Tiananmen in U.S. textbooks

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reminder to look that up.
I am looking in my textbook now and there is an entire page summarizing the event. It's a really good summary mentioning all the key points of the event such as martial law, tank man, the Goddess of Democracy, the protestors goals and how many potentially were killed. One of the titles does say "Students Demand Democracy," and address the lack of political freedoms, which seemed from the seminar NOT to be the primary goal rather than pushing key leaders out.

A few of us were having the conversation about whatever happened to the "Goddess of Democracy." When martial law was declared about 5,000 students decided to stay in Tiananmen Square even though many chose to leave. The 33 foot statue (seeming to be of paper mache) of the "Goddess of Democracy" was crushed by a tank. So I guess that's what happened to her. The text also states that hundreds were killed and thousands wounded.

[Anonymous]

Would you mind telling us what book you're using? I would guess all textbooks have information on Tiananmen since its in the state standards. The topic has followed me all weekend and I've discussed it with other people as well. It's intriguing how it keeps the west fascinated while China has forgotten it.

[Anonymous]

I found the same thing sochoa found. To be quite honest, after the Tiananmen Square class, I thought it would only be mentioned in a single sentence or two. So, not given the depth of merit it deserved, but still not bad for a book meant to stuff two milleniae into 700 pages.

[Anonymous]

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't recall seen the Tank Man image, and I don't remember ever learning about Tiananmen Square. The short film by Professor Mike Chinoy was an eye opener for me. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the series as soon as possible. The fact that some people believed that Chinese would not killed other Chinese, was revealing.

[Anonymous]

The presentation by Louisa Lin, was excellent. I'm buying her book on Amazon this weekend. The fact that she has devoted so much time to bringing light to a taboo topic, is really impressive taking into account the repercussions

[Anonymous]

This is a topic that I remember in my lifetime. I've only read about the Cultural Revolution, but Tiananmen happened when I was in school. My English teacher described it as possibly one of the most important events since World War II. Given what happened later the same year, and the economic boom in China which followed Tiananmen, I would say that was an overzealous analysis.

[Anonymous]

Sorry...the textbook I'm using is McDougal Littell, 2006.

[Anonymous]

McDougal-Littel has it covered, does anybody have McGraw-Hill or Holt or others? The Glencoe edition mentions it in the introduction to the chapter and in a special report with with National Geographic on the growth and urbanization of Beijing. Curiously, the chapter on Tiananmen also includes information on the Korean War.

[clay dube]

We would greatly appreciate it if you could scan or take clear photos of those sections of your textbooks devoted to Tiananmen. It will be great to compare these. Please attach the scans to your message. Please be sure to let us know the text title, publication date, and page numbers. Thanks for the descriptions several of you have offered. Are pictures included?

[Anonymous]

I have taken photos of the pertinent pages in my textbook, which is for 10th grade World History. The book is Glencoe's World History: Modern Times, printed in 2006. There are a total of seven pages, which includes a special report on the growth of Beijing. I also count seven photographs and a map. I will have to figure out how to attached the pictures to this message.

[Anonymous]

It is great to see that some of the textbooks out their actually have a lot of good information on Tienanmen. I agree that this is a very interesting topic that students would be fascinated to study given all proper resources. Chinoy's documentary is another excellent resource for the classroom. I remember Lim mentioning the textbooks in her lecture but I'm unsure what exactly the "assignment" was, to look up how much is covered in American textbooks? We know that it is completely left out of Chinese history so I'm wondering what the purpose of the assignment was supposed to be. I am disappointed to hear there was so little in the Glencoe's textbook.
I teach Medieval History so there definitely would not be anything about Tienanmen in my textbooks. Thank you to those of you who looked into their own text. This subject has continued to intrigue me since the day of our lecture.

[Anonymous]

The Glencoe World History Modern Times text has an interesting assignment: "History and you- Find online or in the library a commentary on the Tiananmen Square incident written from the perspective of the Chinese government. Analyze the work to determine whether or not it displays bias. Support your opinion"

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

As Louisa Lim suggested, I looked up how the textbook I use with my 10th grade students covers the topic of Tiananmen. Here is a direct quotation as found in Glencoe's World History: Modern Times, 2006.

"In May 1989, student protesters called for the aging party leaders to resign. The protest had widespread support, especially in the cities. The most dramatic outpouring came in massive demonstrations in the capital of Beijing (see page 719). China's leaders were split over how to respond, but Deng believed the protesters were calling for an end to Communist rule. He ordered tanks and troops into Tiananmen Square to remove the protesters. Between 500 and 2000 were killed and many more injured. Yet by the late 1990's, Chinese citizens were again demonstrating against official corruption, high rural taxes and economic and social inequality."

There are pictures the tank man, of "The Goddess of Democracy" as well as student leaders with their picket signs. Tiananmen is also mentioned in two other sections of the chapter.

[Anonymous]

https://goo.gl/RIQ6WX

The link above is to the page that talks about t-square in the AP US History book that we use in our district. Basically, it places T-square in the context of communist regimes falling during the end of the cold war. The Saturday session on T-square, however, was much better than the paragraphs on page 980 of our book!

[Author]

Posts