Shen Tong's Almost a Revolution and the 1989 Beijing Uprising

Introduction: Almost a Revolution as a Primary Source

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 has 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.

Significantly, this establishes the 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. 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." 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.

Competing Critical Perspectives on the Book

Accepting Tong's position with reference to the movement, 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 their 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.

Generally, it would be accurate to say that 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. He does not claim that his work will be the definitive piece on the uprising.

Revolutions and Internal Contradiction

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 its officially stated ideals and the means by which those involved sought to bring them to fruition.

In short, revolutions, by their very nature, become factionalized and tend to be characterized by battles among competing factions for ideological and individual control as much as by conflict with 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.

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, staunch supporters of the Communist Party in China, raise Tong in a setting lacking the authoritative paternal control that exemplifies the archetypal Chinese familial structure. This allows Tong to begin developing his own particular notions regarding how one ought to live; he becomes somewhat accustomed to working within the disciplined way of life set before him in order to achieve his own individualistic goals.

Conclusion

Doubtlessly, the assessment of antidemocratic and extremist strains within the movement is fairly accurate with respect to the power struggles Tong depicts — Wuer Kaixi and Chai Ling stand as leaders who seemed to want little more than personal glory — but the democratic spirit of the movement remains just as genuinely felt in the 1989 student movement as in any other struggle for democracy in history. Overall, the humanistic qualities of the movement were what caused its fragmentation; one cannot be separated from the other.