Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square () is a

city square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rel ...

in the

city center A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms that exist in ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China, named after the

Tiananmen The Tiananmen , also Tian'anmen, is the entrance gate of the Forbidden City imperial palace complex and Imperial City in the center of Beijing, China. It is widely used as a national symbol. First built in 1420 during the Ming dynasty, Ti ...

("''Gate of Heavenly Peace''") located to its north, which separates it from the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...

. The square contains the

Monument to the People's Heroes The Monument to the People's Heroes () is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of China to the Martyr (China), martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is located in the southern part of Tiana ...

, the

Great Hall of the People The Great Hall of the People is a state building situated to the west of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the government of the People's Republic of China. The People's Great Hall functions as ...

, the

National Museum of China The National Museum of China is an art museum, art and history museum located on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The National Museum of China has a total construction area of about 200,000 square meters, a collection of more than ...

, and the

Mausoleum of Mao Zedong The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (), also known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, is the final resting place of Mao Zedong, who became leader of the Chinese Communist Party during the Chinese Civil War and held that position until dying in 1976. M ...

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

proclaimed the founding of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the square on October 1, 1949; the anniversary of this event is still observed there. The size of Tiananmen Square is 765 x 282 meters (215,730 m² or 53.31 acres). It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. Outside China, the square is best known for the 1989 protests and massacre that ended with a military crackdown due to international media coverage, internet and global connectivity, its political implications, and other factors. Within China, there is a strict censorship of knowledge of the crackdowns by the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

History

Early history

The

("Gate of Heavenly Peace"), a gate in the wall of the Imperial City, was built in 1417 during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

. During the 17th century, fighting between

Li Zicheng Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645), born Li Hongji, also known by his nickname, the Thunder King, was a Chinese Late Ming peasant rebellions, peasant rebel leader who helped overthrow the Ming dynasty in April 1644 and ruled over northe ...

's rebel forces and the forces of the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

-led

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

caused heavy damage to, or even destroyed, the gate. Tiananmen Square was designed and built in 1651 and was enlarged fourfold in the 1950s.Safra, J. (Ed.). (2003). Tiananmen Square. In New

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

, The (15th ed., Chicago: Vol. 11). Encyclopædia Britannica INC. p. 752
Britannica Online version
/ref> The gate historically known as the "Great Ming Gate", the southern gate to the Imperial City stands near the center of the square. It was renamed the "Great Qing Gate" during the Qing dynasty, and the " Gate of China" during the

Republican era Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. Unlike the other gates in

, such as the Tiananmen and the Zhengyang Gate, this was a purely ceremonial gateway, with three arches but no ramparts, similar in style to the ceremonial gateways found in the

Ming tombs The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty of China. The first Ming emperor's tomb is located near his capital Nanjing. However, the majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near Beijing ...

. 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 The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

passed through. Commoner traffic was diverted to side gates at the western and eastern ends of the square, respectively. Because of this diversion in traffic, a busy marketplace, called "Chess Grid Streets", was developed in the large fenced square to the south of this gate.

19th century

In 1860, during the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...

, when British and French troops occupied Beijing, they pitched camp near the gate and briefly considered burning down the gate and the Forbidden City. Ultimately, they decided to spare the Forbidden City and instead burn down the

Old Summer Palace The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China. I ...

. The

Xianfeng Emperor The Xianfeng Emperor (17 July 1831 – 22 August 1861), also known by his temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing, personal name Yizhu, was the eighth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper. During his re ...

eventually agreed to let

Western powers The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...

barrack troops – and later establish diplomatic missions – in the area, hence there was the

Legation Quarter The Peking Legation Quarter was the area in Beijing (Peking), China where a number of foreign legations were located between 1861 and 1959. In the Chinese language, the area is known as ''Dong Jiaomin Xiang'' (), which is the name of the ''hutong ...

immediately to the east of the square. When the forces of the

Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which were being besieged by the popular Boxer ...

besieged Beijing during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

in 1900, they badly damaged the office complexes and burnt down several ministries. After the Boxer Rebellion ended, the area became a space for the Eight-Nation Alliance to assemble their military forces.

20th century

In Beijing, Tiananmen was re-developed from an insular imperial quarter to a larger public space viewed as consistent socialist political. Over the 1950s, the square was quadrupled in size. In 1954, the Gate of China was demolished to allow for the enlargement of the square. In November 1958, a major expansion of Tiananmen Square started, which was completed after only 11 months, in August 1959. This followed the vision of

to make the square the largest and most spectacular in the world and intended to hold over 500,000 people. In that process, a large number of residential buildings and other structures were demolished.Li, M. Lilliam; Dray-Novey, Alison J.; Kong, Haili (2007) ''Beijing: From Imperial Capital to Olympic City'', Palgrave, On its southern edge, the

has been erected. Concomitantly, as part of the

Ten Great Buildings The Ten Great Buildings () are ten public buildings that were built in Beijing in 1959, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. They were part of an architecture and urbanism initiative of Chairman of ...

