 Much of Lake With No Name, Diane Wei Liang's first book (2003, Review, an imprint of Headline Book Publishing, London, 335 pages), is fascinating, harrowing and emotional. The author tells of her experiences as a Chinese student protestor before the 1989 Beijing Massacre.
“We moved on, marching…. Unlike the day before, I was no longer nervous about the banners demanding Deng Xiaoping's resignation, as they had become a common sight, like bamboo shoots springing out of the ground after the first spring rain. That day, May 18, was the best day I had ever experienced in all my years of living in China – it felt as if the people could finally say anything they wanted to say, openly, without fear of retribution. That day was the closest we ever got to real freedom of speech.”
Born in 1966, Diane spent much of her childhood in a Cultural Revolution labour camp. Later, she joined the courageous, but ill-fated, student protests demanding political reforms and freedoms. Like hundreds of millions of Chinese, she recoiled in shock and outrage when the People's Liberation Army assailed the students, killing thousands, mainly on June 4, 1989.
“Sparks flew where the bullets hit the road. People dropped like flies. Blood was everywhere. Once the shooting stopped, the citizens and students would charge again, only for the troops to fire again. Bodies of the dead and wounded littered the boulevard.”
Now based in London, Diane felt compelled to write the book. “It took just eight months from the beginning to end,” she said.
The world watched the protests and military atrocities in the global media. Lake With No Name gives a different perspective, that of an insider telling what the students and their fellow citizens thought, what they did and why.
“We were among thousands of students marching out of Beijing University. More students stood on either side of the road, watching and cheering…. Red departmental and university flags stood out against the background of blue sky. I could not see where the flags and banners ended. And beneath them was a mass of people…. The warmth of the spring sunshine and the excitement of marching in unity with my fellow students made me feel alive, in a way that I had never felt before.”
“In those days, optimism was everywhere, among the students and their supporters – which meant just about every ordinary citizen in Beijing…. Support for the students grew rapidly across the city. Soon many factory workers, small business owners, government employees and intellectuals took to the streets too.”
The book's title refers to a place where the author found peace until chaos erupted. “I spent much of my free time reading and writing alone at Weiming Lake – the Lake with No Name – at the centre of Beijing University campus…. It was especially beautiful in the evenings when the moonlight danced on the water, lovers strolled down the stone paths around the lake and nightingales sang in the scented woods.”
The Chinese government has tried to rewrite its dark history, downplay the Beijing Massacre (including the bodycount) and depict the students as hooligans. These propaganda efforts intensify the merit of Lake With No Name as a source of truth.
“Troops went crazy, firing several rounds into the students. When the ambulance from the Beijing Emergency Centre came to pick up the wounded, the soldiers opened fire on the doctors. ‘Animals!' and ‘Barbaric!' people shouted. At 5:30, the student radio station announced that the estimate from the Beijing Red Cross had risen to 4,000 dead and many more wounded.”
More than tragic testimony, the book also tells the author's own story of gaining maturity, searching for love and immigrating. The Asian Review of Books calls it “a modern Chinese version of Dr Zhivago”.
Although Lake With No Name isn't quite such a classic, it's an enlightening book, sincerely and well written.
Approval rating: 71 per cent.
For more information: www.madaboutbooks.com
(June 20, 2007)
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Diane Wei Liang presents a 'true tale'
in defiance of Chinese propaganda.
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