to develop his own particular notions regarding how one ought to live their life; he becomes somewhat accustomed to working within the disciplined way of life set before him to achieve his own individualistic goals.

In College, majoring in Biology at Beijing University, Tong attempts to distinguish himself through both his personal life and professional aspirations. However, he and those around him become increasingly disillusioned with the educational system in Communist China. He writes, "The slogan Dushu wuyonglun, Study is for naught, was heard a lot around college campuses in those days. There didn't seem to be much of a reason to study hard if the government would not let us play the role in shaping the country's future."

It is out of this almost selfish attitude that much of Tong's drive for activism comes from. He goes on to note that he was discouraged from becoming a scientific researcher because of the manner by which the government handled the research sciences: "The way the government allocated its funds for scientific research seemed completely out of line to us. Most of the money went to high-profile projects like rocket research and nuclear fission; projects that would better meet the needs of the country, such as those in transportation, were neglected."

Such reasoning is noteworthy because it reveals that the motivations behind the Tiananmen protests were not utterly humanistic in their origins; Tong and those like him had suffered a deferral of their aspirations at the hands of the government and this made them question it altogether.