constructed between 1958 and 1959 to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the

and the Revolutionary History Museum (now the

) were erected on the western and eastern sides of the square. For the first decade of the PRC, each National Day (October 1) was marked by a large military parade in Tiananmen Square, in conscious emulation of the annual Soviet celebrations of the Bolshevik Revolution. After the disaster of the Great Leap Forward, the CCP decided to cut costs and have only smaller annual National Day celebrations in addition to a large celebration with a military parade every 10 years. However, the chaos of the Cultural Revolution almost prevented such an event from taking place on National Day in 1969 but did take place in 1966 and 1970. In 1971, large portraits of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

, and Mao Zedong were erected in the square, painted by artist

Ge Xiaoguang Ge Xiaoguang (; born 1953 in Beijing), is a Chinese artist best known for painting the massive 6 x 4.6-meter portrait of Mao Zedong that hangs at Tiananmen Gate in Tiananmen Square. Education and training Ge Xiaoguang graduated from the Fine Ar ...

, who is also responsible for producing the famous portrait of Mao that hangs over the

Gate of Heavenly Peace The Tiananmen , also Tian'anmen, is the entrance gate of the Forbidden City imperial palace complex and Imperial City in the center of Beijing, China. It is widely used as a national symbol. First built in 1420 during the Ming dynasty, Tia ...

. In 1980, with the downgrading of political ideology following Mao's death, the portraits were taken down and thenceforth only brought out on Labor Day (May 1) and National Day. Ten years later, in 1979, the CCP again decided against a large-scale celebration, coming at a time when

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

was still consolidating power and China had suffered a rebuff in a border war with Vietnam early in the year. By 1984, with the situation much improved and stabilized, the PRC held a military parade for the first time since 1959. The aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre prevented any such activities in October 1989, but military parades have been held in 1999 and 2009, on the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the PRC's founding. One year after Mao's death, a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

was built near the site of the former Gate of China along the main north–south axis of the square. In connection with this project, the square was further increased in size to become fully rectangular and being able to accommodate 600,000 people.

1989 protests and massacre

In 1989, Tiananmen Square was the site of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that culminated in violence and a crackdown by the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

. Following the crackdown, many of the student leaders escaped to the United States with the help of foreign intelligence agencies and other parties through

Operation Yellowbird Operation Yellowbird ( zh, t=黃雀行動) or Operation Siskin was a British Hong Kong–based operation to help the Chinese dissidents who participated in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 to escape arrest by the Chinese government by f ...

. The urban context of the square was altered in the 1990s with the construction of National Grand Theater in its vicinity and the expansion of the National Museum.

Configuration

Used as a venue for mass gatherings since its creation, its flatness is contrasted by both the 38-meter (125 ft)-high "Monument to the People's Heroes" and the "Mausoleum of Mao Zedong". The square lies between two ancient, massive gates: the Tiananmen to the north and the Zhengyangmen, known as

Qianmen Qianmen () is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen (; Manchu: ; Möllendorff:tob šun-i duka, ), a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guarded the southern entry into the Inner Cit ...

, 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 dedicated to Chinese history predating 1919. Erected in 1989, Liberty, a statue representing the western icon previously held her torch over the square.

Visits

Since Dec 15, 2021, visitors must make a reservation before entering the square area.

Events

Tiananmen Square has been the site of a number of notable political events, student protests, and armed conflict. Among the most notable events that have occurred on Tiananmen Square were protests during the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...

in 1919, the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by

on October 1, 1949, the Tiananmen Square protests in 1976 after the death of

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

, and the

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

after the death of

Hu Yaobang Hu Yaobang (20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a Chinese politician who was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the Leader of the Chinese Communist Party, top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from ...

, which was suppressed in a military crackdown. Shortly after the crackdown, a man, dubbed

Tank Man The Tank Man (also known as the Unknown Protester or Unknown Rebel) is the nickname given to an unidentified individual, presumed to be a Chinese man, who stood in front of a column of Type 59 tanks leaving Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June ...

, was photographed obstructing a column of tanks on Chang'an Avenue near the square. Other notable events included annual mass military displays on each anniversary of the 1949 proclamation until October 1, 1959; the 1984

military parade A military parade is a formation of military personnels whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as Drill team, drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the ...

for the

35th anniversary of the People's Republic of China The 35th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on 1 October 1984. A military parade was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebrations were conducted all over the country. China's paramount leader ...

which coincided with the ascendancy of

; military displays and parades on the

50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China The 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on 1 October 1999. A military parade was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebrations were conducted all over the country. General Secretary of the ...

in 1999; the

Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident The 2001 Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, on the eve of Chinese New Year on 23 January 2001. There is controversy over the incident; Chinese government sources say that five members of ...

in 2001; military displays and parades on the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China in 2009, and a terror attack in 2013 involving a vehicle that plowed into pedestrians. In 2023, police detained over 20 people, including Activist

Alexandra Wong Alexandra Wong Fung-yiu (born 16 May 1956), also known as Grandma Wong, is a Hong Kong social activist of the pro-democracy camp. She came to international attention in 2019 for waving a large British flag at pro-democracy protests. She is also ...

