Tian An Men and Chinese National Day
In the West, Tian An Men is famous for the events of 1989 and especially the video of the guy blocking the path of the tank which has often obscured our overall view of China.
When Chinese people think of Tian An Men, they more naturally think of this day in 1949 when Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China which is celebrated in China and at Tian An Men .
This picture come from Wikipedia and is Chairman Mao making that Declaration of the People’s Republic.
Below, I give you the link to two well balanced Wikipedia articles
Here, I quote from that Wikipedia article on Chairman Mao. They list this after his atrocities which we are usually more familiar with.
However, during the years when Mao was China’s “Great Helmsman”, a range of positive changes also came to China. These included promoting the status of women, improving popular literacy, doubling the school population, providing universal housing, abolishing unemployment and inflation, increasing health care access, and dramatically raising life expectancy.[6][7] In addition, China’s population almost doubled during the period of Mao’s leadership[8] (from around 550 to over 900 million).[1][7] As a result, Mao is still officially held in high regard by many[who?] in China as a great political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation. Maoists further promote his role as a theorist, statesman, poet, and visionary,[9] while anti-revisionists continue to defend most of his policies.
So welcome on this Chinese holiday to consider Tian An Men as a place where happy memories reside for some good reasons.
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