Ai Weiwei Research Paper

Even with her previous experiences at Beijing University and at Big Joy Farm, Wong still held some belief that the Chinese system wasn’t as bad as it was sometimes made out to be. This event proved to her that it was. “The enormity of the massacre hit home…Although it had been years since I was a Maoist, I still had harbored some small hope for China. Now even that was gone” (259). As a reporter Wong was able to view the progression of the protests in leading up to the massacre, and in viewing it understood that the Chinese people were much more independent than they had previously demonstrated over the past 50 years. She had continuously seen the Chinese people following what they were told between learning in school or with physical labor, yet this protest was one of the first large scale displays of the unacceptance of the regime by the people, and the government did not know what to do with it. But because of this, Wong was able to recognize that the people were not reliant on this way of life that they had previously been bound to, but truly could lead for themselves and take control. The massacre awakened Wong both to the reality that the government was not acting to benefit the people, and that the people were more than capable of acting for

Alex is a 17 year old teenager from Canada, who is a protagonist in the Young-adult fiction book Forbidden City by William.E.Bell. He and his father who works as a journalist travel to China in 1989 to record events and report them back to Canada. Then a protest stirs up and the Tiananmen Square massacre begins. Alex’s father is captured recording the “illegal” events and is arrested. Alex fights back and barely escapes with a few tapes of the protest. He is reunited with his dad, and they return to Canada with tapes of the horrifying events.

The apex of Wong’s book is how she displays the emotional overtones in reciting her account of the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989. She tells of being holed up in a hotel across the street from the square and actually being able to see the violence between the protesting students and citizens, and the soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army. When she describes bodies falling from gunshot wounds, people being squashed by tanks, and the bullets ricocheting off their hotel walls, it produces multiple senses of horror, sorrow, and absolute terror. She further hammers this point across by displaying two images taken from the scene (245). The first is of a PLA platoon leader who was beaten, set afire, disemboweled, and to add further insult, positioned so that he would serve as an example of what the proletariats were capable of. The second, was of PLA soldiers examining the destruction of Tiananmen Square after they seized the square. Smoke and debris from the protestors are widely prevalent, and the image was even used in a propaganda brochure for the government.

Ai Weiwei was born during the Cultural Revolution in China of 1950s, he inherited a lot of his political knowledge from his father who was a poet called Ai Quig. Ai Quig was then later exiled with his family to re-education camps on the out reaches of a desert in 1958 for questioning government authority. After the Cultural Revolution, Chinese citizens were allowed to travel outside their borders again in 1970s. As a young man, the place that Ai Weiwei dreamed about going to was New York. He went to New York and was exposed to its western influences, its liberty and freedom of expression (Springford, 2011).Using photography Weiwei recorded and documented everything that inspired him. Weiwei visited galleries and art museums that exposed

Ai Weiwei is a famous international artist and a most outspoken regional critic in China. Ai express his opinions though social media, visual arts and performing arts. In order to stop Ai’s criticism，Chinese authorities have shut down Ai’s blog, beat him, and take him to secret detention centers.

Ai WeiWei studied at the Beijing Film Academy. He was also part of the first generation to study abroad as part of China's Reform and Opening Up Policy. He came to New York in 1983 and photographed protests so he could be apart of democracy. In 1993, his dad was sick so he returned to China. Once there, Ai Weiwei went to antique stores so he could see and feel the past. Once back in China, he decided that he was going to protest because he knew what freedom and democracy was like and never wants to go back. This inspired him to beginning protesting and hoping he can help make China a better place.

The acknowledgment of Huang Xiang – a writer, calligrapher, and human rights activist – was an inspiration not only to May but to many others who read his poem. In an article May wrote, he tells the story of how a young woman was truly moved by his remembrance of Huang Xiang because her father was much like the human rights activist: “remember because Huang Xiang was exiled”/ “for these. Remember because the poet Huang Xiang”/ “was exiled for this: the calligraphy of revolt.” (May 32- 34) The young woman’s father was present at Tiananmen Square – another historical reference within the poem – during the massacre.

