Tiananmen Square

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Tiananmen Square as seen from the Tian'an Gate

Tiananmen Square (simplified Chinese: 天安门广场; traditional Chinese: 天安門廣場; pinyin: Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng) is the large plaza near the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen (literally, Gate of Heavenly Peace) which sits to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. It has great cultural significance as a symbol because it was the site of several key events in Chinese history (See below: Events). Outside of China, the square is widely known for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, when hundreds of unarmed democracy-activists where slaughtered by the People's Liberation Army on the orders of former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.

The square is 880 metres (2887 feet) south to north and 500 metres (1640 feet) east to west, a total area of 440,000 square metres (108.7 acres), which makes it the largest open-urban square in the world.

1 History
2 Features
3 Events
4 Images from near and in the square
5 External links

Gate of China, viewed from the south. Area shown in photo is approximately the site of the present Mao Zedong Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square.

The Tiananmen was built in 1417 in the Ming Dynasty. In 1699 (early Qing Dynasty), the Tiananmen was renovated and renamed to its present form. During the Ming and Qing eras, there was no public square at Tiananmen, and instead the area was filled with offices for imperial ministries. These were badly damaged during the Boxer Rebellion and the area was cleared to produce the beginning of Tiananmen Square.

Near the centre of today's square, close to the site of the Mao Zedong Mausoleum, once stood one of the most important gates of Beijing. This gate was known as the "Great Ming Gate" (大明门) during the Ming Dynasty, "Great Qing Gate" (大清门) during the Qing Dynasty, and "Gate of China" (中华门) during the Republic of China era. Unlike the other gates in Beijing, such as the Tiananmen and the Qianmen, this was a purely ceremonial gateway, with three arches but no ramparts, similar in style to the ceremonial gateways found in the Ming Dynasty Tombs. This gate had a special status as the "Gate of the Nation", as can be seen from its successive names. It normally remained closed, except when the Emperor passed through. Commoner traffic was diverted to two side gates at the northern and eastern ends of today's square, respectively. Because of this diversion in traffic, a busy marketplace, called Chessgrid Streets (棋盘街) developed in the big, fenced square to the south of this gate. In the early 1950s, the Gate of China (as it was then known) was demolished along with the Chessgrid Streets to the south, completing the expansion of Tiananmen Square to (approximately) its current size.

The Tian'anmen Square in Beijing

Enlarged in 1949 to the current size, its flatness is broken only by the 38-metre (125-foot) high Monument to the People's Heroes and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. The square lies between two ancient, massive gates: the Tian'anmen to the north and the Zhengyangmen, better known as Qianmen (simplified Chinese: 前门; traditional Chinese: 前門; pinyin: Qiánmén; literally "Front Gate") to the south. Along the west side of the Square is the Great Hall of the People. Along the east side is the National Museum of China. Chang'an Avenue, which is used for parades, lies between the Tian'anmen and the Square. Trees line the east and west edges of the Square, but the square itself is open, with neither trees nor benches.

The Square is lit with huge lampposts which also sport video cameras^{[citation needed]}. It is heavily monitored by uniformed and plain clothes policemen.

A People's Armed Police Guard on Tienanmen Square.

Tiananmen Square has been the site of a number of political events. These include the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949; annual mass military displays on all subsequent National Days until October 1st 1959; the 1984 military parade for the 35th anniversary of the People's Republic of China and the 50th anniversary in 1999; and for mass rallies during the Cultural Revolution. It has also been the site of a number of protest movements.

May Fourth Movement of 1919
Tiananmen protest in 1976 after the death of Zhou Enlai
Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident of 2001

The protests of 1989 resulted in the killing of Chinese protesters in the streets to the west of the square and adjacent areas. Some Western reporters who were on the square during the unfolding events reported that they saw no one actually die on the square itself, though did see bloodied people but could not confirm whether they were either dead or injured (Graham Earnshaw and Columbia Journal Review). However, Chinese expatriates who left the country after the killings said that the total number of deaths ended up being in the thousands. This was a combination of the hundreds killed on the spot and the "miniature" purge that followed.

Railway station	Zhengyangmen gate	Monument to the People's Heroes, with the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong	Monument in front of Mao's Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square
Monument to the People's Heroes and the Great Hall of the People	Tiananmen gate to the Forbidden City with reviewing stands in front	Iconic image of the Tiananmen Square from the May Fourth movement of 1919	Overview of the Tiananmen Square