The Qingming Festival is a traditional day for honoring and remembering deceased loved ones, but the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4th and the students who perished in the shoddy construction during the Wenchuan earthquake are not allowed to be publicly mourned, with even the causes of their deaths being suppressed.
In 1989, the death of Hu Yaobang triggered a month-long democratic movement in Beijing, where a large number of students gathered at Tiananmen Square to call for anti-corruption and freedom. They were met with violent repression by the authorities, using military force and tanks, resulting in numerous casualties. Due to the government’s information blockade, the exact number of casualties is still unknown.
The spokesperson for the “Tiananmen Mothers,” You Weijie, revealed that her husband, Yang Minghu, was shot in the early hours of June 4, 1989, in Beijing’s Nanchizi area. He passed away two days later at the young age of 42. She expressed her sorrow every Qingming Festival and June 4 over the premature loss of her husband and the inability to publicly mourn the victims of the June 4 incident.
She emphasized that each of the deceased in 1989 should have their names inscribed on the annals of history, forever remembered on this land, so that future generations would not forget the tragedy of 1989. She called for accountability from the government, urging them to openly admit their wrongdoing.
The “Tiananmen Mothers” group has consistently demanded truth, compensation, and accountability since its inception, aiming to seek justice for their lost loved ones and hoping that the country and society will learn from the lessons of history.
Similarly, those who perished in the Wenchuan earthquake due to substandard construction materials are also not allowed to be publicly mourned. On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck Wenchuan in Sichuan province, causing the collapse of the teaching building at Juyuan Middle School in Dujiangyan City, burying over 900 students among the 1,800 students and teachers.
Zhou Xingrong’s son, Lu Qianliang, was one of the casualties in the collapse of Juyuan Middle School. For the past 16 years, she has petitioned officials over a hundred times to acknowledge the school’s use of substandard materials and to arrange for her son’s burial in a public cemetery, yet she has not received an official response.
Zhou Xingrong expressed the deep emotional pain felt by parents every Qingming Festival and on the anniversary of the earthquake, as they mourn their children who cannot be laid to rest in a government-established earthquake cemetery. She stressed the difficulty of their situation and their determination to seek justice despite feeling physically worn out.
Lu Biyu’s son, Liu Xiaochuan, also perished in the collapse of Juyuan Middle School. Every year when she visits the grave, she is reminded that her son cannot be buried in the government’s earthquake cemetery, leading to feelings of sadness and anger.
Although the authorities do not publicly mourn the deceased children, Lu Biyu and a group of parents advocating for the rights of the lost students gather outside Juyuan Middle School every May 12th to commemorate their departed children, hoping that the world will remember the painful lessons these students experienced.
Lu Biyu vowed not to give up seeking justice, as Juyuan Middle School was constructed with substandard materials. She believed that if the truth were made public, at least there would be some form of acknowledgment for the children.
This ongoing lack of public mourning for the victims of these tragic events highlights the unresolved grief and the quest for justice by the families affected.