Chen Mingyuan is a Chinese scholar who works in various disciplines such as linguistics, mathematics, informatics, computer sciences, and modern poetry. On April 23, 1989, Chen gave a speech at Peking University, expressing his support for the student movements and criticisms of the government. This speech was considered a trigger for the later escalation of the student movement in 1989.
Early life
Chen was born on January 5, 1941, in Shanghai. Chen graduated from Shanghai Middle School in 1958, and then earned his mathematics degree at ShanghaiTech University in 1963. Chen also formed a cross-age friendship in his adolescence with the prominent scholar and poet, Guo Moruo because of their shared interests in poetry writing. Later, he studied Chinese linguistics at Peking University. In 1978, he was assigned a position at the Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences as an associate researcher. In 1982, Chen became a professor in the department of linguistics in Beijing Language and Culture College. His book The Economic Life of Liberators was considered the best published work on the economic status of such prominent scholars such as Lu Xun, Kang Youwei, and Cai Yuanpei. Chen was accused of being a counterrevolutionary activist during the Cultural Revolution because his poetry style was similar to that of Mao Zedong.
During the protests
Chen openly supported the student protests in 1989. When students became hesitant to continue their protests after mourning the death of Hu Yaobang, Chen encouraged them not to give up, but to continue their actions. On April 23, 1989, Chen gave an emotional speech at the Triangle in Peking University to the students. In his speech, Chen stated that intellectuals and students must not stay silent but speak out. First of all, Chen criticized the official mouthpieces such as China Central Television which falsely labelled the student protests as being anti-government in nature. Chen argued that the demonstration, petition, and the mourning for Hu Yaobang were spontaneous actions and there were no "black hands" behind them. Thus, Chen described CCTV as the shameless mouthpiece of the government, who had lost their consciences and had lied to the public for decades. Furthermore, Chen argued that social problems such as inflation, profiteering businesses, insufficient educational funds, and wealth polarization were caused by the immoral and corrupted officials and their relatives. The government restricted freedom of speech and democracy because officials feared their scandals would be exposed. To conclude, Chen encouraged students to continue their actions such as boycotting classes and participating demonstrations and to refuse comprise with the government. At the very end of his speech, he shouted the slogan "give us liberty or give us death" and "long live students" to the protestors. According to Chai Ling's memoir, Chen's speech was "interrupted many times by thunderous applause." During his speech, Chen compared himself to Wen Yiduo, a scholar who was assassinated by the Kuomintang secret agencies because of his anti-government speech during the Chinese Civil War in 1946. As Chen said: “I will be responsible for every word I said, and I am not afraid of any possible consequence including death. I am already forty-eight years old now, I am luckier than Mr. Wen who had sacrificed his life when he was forty-seven." Chen's speech was recorded and later disseminated to all major universities in Beijing and other cities as well. Wang Dan, one prominent student leader, recalled that students' confidence and motivation were restored after hearing Chen's expressive speech. Student leaders such as Liu Gang hoped other prominent scholars would also give similar speeches to students, but most scholars rejected the request and thought that Chen was too radical. Fang Lizhi, another famous scholar in Beijing, consistently warned Liu against the radicalization of students by speakers and scholars like Chen, or else some unwanted consequences might occur.
After the protest
Chen was arrested after the crackdown on the student protests, and was detained in Qincheng Prison, a maximum-security prison in Changping, Beijing, with other dissenters including Liu Xiaobo and Liu Gang. According to Liu Gang's memoir, Chen pretended to be mentally ill and declared that all his wrong behaviors had been caused by his uncontrollable madness. Chen was eventually released, but the length of his sentence and the time of his release remain unknown. Guo Moruo's son, Guo Pingying, sued against Chen in 1997 because Chen called himself the co-author of Xin Chao, a collection of modern poems translated and written by Guo Moruo. Three former secretaries of Guo Moruo testified that there was no collaboration between Guo and Chen for this book. Chen lost the case and abandoned his appeal in June 1997. In 2008, Chen criticized a prominent scholar of Chinese linguistics and cultures, Yu Qiuyu by arguing that Yu misused the concepts of culture and civilization to justify his pseudo-proposition that Chinese culture was the only continuous culture in the world in the last 3,000 years.
