This year marks the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident, which occurred on June 4, 1989, when the Chinese government violently suppressed students and citizens demanding democracy in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Human rights organizations estimate that thousands lost their lives during the crackdown. However, the Chinese government has never officially acknowledged the event, referring to it only as a "political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s."
As June 4 approaches each year, online censorship in China intensifies. Terms like '六四' (June 4) and 'Tiananmen' are heavily monitored, along with related images, videos, and music. This year, posts containing words such as '89', '64', and 'tank' have reportedly been deleted in large numbers. Some users have shared experiences of being unable to send 64 yuan via WeChat or share Taylor Swift's album '1989' on their WeChat Moments.
The term 'June 4' remains a taboo in Chinese society, making it rare to find films that directly address the Tiananmen Square incident. One of the most well-known works is Lou Ye's 2006 film 'Summer Palace' (original title: 頤和園).
Set against the backdrop of the politically tumultuous period surrounding the Tiananmen Square incident, the film captures the love, confusion, and struggles of a generation of college students. The story begins when the protagonist, Yu Hong, receives his admission letter to a fictional university combining Beijing University and Tsinghua University, while arriving in Beijing from a rural area. He experiences a cultural shock from the dormitory's co-ed living, smoking, and the liberal sexual culture of youth. Here, Yu Hong falls passionately in love with Zhou Wei.
However, as pro-democracy protests spread across the university, their relationship becomes fraught with jealousy, betrayal, anxiety, and obsession. The characters eventually leave Beijing, each carrying their own scars. Yet, the memories of 1989 continue to haunt them, leading their lives into deeper despair.
The film's original title, 'Summer Palace,' refers to the summer retreat of Empress Dowager Cixi during the late Qing Dynasty, a place where the empire's glory and decline coexist. In the film, the most beautiful moments for Yu Hong and Zhou Wei take place by the Summer Palace's lake. Lou Ye has described the scene where the protagonists row a boat as their most beautiful moment.
The Summer Palace serves not just as a backdrop but as a symbolic location throughout the film, representing a stage for love that once existed but can never be returned to, a lost paradise of youth.
In past interviews, Lou Ye stated, "This film is ultimately a story about love." He likened the relationship between students and the government in 1989 to an act of love, suggesting that both sides faced a painful and uncomfortable conclusion, with the government 'slapping' the students, referring to the military's violent suppression. He remarked, "They hit so hard that blood came from the cheek," adding that the government recognized it had gone too far and sought to make amends through rapid economic development over the next decade.
From this perspective, Lou Ye noted that the June 4 incident resembles love and relationships, as life-altering events leave scars that affect one's entire existence. This explains why the characters in the film cannot escape their past even after leaving Beijing.
While the term 'Tiananmen Square incident' does not appear in the film, it includes scenes depicting military repression and gunfire against students, along with actual footage of students waving placards during the protests, indirectly illustrating the horrors of the Tiananmen Square incident.
The film gained international attention after being submitted to the Cannes Film Festival without approval from Chinese authorities. However, it was banned from screening in China, and Lou Ye received a five-year ban on filmmaking from the government.
The film has sparked considerable controversy, particularly due to the repeated scenes of full nudity and explicit sexual content, leading some to question the director's intentions. Conversely, it has been widely recognized in the film industry as one of the works that deeply captures the confusion and loss experienced by the Chinese youth generation around 1989.
Professor Lee Jeong-hoon from Seoul National University analyzed the film in a paper, stating, "The sexual acts in the film serve as a ritual for the protagonists to affirm their existence and a means of passionate communication between individuals." He further noted that while the protagonists once attempted to fulfill the historical mission assigned to youth by their era, they ultimately failed, resulting in a long-lasting legacy of scars and wandering. He described the process of interpreting the film as a reflection on the trauma that remains within characters who are mentally stuck in the period surrounding June 4.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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