The Democracy Wall (Chinese: 西單民主牆(西单民主墙); pinyin: xī dān mín zhǔ qiáng) was a long brick wall on Xidan Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, which became the focus for democratic dissent. Beginning in October 1978, in line with the Communist Party of China's policy of "seeking truth from facts," activists in the Democracy movement—such as Xu Wenli—recorded news and ideas, often in the form of big-character posters (dazibao), during a period known as the "Beijing Spring". The first posting on the Wall was by a poet from Guizhou province named Huang Xiang.
Read more about Democracy Wall: Huang Xiang, Nepal
Famous quotes containing the words democracy and/or wall:
“In a democracy—even if it is a so-called democracy like our white-élitist one—the greatest veneration one can show the rule of law is to keep a watch on it, and to reserve the right to judge unjust laws and the subversion of the function of the law by the power of the state. That vigilance is the most important proof of respect for the law.”
—Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)
“When all this is over, you know what I’m going to do? I’m gonna get married, gonna have about six kids. I’ll line ‘em up against the wall and tell them what it was like here in Burma. If they don’t cry, I’ll beat the hell out of ‘em.”
—Samuel Fuller, U.S. screenwriter, and Milton Sperling. Samuel Fuller. Barney, Merrill’s Marauders (1962)