PU ZHIQIANG, born 1965 (pron. poo zhr chyang)—Civil rights lawyer and activist. He was involved in the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations, and afterwards he openly marked the anniversary with a private vigil at the square every year until 2006, when the police prevented him. He has taken numerous high-profile cases in defence of free speech in journalism and in support of individuals in conflict with the state. A prolific writer and online commentator on politics and social issues, he was given a three-year suspended sentence in December 2015 for ‘picking quarrels’ and ‘inciting ethnic hatred’, and was formally disbarred from practising law in April 2016.
SHENG QI, born 1965 (pron. shuhng chee)—Performance artist and painter. Born in Anhui province, he came up to Beijing as a student in 1984 and became involved in the 1989 Tiananmen protests. He sank into depression after the June 4 massacre and once he had recovered, he moved to Europe and established his artistic career there. Among institutions holding his work are the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the International Center for Photography (New York) and the National Gallery of Victoria.
TERESA TENG—see Deng Lijun
TOHTI, ILHAM—see Ilham Tohti
WEI JINGSHENG, born 1950—(pron. way jing shuhng)—One of China’s most celebrated dissidents. He joined the Red Guards at sixteen during the Cultural Revolution, but the misery he encountered in his travels through the Chinese countryside destroyed his ideological faith. During the Democracy Wall period in 1978–79, he published ‘The Fifth Modernisation’, a brilliant manifesto arguing for democratic reform, and was sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment in 1979. In 1993, all but broken in health, he was paroled during China’s unsuccessful campaign for the 2000 Olympics, and he immediately resumed campaigning for reform. In 1995 he was sentenced to a further fourteen years in prison. Two years later, American pressure secured permission for him to travel for medical treatment to the United States, where he remains in exile as a prominent critic and analyst of the Chinese political system.
WU’ER KAIXI, born 1968 (pron. woo-ar kaishee)—A key organiser of the 1989 Tiananmen protests. He was prominent as a student leader and hunger-striker all through the protests. The footage of him in his hospital pyjamas berating Premier Li Peng on national television is one of the most enduring images of the Tiananmen events. After June 4 Wu’er Kaixi was number two on the government’s most-wanted list. He was smuggled out of China to France via Hong Kong and now lives in Taiwan. In 2016 he stood unsuccessfully for election to the Taiwanese Parliament.
XI JINPING, born 1953 (pron. shee jin ping)—General secretary of the Communist Party since 2012 and president of the People’s Republic of China since 2013. The son of a party luminary of the Long March era, he is prominent among the ‘princelings’, a grouping of insiders said to form alliances and networks on the basis of their family ties to party elders. Xi has centralised institutional power to a degree unprecedented since Mao Zedong. His time in office has been marked by a determination to strengthen the role of the Communist Party, enforce party discipline, stifle dissent in media, legal and academic circles, and launch high-profile drives against corruption which have brought down a number of senior figures in government and business.
ZHANG HUAN, born 1965 (pron. jahng hwahn)—Performance artist, painter and sculptor. He arrived in Beijing as an art student in the early 1990s and quickly made a name as a pioneer of performance art, many of his works involving excruciating feats of physical endurance. He moved to New York in 1998 and established his international reputation. His art has branched out into sculpture and conceptual works using collected objects and gathered materials, including, in several notable pieces, ash from incense and temple burnt offerings. He now divides his time between Shanghai and New York.
ZHANG XIAOGANG, born 1958 (pron. jahng syow gahng)—One of China’s most celebrated contemporary artists. His artistic training was in realist traditions, but in the mid-1980s his work took a more symbolist and allegorical bent and he was curated into the seminal ‘China/Avant-Garde’ exhibition in Beijing in 1989. In the early 1990s he started his iconic ‘Bloodline’ series, inspired by old family photos from the time of his childhood. These paintings made his international reputation and remain among the most prized examples of Chinese contemporary art. His more recent work exploring themes of memory and loss continues the dialogue with personal and national history that is the hallmark of his art. His work can be seen in major public collections around the world.
ZHAO ZIYANG, 1919–2005 (pron. jow dzee yahng)—A senior liberalising political figure in China during the 1980s whose career was destroyed by the 1989 Tiananmen protests. He served as premier from 1980 to 1987, collaborating with Hu Yaobang on economic and anti-corruption reforms, and eventually succeeding him as general secretary of the Communist Party in 1987. During the 1989 Tiananmen protests he counselled a lenient line, but was outmanoeuvred by hard-liners. He refused to support martial law, and was ousted by his opponents. He made a final futile plea to the students to abandon their hunger strike, after which he spent fifteen years under house arrest. Over a two-year period, he secretly tape-recorded his recollections, which after his death were edited and published in English as Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang.
