Democracy Wall Movement

After the establishment of People’s Republic of China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) became the leader of Chinese people and declared itself the only one who could lead China to be democratic and wealthy. Although CCP would persecute those who dared to doubt its authority, due to CCP’s economic achievements and political reforms in the early years of its rule, the masses tended to believe that CCP would make China great again and bring true democracy to the country even if CCP was the only governing party. Therefore, they inclined to do whatever CCP called upon, regardless of the reasonability. CCP launched a lot of campaigns, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution with little resistance, even though they caused huge loss on the country.

After the Cultural Revolution, part of Chinese finally realized that what CCP had done was not what they had propagated. CCP did not lead the masses to create the new world they had expected and only tried to cheat them. The party was not omnipotent and they shouldn’t believe in whatever the party said. Consequently, they started to question the authority of the CCP and think independently.

The Democracy Wall was initially a wall in Beijing Xidan, where people were free to put up their articles so they could express their opinions in public. Nevertheless, later, it became a symbol of free speech. Democracy and human rights gradually became the primary topic of the participants, and later, under acquiescence of the Chinese government, people no longer only posted on the wall but also made many publications, legally or illegally to share ideas.

This movement is known as the Democracy Wall Movement. The Democracy Wall Movement was like the awakening of the democratic consciousness of Chinese people under CCP’s rule and the first time that people tried to disobey the party and strive for their own rights openly. However, by arresting a bunch of activists of the movement, CCP terminated it in the end.

Wei Jingsheng was an outstanding representative of the movement. He not only posted essays on the Xidan wall, but also engaged in many underground publications. He strongly criticized the government and then leader, Deng Xiaoping, emphasizing the lack of real democracy in China. With CCP’s suppression on the Democracy Wall Movement later, Wei Jingsheng was arrested.

A Turbulent Decade

For most of the Chinese people who suffered the Cultural Revolution, the decade from 1966 to 1976 was a nightmare. To regain power within the country, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, and as a result, China moved backward both economically and culturally.

In the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong insisted that Chinese people should start to eliminate the enemies within THE CCP and class struggle should be an effective weapon. Thus, he called upon the masses, especially students, to join the class struggle as red guards to revolt and challenge all authorities. A large number of officials were overthrown, including then President of PRC, Liu Shaoqi. Also, Mao Zedong declared that intellectuals were reactionaries and put them in the evil class, so intellectuals were criticized and tortured severely back to then. Those officers’ and intellectuals’ families were also affected. Their children, who were supposed to have some advantages, became the offspring of “dangerous classes” and thus, lost their benefits.