Goddess of Democracy

The Goddess of Democracy, also known as the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom, the Spirit of Democracy,^[1] and the Goddess of Liberty (自由女神; zìyóu nǚshén^[1]), was a 10-metre-tall (33 ft) statue created during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The statue was constructed over four days out of foam and papier-mâché over a metal armature and was unveiled and erected on Tiananmen Square on May 30, 1989. The constructors decided to make the statue as large as possible to try to dissuade the government from dismantling it: the government would either have to destroy the statue—an action which would potentially fuel further criticism of its policies—or leave it standing. Nevertheless, the statue was destroyed on June 4, 1989, by soldiers clearing the protesters from Tiananmen square. Since its destruction, numerous replicas and memorials have been erected around the world, including in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Vancouver.^[2]

For Hong Kong replicas of the same name, see Goddess of Democracy (Hong Kong).

Goddess of Democracy

民主女神

mínzhǔ nǚshén

Minchu Nüshen

[mǐnʈʂỳ nỳʂə̌n]

民主精神

mínzhǔ jīngshén

Minchu Chingshen

Fall of the Goddess[edit]

The soldiers were able to fulfill their timeline of reaching the Square on June 4, 1989, by 1 a.m. through the use of tanks and armored personnel carriers. The Goddess of Democracy had stood for only five days before being destroyed by soldiers of the People's Liberation Army in the assault on Tiananmen that would end the Democracy Movement.^[4] The toppling of the Goddess of Democracy was seen by millions across the world on television: "pushed by a tank, it fell forward and to the right, so that its hands and the torch struck the ground first, breaking off."^[4] As the statue fell, protestors shouted "Down with Fascism!" and "Bandits! Bandits!"^[6] It was "quickly and easily reduced to rubble, mixing with all the other rubble in the Square. To be cleared away by the Army".^[4] By 5:40 a.m. a negotiated settlement allowed the remaining students to leave by the south-eastern corner of the square. The army had fulfilled its order to clear the Square by 6:00 am. Clashes continued throughout the city and in other towns across China.^[6]

A replica erected at a vigil attended by tens of thousands of people in on June 4, 1996. It was removed 23 December 2021.^[8]

Victoria Park, Hong Kong

was begun in 1989, dedicated in 1994, by Thomas Marsh, leading a group of volunteers. Standing in Portsmouth Square, in San Francisco's Chinatown, it weighs approximately 600 pounds (272 kg) and bears the inscription, "Dedicated to Those Who Strive For and Cherish Human Rights and Democracy."

A bronze sculpture

A copy at the , erected by the school's Alma Mater Society. This is a 2.7 metre (9') epoxy and white marble dust mixture replica erected in 1991.^[9] In 2018, the UBC student newspaper detailed the tensions around the piece.^[10] In 2019, one of the Grad Class Gifts to the UBC Vancouver campus included "$5,000 to be allocated to the revitalization of the Goddess of Democracy and a Tiananmen Square 30-year recognition ceremony."^[11]

University of British Columbia

A gilded replica stood in the foyer of the Student Centre at in Toronto, Ontario. It was removed in 2011 (allegedly due to its deteriorating condition) and replaced outdoors by a smaller bronze replica outside the Student Centre in June 2012.^[12]

York University

A replica of the San Francisco statue was erected in an outdoor museum in Arlington, Virginia, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the protests.^[13]

Freedom Park

An unknown artist's copy was erected at the University of Calgary in 1995, commemorating students who died in the uprisings six years earlier.

fiberglass

A sculpture of a figure wearing native Taiwanese dress, but standing in a two-handed torch-bearing pose recalling the Goddess of Democracy, was erected in advance of the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The start of the games coincided with the twentieth anniversary of the events in China.^[14]

lantern

Two small-scale replicas were built and set up in Hong Kong in 2010 for the Tiananmen Square protests memorial gatherings, but were confiscated by the Hong Kong Police Force after a public display at Public Space. It was subsequently returned due to serious public opinion pressure, and was displayed at the vigil on June 4, 2010, at Victoria Park. After the candle night memorial gathering, the new 3-meter (10') bronze statue of the Goddess of Democracy was moved to the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus for permanent display at its entrance of University Train Station. The erection of this bronze statue of the Goddess of Democracy was not approved by the university administration but 2000 Chinese university students, staff and alum with many other Hong Kong citizen worked together after the Victoria Park gathering to guard the statue to move to Chinese University campus.

Times Square

The Democracy Award given by the National Endowment for Democracy is a small-scale replica of the Goddess of Democracy.

[15]

A 10 ft (3-meter) bronze replica, , is in Washington, D.C.

Victims of Communism Memorial

An version of the statue created by the artists collective 4Gentlemen, part of Tiananmen SquARed, a two part augmented reality public art project and memorial.^[16]

augmented reality

The original statue has become an icon of liberty and a symbol of free speech and democracy movements.^[7] The Chinese government has tried to distance itself from any discussions about the original statue or about the Tiananmen Square protests, and in the case of the Victims of Communism Memorial it called the building of a replica an "attempt to defame China".^[7]

Several replicas of the statue have been erected worldwide to commemorate the events of 1989:

Tsao Tsing-yuan, an advisor to the students who built the original, writes "I myself envision a day when another replica, as large as the original and more permanent, stands in Tiananmen Square, with the names of those who died there written in gold on its base. It may well stand there after the Chairman Mao's Mausoleum has, in its turn, been pulled down."^[4]