ZHOU ENLAI, 1898–1976 (pron. jo en lye)—Premier of China from 1949 to 1976 and foreign minister from 1949 to 1958. He was a charismatic figure who played a critical role in China’s diplomacy in the 1960s and ’70s, notably as the architect of President Nixon’s historic 1972 visit to China. A close ally of Mao’s, he probably deserves more of the blame for the disasters of the Maoist era than he bears, but is rightly credited with mitigating the effects of the worst of them, especially during the Cultural Revolution. At the end of his life he was estranged from Mao but beloved by the people, and the regime’s attempts to stifle popular grief at his death triggered the 1976 ‘Qing Ming Incident’ (also known as the Tiananmen Incident), an unprecedented protest demonstration that was violently put down by the authorities.
TIMELINE
CHINESE HISTORY ARTISTS AND CULTURAL SCENE
1949
Foundation of the People’s Republic of China
1950
Korean War begins
1952
Huang Rui born (Beijing)
1953
Korean War Armistice signed
1956
‘Hundred Flowers’ campaign creates brief period of liberalisation
1957
Anti-rightist campaign begins, targeting intellectual critics of the government
1958
Great Leap Forward begins
Zhang Xiaogang born (Yunnan, south-west China)
1959
Tibetan uprising breaks out in Lhasa; Dalai Lama flees China
1960
Sino-Soviet split begins
1961
Gonkar Gyatso born (Lhasa, Tibet)
1962
Aniwar born (Xinjiang, far western China)
Guo Jian born (Guizhou, southern China)
1965
Sheng Qi born (Anhui, eastern China)
1966
Cultural Revolution begins
1971
Death of Lin Biao
1972
President Nixon visits China, beginning normalisation of Sino-US relations
1976
Death of Zhou Enlai (January)
Qing Ming Incident (April)—violent suppression of demonstration triggered by death of Zhou Enlai Tangshan earthquake (July)
Death of Mao Zedong (September)
End of the Cultural Revolution with the arrest of the Gang of Four (October)
1978
Democracy Wall begins (November)
Deng Xiaoping becomes paramount leader
Economic ‘reform and opening up’ begins
Wei Jingsheng publishes ‘The Fifth Modernisation’ on Democracy Wall
Bei Dao, Mang Ke and Huang Rui publish the first edition of literary journal Today
<
br /> Cao Fei born (Guangdong, southern China)
1979
Deng Xiaoping visits the United States (January)
China and the United States establish diplomatic relations (January)
Sino-Vietnamese War breaks out (February)
Democracy Wall shut down (December)
Wei Jingsheng arrested (March)
The Stars hold their first exhibition (September)
The Stars hold a public demonstration for freedom of speech (October)
Wei Jingsheng sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment (October)
Jia Aili born (Liaoning, north-eastern China)
1980
Four special economic zones created to attract investment
China officially adopts one-child policy
Second Stars exhibition at National Art Museum of China
Gonkar Gyatso arrives in Beijing as a student
1983
‘Anti-spiritual pollution’ campaign against Western influences
1984
Sheng Qi arrives in Beijing as a student
Aniwar arrives in Beijing as a student
Huang Rui moves to Japan
1985
Guo Jian arrives in Beijing as a student
Pei Li born (Jiangsu, eastern China)
1986
Student demonstrations break out across China (December)
1987
Hu Yaobang forced to resign
1988
River Elegy broadcast on national TV
1989
Hu Yaobang dies (April 15)
Demonstrations in Tiananmen Square begin (April 18)
Memorial service for Hu Yaobang at the Great Hall of the People (April 22)
Peoples Daily editorial condemns the demonstrations (April 26)
Demonstrators announce hunger strike (May 13)
Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Beijing on official visit (May 15)
Martial law declared (May 20)
Army action ends the Tiananmen demonstrations (June 3–4)
Jiang Zemin replaces Zhao Ziyang as general secretary of the Communist Party
‘China Avant-Garde’ art exhibition opens (5 February)
Artists begin moving into Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace)
1990
Sheng Qi leaves China for Europe and Britain
1992
Deng Xiaoping conducts his ‘southern inspection tour’ of Guangzhou to lock in economic reform
Gonkar Gyatso leaves China to live in Dharamsala
Huang Rui returns to China from Japan
1993
Wei Jingsheng released from prison on parole
‘China’s New Art, Post-1989’ exhibition opens in Hong Kong (later to tour to Australia, Canada and the United States)
1995
Guo Jian emigrates to Australia
Huang Rui returns to Japan
Zhang Xiaogang features in the Venice Biennale
Wei Jingsheng sentenced to a further fourteen years in prison
1996
Gonkar Gyatso moves to London
1997
Deng Xiaoping dies Sovereignty over Hong Kong transferred from the United Kingdom to China
Wei Jingsheng released on medical grounds and goes to the United States
1998
Sheng Qi returns to China
2000
Artists begin moving into abandoned factory spaces in the 798 district
2001
China gains accession to the World Trade Organization
Huang Rui returns to China
2002
Hu Jintao replaces Jiang Zemin as general secretary of the Communist Party
First commercial exhibition in the 798 art district
2003
Cao Fei makes the first of three appearances at the Venice Biennale
2005
Zhao Ziyang dies
Guo Jian returns to China
2008
