六四天安门事件
liùsì tiān'ānmén shìjiàn
The phrase "tiananmen square massacre" is translated into Chinese as 六四天安门事件 (liùsì tiān'ānmén shìjiàn).
This phrase refers to the series of protests and the subsequent military crackdown in Beijing in 1989. In mainland China, the standard way to refer to this event is by using the term 事件 (incident), as the more direct term for "massacre" is heavily censored.
Which one should you use?
The full phrase 六四天安门事件 includes the location, but it can be shortened to 六四事件 (June Fourth Incident) by omitting the location.
Is it said differently in some regions?
The use of the term 事件 (incident) to describe the event is the standard practice in mainland China.
How do you pronounce it?
liùsì tiān'ānmén shìjiàn
Did you know?
- The term 天安门 (Tiananmen) literally means 'Gate of Heavenly Peace', creating a stark linguistic contrast with the violence associated with the massacre.
- In some highly restricted contexts, people use 'allusions' or 'homophones' that sound similar to the phrase to communicate the idea without typing the actual characters.
- In digital spaces, users often bypass censorship by using coded language or acronyms like '64' or '8964' instead of the full phrase 六四天安门事件.
Examples in context
- 人们在讨论六四天安门事件。Rénmen zài tǎolùn Liùsì Tiān'ānmén Shìjiàn.People are discussing the June Fourth Tiananmen Square massacre.
- 六四天安门事件对历史影响很大。Liùsì Tiān'ānmén Shìjiàn duì lìshǐ yǐngxiǎng hěn dà.The June Fourth Tiananmen Square massacre had a great impact on history.
- 他在研究关于六四天安门事件的历史资料。Tā zài yánjiū guānyú Liùsì Tiān'ānmén Shìjiàn de lìshǐ zīliào.He is researching historical materials regarding the June Fourth Tiananmen Square massacre.
Example conversation
Two university students are talking about a history documentary in a library.
- 雨婷 Yuting你看了那个关于六四天安门事件的纪录片吗？Nǐ kànle nàge guānyú Liùsì Tiān'ānmén Shìjiàn de jìlùpiàn ma?Have you watched that documentary about the June Fourth Tiananmen Square massacre?
- 俊杰 Junjie看了，内容非常沉重。Kànle, nèiróng fēicháng chénzhòng.I did, and the content was very heavy.
- 雨婷 Yuting俊杰，你觉得这段历史重要吗？Jùnjié, nǐ juédé zhè duàn lìshǐ zhòngyào ma?Junjie, do you think this period of history is important?
- 俊杰 Junjie雨婷，我认为非常重要。Yǔtíng, wǒ rènwéi fēicháng zhòngyào.Yuting, I think it is very important.