, on the 34th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown for "breaching the peace".

Panorama

Image:200401-beijing-tianan-square-overview.jpg, 800px, center, Panorama

image map In HTML and XHTML, an image map is a list of coordinates relating to a specific image, created in order to hyperlink areas of an image to different destinations (as opposed to a normal image link, in which the entire area of the image links to a s ...

of Tiananmen Square from the north atop

's gate tower, showing the square beyond

Chang'an Avenue file:50th anniversary of PRC 1.jpg, 250px, Chang'an Avenue hosts military parades. Here are armoured fighting vehicles leaving Tian'anmen Square during the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, 1999 National Day parade. Chang'an ...

, the

and

Chairman Mao Memorial Hall The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (), also known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, is the final resting place of Mao Zedong, who became leader of the Chinese Communist Party during the Chinese Civil War and held that position until dying in 1976. M ...

(background center), the

(on the left), and

(on the right) (''mouse over for labels'') poly 148 187 471 188 472 219 267 247 150 241

poly 1048 242 1097 238 1168 266 990 278 653 293 412 291 201 270 184 267 261 250 500 259 675 260 933 258 1042 247 1082 245

poly 680 181 684 178 689 181 691 215 707 217 715 221 658 226 664 219 682 217

poly 1136 237 1186 263 1278 250 1273 231 West Chang'an Avenue poly 11 235 32 230 259 250 192 264 East Chang'an Avenue poly 658 224 664 216 681 216 681 179 693 179 692 216 705 216 715 223 727 223 726 185 694 178 672 178 650 191 647 202

poly 905 178 904 211 1113 235 1252 226 1253 191 1235 190 1236 164 1114 152

poly 1237 180 1236 191 1253 191 1253 226 1277 224 1278 188 National Center for the Performing Arts poly 344 249 652 260 924 249 1038 242 821 218 730 227 645 226 627 222 561 226 538 225 298 249

Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square () is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("''Gate of Heavenly Peace''") located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains th ...

poly 299 252 330 255 331 306 302 305 299 309

Huabiao Huabiao () is a type of ceremonial column used in traditional Chinese architecture. ''Huabiao'' are traditionally erected in pairs in front of palaces and tombs. The prominence of their placement have made them one of the emblems of tradition ...

poly 959 249 998 247 1002 309 965 313

poly 1 265 277 373 554 408 905 394 1277 301 1277 427 701 427 435 427 2 426 Tiananmen (Gate Tower) desc top-left

Gallery

File:TiananmenGatePic1.jpg,

gate to the north of Tiananmen Square File:NationalMuseumofChinapic1.jpg,

on the east side of the square File:GreatHallofthePeoplepic2.jpg, The

on the west side of the square File:BeijingTiananmenSquaregatepicture2.jpg,

Zhengyangmen Qianmen () is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen (; Manchu language, Manchu: ; Möllendorff:tob šun-i duka, ), a gate in Beijing's historic Beijing city fortifications, city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once ...

Gate Tower marking the south end of Tiananmen Square File:Monument people's heroes 2.jpg,

and the

occupy the center of the square File:Monument to the People's Heroes.jpg,

File:Mausoleum von Mao Zedong.jpg,

File:Tianamen Square-Monument.jpg, Monument in front of Mao's Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square File:Kaiguodadian.jpg, Students attending the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. File:HammerSickle Tiananmen.jpg, A temporary monument in Tiananmen Square marking the 90th anniversary of the

in 2011 File:National mourning for 2008 Sichuan earthquake victims - Tiananmen Square, Beijing, 2008-05-19.jpg, National mourning on May 19, 2008, for the victims of the

2008 Sichuan earthquake An earthquake occurred in the province of Sichuan, China at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on May 12, 2008. Measuring at 8.0 (7.9–8.3 ), the earthquake's epicenter was located boxing the compass, west-northwest of Chengdu, the provincial ...

File:November 29 student demonstration, Tiananmen Square.jpg, Students gather for a demonstration in Tiananmen Square, –1919.

References

External links

*Photo of young people at May Day Parade, 195

*Photo of May Day Parade, 195

*Photo of May Day Parade, 195

* {{Coord, 39, 54, 12, N, 116, 23, 30, E, type:landmark, display=title Tiananmen Square, 1415 establishments in Asia 15th-century establishments in China Dongcheng District, Beijing National squares National symbols of the People's Republic of China Squares in Beijing Tourist attractions in Beijing