Major riots break out in Lhasa (March)
Sichuan earthquake (May)
Olympic Games open in Beijing (August)
China announces a RMB4 trillion (US$586 billion) economic stimulus package to offset the Global
Financial Crisis (November)
Pei Li arrives in Beijing as a student ‘Charter 08’ rights manifesto published (December)
2009
Major riots in the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi
Gonkar Gyatso features in the Venice Biennale
Liu Xiaobo sentenced to eleven years in prison for his involvement with ‘Charter 08’
2010
China overtakes Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy
Sheng Qi leaves China again to return to London
Liu Xiaobo awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
2011
Jia Aili features in the Venice Biennale
2012
Xi Jinping replaces Hu Jintao as general secretary of the Communist Party
2013
Xi Jinping assumes the presidency
2014
Guo Jian deported to Australia Ilham Tohti sentenced to life imprisonment
2015
Plans announced to abolish the one-child policy
Rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang given a three-year suspended sentence and subsequently disbarred
2016
Gonkar Gyatso returns to China
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks go first to the artists, whose bravery and brilliance were the inspiration for this book: Aniwar, Cao Fei, Gonkar Gyatso, Guo Jian, Huang Rui, Jia Aili, Pei Li, Sheng Qi and Zhang Xiaogang. Their generosity with their time and insights, and their willingness to go deep in discussing key moments in their lives and work, provided the bedrock of this book. I am also grateful to them for allowing me to reproduce their work in these pages. Thanks too to Aniwar and Huang Rui for all their hospitality over many years. Two of the best cooks I know, they sustained my work in ways that I can never repay.
In some ways this book has been thirty years in the making. I first set foot in Beijing in January 1986 in the middle of one of the coldest winters in years. On my first day in the capital my earrings froze in my ears. Nevertheless I was smitten. That my early infatuation turned into a thirty-year fascination was in large part due to the people I met in those first weeks and those I continued to meet throughout China in the decades since.
First among these, I would like to thank those people who were there at the beginning: Ah Xian and Ma Li, Bruce Doar and Sue Dewar; Guo Xiaomei, Hei Dachun, Gérard Kahn, Lin Chunyan, Mang Ke, Geoff Raby, Yang Lian and Yo Yo and Nick Jose, who got me there in the first place.
Secondly there are my colleagues and partners in journalism. Alan Kohler, then editor of The Australian Financial Review, took a punt on me and gave me my start in journalism as Peking correspondent in 1986. The paper’s foreign editor at the time, Graham Canning, provided vital support and encouragement, as did my editor at the Times on Sunday, the late Robert Haupt. Jonathan Holmes, then executive producer of ABC Television’s Foreign Correspondent program, gave me my break into television and the chance to work with the superb Sally Neighbour, then the ABC’s China correspondent, and the crack crew of the late Sebastian Phua (on camera) and Joe Phua on sound and editing. Some of our adventures together are recorded in these pages. Later I took inspiration from my colleagues at China Radio International, who reminded me how lucky we are in Australia, where the media is truly recognised as the Fourth Estate. The Beijinger gave me my first opportunity to write about art full time. Many of my exceptional colleagues there are still my friends today. Among these I would like to thank the magazine’s then editor Lisa Liang, and photographer Judy Zhou, whose wonderful portraits of the artists grace this book. Finally Ben Genocchio, who gave me the opportunity to create ARTINFO China in 2010 and to serve as Asia correspondent for Art+Auction and Modern Painters magazines.
Then there are those ‘partners in China’ who have lit my path through the country over the
last three decades. Some thirty years ago Bruce Doar drew me into a fascinating conversation about China that is still going strong today. He encouraged me to move back to Beijing twelve years ago and he and his partner, Yusuf Osman, have been a source of endless hospitality and kindness ever since. Geoff Raby, the former Australian Ambassador to China, has also been a touchstone in my exploration of China, as well as a great friend and supporter. I would also like to thank my dear friends Tana Eupene, Tass Schmidt, Leonie Weldon and Sun Ning, who have shared my passion for China and its art, as well as those who have enriched my understanding of China’s contemporary art scene, including Johnson Chang, Chen Ran, Shen Boliang and Karen Smith.
Emily Pender has given power to my pen over 35 years of friendship.
My agent Margaret Gee believed in The Phoenix Years from the beginning; I will always be grateful for her advocacy and wise counsel. At my publishers Allen & Unwin, I count myself incredibly lucky to have secured the exceptional Jane Palfreyman to champion this book, and to have found there an editor with the passion and professionalism of Rebecca Kaiser.
The Phoenix Years Page 32
