The Unknown Rebel’s Courage at Tiananmen Square
- What is the significance of courage as a civic virtue and how do we know it when we see it?
- How does the injustice of censorship hinder efforts to protect human rights?
- Students will understand the courage exhibited by an “Unknown rebel” at Tiananmen Square in China.
- Students will be able to identify and define courage as demonstrated by the “Unknown rebel”
- Students will research the lack of media freedom in Communist countries and be able to write a letter to the editor expressing their opinion addressing the prompt: Do technology and the Internet challenge government censorship or enable it?
Educator Resources
- The Unknown Rebel’s Courage at Tiananmen Square Answer Key
Student Handouts
- Tanks in the Square images and analysis questions
- Rebels, Courage, and Tanks in the Square Essay
- Discussion Guide: The Unknown Rebel’s Courage at Tiananmen Square
- Virtue in Action: The Unknown Rebel’s Courage at Tiananmen Square
- Courage Worksheet writing prompt
- Martial law
- International Human Rights
The Atlantic. Photo Gallery: “Tiananmen Square, Then and Now.” http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/06/tiananmen-square-then-andnow/100311/ June 2012.
C-SPAN. Washington Journal: “25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Protests.” http://www.c-span.org/video/?319629-6/washington-journaltiananmen-square Broadcast date: June 3, 2014.
C-SPAN House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights. “25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Protests, Survivors’ Stories.” http://www.c-span.org/video/?319617-1/tiananmen-square-protests-survivors-stories Broadcast date: May 30, 2014.
Cunningham, Phillip J. Tiananmen Moon: Inside the Chinese Student Uprising of 1989. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.
Nathan, Andrew J. Foreign Affairs. “The Tiananmen Papers.” January/February 2001.
The New York Times. “The Tiananmen Square Protests.” New York: New York Times Company, 2012.
Pye, Lucian W. Foreign Affairs. “Appealing the Tiananmen Verdict: New Documents from China’s Highest Leaders.” March/April 2001.
Zhao, Dingxin. The Power of Tiananmen: State-Society Relations and the 1989 Beijing Student Movement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
The teacher should preview the C-SPAN May 2014 broadcast, “25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Protests: Survivors’ Stories” (http://www.c-span.org/video/?319617-1/tiananmen-square-protests-survivors-stories), selecting some clips to use in wrapping up this lesson.
Without identifying the time and place, or revealing identifying information, show students a peaceful-looking crowd scene photo from the Tiananmen Square, Then and Now photo gallery at The Atlantic online http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2012/06/tiananmen-square-then-and-now/100311 ideally by projecting it for large-scale viewing.
Provide the Tanks in the Square handout to students and use available technology to project the image of tanks in Tiananmen Square. Conduct a whole-class discussion of the questions provided on the page and point out the definition of courage as a civic virtue.
Provide students with the Rebels, Courage, and Tanks in the Square Essay handout and give them time to read the essay.
Then provide the Rebels, Courage, and Tanks in the Square Discussion Guide and have students work in small groups to discuss the questions. Instruct students to select for whole class discussion the 2 or 3 questions that they think are most important/interesting.
Take a quick poll to identify the questions selected by each group and then reassemble the class to share their responses to the most-frequently selected items.
Share pre-selected clips from the C-SPAN May 2014 broadcast, “25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Protests: Survivors’ Stories” (http://www.c-span.org/video/?319617-1/tiananmen-square-protests-survivors-stories). Invite students to expand on their initial responses to the question, “Was it worth the risk?”
You may also assign an Exit Slip on which each student identifies one person or group of people addressed in this discussion, and offers his or her own answer to the question, “Was it worth the risk? Why or why not? Would I take such a risk? Why or why not?”
Provide students with Virtue in Action – The Unknown Rebel’s Courage at Tiananmen Square handout and have them complete one or more of the activities to consider the significance of a free press.
Extension Activity
Post this definition of courage: To stand firm in being a person of character and in doing what is right, especially when it is unpopular or puts one at risk.
Distribute to students copies of either of the following:
- Andrew Nathan’s 2001 Foreign Affairs essay, “The Tiananmen Papers.” www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/56670/andrew-j-nathan/the-tiananmen-papers
- Lucian Pye’s 2001 Foreign Affairs essay, “Appealing the Tiananmen Verdict: New Documents from China’s Highest Leaders.” www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/56873/lucian-w-pye/appealing-the-tiananmen-verdict-new-documents-from-china-s-highes
Depending on your students’ grade level and abilities, use either the entire article or excerpts. Be sure to explain the reasons why not all “on the ground” information flowed freely out of Beijing during and immediately following the demonstrations and why Pye’s article offers new information.
Assign students to groups of 3 or 4 and have them read the article and identify examples of courage both inside and outside the Chinese government’s power structure that existed at the time of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and in the years that followed.
Once each small group has had time to read and identify exemplars of courage, lead a class discussion about how courage was demonstrated given each person’s position within the existing power structure. In each case, examine the question, “Was it worth the risk?”