Xin-Hua is the greatest character in William Bell’s Forbidden City. She is a caring, brave and selfless person. The first example of this happens when Alex first meets her when he is hiding from soldiers behind a car. They ended getting spotted and ran for it when Alex got shot in the leg by a soldier. Xin-Hua risked her life dragging him to her home to save his

Throughout the poem, May includes historical figures, like Huang Xiang, to show Jontae that he will not be alone throughout his journey of discovering his identity. May refers to Huang Xiang, a poet who was exiled during the Tiananmen Square incident, who he describes as; “the poet… who was exiled for these” (33-34), while “these” represents the words and the education of the poet. The incorporation of the allusions from a historical point of view, influences the idea that Jontae should stay true to himself, regardless of what the rest of society thinks. The fact that Huang Xiang was exiled for plastering his poems around the Square, goes to prove May’s point regarding society’s overall view on education. May goes on to write “there will always be those who would rather see you pull a pin from a grenade than pull a pen from your backpack” (37-40). Huang Xiang is a prime example of what the speaker longs for Jontae to be like. Roger Garside, a British diplomat who served in Beijing during the crisis explained Xiang’s efforts as “an equally bold initiative on the organizational front: after pasting up his poems on Tiananmen Square…” (Garside, 2005). Xiang exemplifies a deviant of society, with his nonviolent protests, and his education involving poetry. May is determined to convince Jontae that he is not bound to the option of

China is one of the worlds superpowers, but still maintains itself as one of the most restrictive governments in existence. Never Sorry is a film, directed by Alison Clayman, released June 14, 2012, which depicts the activism by Chinese intellectuals, especially Ai Weiwei. Never Sorry does an exceptional job showing how art is the path for new ideas and freedom of expression, and does this through use of primary source interviews, live-action depictions, and music as an appeal to emotion. Alison Clayman’s film depicts the activism in China, showing the true thinking of Chinese intellectuals and the craving for democracy. Ai Weiwei’s activism, alone, is enough to inspire some sort of resistance in China.

With the existence of social media and the internet artists are being courageous criticizing the Chinese government and discussing forbidden topics. Therefore, leading to the Chinese government involvement with the media. This lead into the fourth and last proverb that says that great fame comes with great disaster which can ultimately lead to one’s death. Nowaday, China there are an explosion of various platforms for artists to express themselves. Thus, causing many to be prosecuted by the government due to artists utilizing these platforms to criticize the government.

He is viewed as a threat to "harmonious society." The West did not invent revolutionaries. China has an illustrious history of dissidents, anti-authoritarian originals and eccentrics, from the drunken monks of pre-history to counter-culture artists living in today's Beijing. Ai himself is from this long line of free-thinkers and writers, marginalized both by the right and left.

The name of Xin-hua translates to New China and it was her powerful belief for a new China that made her determination so strong. Throughout Forbidden City her determination seemed to grow. It required a lot of guts and determination for the powerless ordinary people to take on the all-powerful government. Determination, though not her only characteristic, was certainly the strongest one, but through her determination she showed Alex a different world. To die for your country is not as heart rending than to be executed by an army who used to die for their country instead of killing their people. Xin-hua, though fictional, was one among thousands of people who died for their beliefs and still had no effect on China's Communist Party.

Deng Xiaoping has been the individual with the most impact on China since the 1970’s. Along with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, he is looked at as one of the key figures in evolution of communism in China . Deng Xiaoping will be remembered as a national hero, but this was not always the case. The real story of Deng includes the fact that, on more than one occasion, his peers ostracized him. During his lifetime he has been a part of the many changes in China throughout the twentieth century. He was by Mao Zedong’s side through all of the struggles of the Chinese Communist Party; battling with Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang over

Advocates for human rights throughout China have been deemed as enemies of the government and have been punished a such. Liu Xiaobo, 2010 Noble Peace Prize winner, was an active advocate for a more prominent democracy and improvements for the rights of the Chinese people; until his arrest for encouraging others to undermine the government. In recent day, Xiaobo has been transported from the prison to be treated in a hospital for terminal liver cancer. Liu Xia, Xiaobo’s wife has requested multiple times to leave China with her husband and brother to seek better treatment and accommodations. Xiaobo’s family and friends have claimed that Xiaobo is unhappy with his treatment and his condition is rapidly decreasing. However, the Chinese Justice