Flying the Flag of the Republic

Flying the Flag of the Republic - A Record of the Suppression of the Counter-Revolutionary Riots in Beijing
飘扬，共和国的旗帜——平息北京反革命暴乱纪实
Produced byPropaganda Department of the Political Work Department of the People's Liberation Army
Distributed byNational Art Museum of China
Release date
  • July 28, 1989 (1989-07-28)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageStandard Mandarin Chinese

Flying the Flag of the Republic - A Record of the Suppression of the Counter-Revolutionary Riots in Beijing is a documentary compiled by the Publicity Department of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in July 1989 to commemorate the PLA soldiers who died in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The video was released on 17 July 1989,  and premiered at the National Art Museum of China on 28 July 1989. The documentary was also broadcast on China Central Television.

The documentary tells the story of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests from the perspective of the Chinese Communist Party. Due to its references to many of the sensitive events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the documentary is effectively banned within China today.

Content

The 105-minute film Flying the Flag of the Republic tells the story of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests from the perspective of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).[1] It is divided into four parts: "The Storm Rises", "The Tide of Turmoil", "The Truth of the Riots", and "The Merit That Will Go Down in History".[2] The documentary is narrated by two voices: a man and a woman.[3]

The documentary opens with a white text on a blue background regarding the events, read by the male narrator; the text blames the events on an "extremely few people", adding "some people are perplexed and confused to this day". It afterwards shows the Flag Raising Ceremony in Tiananmen Square on 9 June 1989.[4] The documentary mentions the founding of the People's Republic of China, then turning to how it says Western countries have used a variety of military and economic means to overthrow the CCP. Failing, the documentary says they turned their focuses on the strategy of "peaceful evolution". It talks about the influence of "bourgeois liberalization" since the start of the reform and opening up, and mentions that hostile forces, such as the United States-funded Voice of America have worked tirelessly to overthrow the People's Republic of China. It mentions the avenues of ideological infiltration, and singles out liberal intellectual Fang Lizhi and the documentary River Elegy; the documentary accuses the latter of "promoting the West’s blue civilization".[5]

The documentary casts the Tiananmen protests as not being peaceful, stating it quickly turned from being "turbulent" to being a "turmoil", eventually leading to a "counterrevolutionary riot". It states that due to this, an intervention from the military was necessary. The documentary shows graphic scenes of violence against soldiers. It additionally includes the clip of the Tank Man, calling him a "lone scoundrel".[6] It casts the military as having exercised the utmost restraint, and states it ousted the illegal occupation in the Tiananmen Square and returned it to the people, restoring order within the capital and the country.[7]

Distribution and screening

Flying the Flag of the Republic was published by Beijing Higher Education Audiovisual Publishing House on 17 July 1989.[8] The premiere was held at the National Art Museum of China on 28 July 1989, and CCP Politburo Standing Committee member Li Ruihuan cut the ribbon for the premiere.[2] From 31 July 1989, it was screened at the exhibition "Suppression of the Counter-Revolutionary Riots in Beijing" jointly organized by the Propaganda Department of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, the Publicity Department of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.[9] The documentary was also broadcast on China Central Television.[10] After the video was released, Shanghai prisons and labor camps played the video to prisoners,[11] and schools such as Shanxi University of Finance and Economics,[12] Zhenjiang Shipbuilding College,[13] and Chaozhou Jinshan Middle School organized groups of students to watch the video.[14]

Due to its references to many of the sensitive events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the documentary was eventually censored within China. Today, the documentary is effectively banned within China and not available in any Chinese video-sharing websites.[6]

Reactions

Zhou Keyu, deputy director of the General Political Department, said that this was "precious historical evidence that many comrades risked their lives to capture at the scene" and "will help the people further understand the truth". The People’s Daily said that it “used detailed on-site video footage to recreate the entire process of how a small number of people created unrest and the counter-revolutionary riots in the capital occurred, developed, and were quelled”.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Guan, Ling (2020-06-04). "春秋笔：敏感六四 被遗忘的37名共和国卫士" [Spring and Autumn Annals: The Sensitive June Fourth Incident - 37 Forgotten Guardians of the Republic]. Duowei News. Archived from the original on 2021-08-02. Retrieved 2021-08-02. 另外，邓小平当时还为戒严部队题词"共和国卫士"、"首都卫士"。中央军委决定为戒严部队全体官兵颁发"首都卫士"纪念章、纪念册，并编辑出版《共和国卫士》一书，摄制《共和国卫士》纪录片。 Archived 2021-08-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 3 Liu, Huinian; Luo, Yuwen (1989-07-29). "《飘扬，共和国的旗帜》电视片首映式昨在京举行 《平息反革命暴乱，保卫人民共和国摄影展开幕》 李瑞环和杨白冰分别为首映式和开幕式剪彩" [The premiere of the TV documentary "Flying High, the Flag of the Republic" was held in Beijing yesterday. The "Suppressing the Counter-Revolutionary Riot, Defending the People's Republic" photography exhibition opened. Li Ruihuan and Yang Baibing cut the ribbons for the premiere and opening ceremony, respectively.]. People's Daily (in Chinese (China)). p. 1.
  3. ↑ Chen 2022, p. 45.
  4. ↑ Chen 2022, p. 40.
  5. ↑ Chen 2022, p. 41.
  6. 1 2 Chen 2022, p. 49.
  7. ↑ Chen 2022, p. 42-44.
  8. ↑ "平暴纪实录像片出版" [Documentary video about suppressing the riots published]. People's Daily (in Chinese (China)). 1989-07-17. p. 4.
  9. ↑ Xu, Yunping (1989-09-01). "血写的教科书——平息北京反革命暴乱展览侧记" [A Textbook Written in Blood: A Side Note on the Exhibition on Suppressing the Counter-Revolutionary Riot in Beijing]. People's Daily (in Chinese (China)). p. 1.
  10. ↑ Wei, Wei (1989). "从观看《飘扬,共和国的旗帜》谈起——认真做好声像档案的收集工作" [Starting with watching "The Flag of the Republic Flies High"—Doing a Good Job in Collecting Audiovisual Archives]. Sichuan Archives (6). Archived from the original on 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2019-10-16. Archived 2019-08-01 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ "第五章 教育改造 第二节 思想政治教育" [Chapter Five: Educational Reform Section Two Ideological and Political Education]. 上海监狱志 [Shanghai Prison Chronicle]. Shanghai: Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press. 2003. ISBN 7-80681-330-6. Archived from the original on 2020-11-04. Retrieved 2019-10-16. Archived 2020-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "山西高校加强思想教育 六千多大学生申请入党" [Shanxi universities strengthen ideological education; over 6,000 college students apply to join the Party.]. People's Daily (in Chinese (China)). 1990-02-01. p. 1.
  13. ↑ Tang, Mingjue (1989-09-16). "引导学生进行自我教育 镇江船舶学院开展主题班会活动" [Zhenjiang Shipbuilding College Conducts Themed Class Meetings to Guide Students in Self-Education]. Guangming Daily (in Chinese (China)). No. 14536. p. 3.
  14. ↑ Chen, Junsheng (1989-12-15). "运用形象直观的录像教材 潮州金山中学加强德育工作" [Chaozhou Jinshan Middle School strengthens moral education by using vivid and intuitive video teaching materials.]. Guangming Daily (in Chinese (China)). No. 14626. p. 2.

Works cited

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