Bullets and Opium

by Liao Yiwu

  76. Zhang Weihua, male, 24, master’s student at the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center in Beijing

  Zhang was shot in the abdomen early on the morning of June 4 on Lishi Road. He died on the spot.

  77. Zhang XX, male, 19, student in business management at the College of Commerce

  Soldiers with clubs attacked Zhang and others in a long line of students retreating from Tiananmen to Liubukou early on the morning of June 4. Zhang turned and ran but received a blow to the top of his head. He fell to the ground. A gun was aimed at his throat and fired. Zhang stopped breathing while being carried to the Beijing Emergency Medical Center.

  78. Gong Jifang, female, 19, student in business management at the College of Commerce

  Gong was one in a long line of students retreating from Tiananmen to Liubukou on the morning of June 4, when they ran into a fierce attack. A dumdum bullet hit and severed Gong’s left arm. She fell down, was overcome by a cloud of poison gas, and lost consciousness. The cause of death, given on her death certificate, was lung erosion caused by poison gas.

  79. Jiang XX, male, 26, master’s student at the China School of Journalism

  Jiang was shot and killed in the area of Jianguomenwai Avenue on the evening of June 3.

  80. Liu Chunyong, male, 24, bath attendant at the Nantong Service Complex in the Tianqiao District of Beijing

  On the evening of June 3, Liu was at the main terminal for the No. 15 bus line, near the Tianqiao District, when a volley of bullets from People’s Liberation Army troops advancing from the south hit him. His head was blown open.

  81. Chen Laishun, male, 23, photography student in the journalism department at Renmin University of China

  On the evening of June 3, on the roof of an apartment on the western side of the Great Hall of the People, Chen raised his camera to record the bloodbath, when he was shot in the head by a marksman’s bullet. He died instantly.

  82. Liang Baoxing, male, 25, driver for the Huafeng Sewing Machine Factory in Beijing

  A bullet went through Liang’s cheeks on the evening of June 3, near the terminal for the No. 15 bus, close to the Tianqiao District. He died on June 5.

  83. Luan Yiwei, male, 35, engineer at the Steel Design Research Institute in Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

  Luan, who had come to Beijing on a business trip, went to the Nanchizi area in the predawn hours of June 4 to see the street scene amid clouds of gun smoke. He was hit in the waist by a stray bullet. He died at Beijing Tongren Hospital after emergency treatment failed.

  84. Su Jinjian, male, 25, graduate in electronics from the Beijing Vocational High School; self-employed clothing entrepreneur

  Under circumstances still unknown, Su was hit in the head by a bullet on the night of June 3 and taken to Beijing Friendship Hospital, where he soon died. The hospital labeled him “Anonymous Corpse No. 1.” His father spent two weeks searching for him at dozens of hospitals.

  85. Zhang Luohong, female, 30, employee at the Beijing General Political Department Sanatorium for Retired Cadres

  Zhang was killed on the night of June 3 in Muxidi. The details of her death are unknown.

  86. Wang Zhiying, male, 35, lathe operator and well-known as a “model worker” at the Beijing Third General Machinery Factory

  Wang and his wife were on their way from his mother-in-law’s home in the Xuanwumen area back to their own house on the east side of Zhushikou at midnight on June 3. They had almost arrived, when they ran into martial law troops heading north and sweeping the streets with gunfire. Although the couple tried to dodge the bullets and hid behind a van, a bullet drilled into Wang from the side, hitting his carotid artery.

  Wang was initially taken to the Qianmen Hospital but could not be helped because of all the people who were being treated. He was then taken to Beijing Tongren Hospital, where he died due to massive blood loss, the first victim to die at that hospital that night.

  87. Wang Hongqi, male, 21, worker at the Leather Research Institute in the Haidian District of Beijing

  Wang finished his shift at midnight on June 3 and was returning home, when a bullet went through his chest. The next day the family received a phone call from an eyewitness and went to the Navy Hospital to identify and recover his remains.

  88. Li Shuzhen, female, 51, cafeteria worker at a unit of the Beijing Water Supply Company

  Li and her husband went out on their bicycles on the night of June 3. Near the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution they were attacked by martial law snipers. Three bullets struck her. On the way to emergency treatment at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications hospital, she stopped breathing.

  89. Ma Chengfen, female, 55, retired cadre of the People’s Liberation Army general political department in Beijing

  Ma joined the PLA in 1949, crossing the Yalu River while fighting in the Korean War. In 1953, after the cease-fire, she returned to China and became a PLA railroad engineer corps soldier.

  As was her habit during the summertime, Ma went out with neighbors on the night of June 3 to relax in the cool courtyard of the compound where she lived. She was in high spirits, when disaster struck. Bullets from a passing convoy struck her in the abdomen. Her intestines spilled out on the ground. Ma’s murder deeply shocked her husband. Several times he wrote letters to higher authorities, in accordance with military regulations, to report on this outrage. He wanted the matter to be investigated, but it was like throwing a rock into the ocean. There were no two ways about it. In an instant, this outstanding servant of the People’s Republic had become a disgrace. In 1992 the family had Ma buried at their own expense in the Jinshan Public Cemetery in Beijing.

  90. Guo XX, male, 22, Beijing resident; personal details unknown

  Guo was shot and killed at the intersection of Fuxing Road and Yongding Road at a little past nine p.m. on June 3. The details are unclear.

  91. Yang Zhenjiang, male, 32, service worker at the Huaiyangchun Restaurant in Beijing

  Yang and some colleagues ran into barrages of bullets from army trucks passing through Muxidi early on the morning of June 4. A bullet hit Yang in his left thigh, piercing an artery. He was sent to the Navy General Hospital for emergency treatment, which proved ineffective. On June 6 Yang’s family found his body. His cremated remains were stored in the columbarium at the Wan’an Public Cemetery.

  92. Li Li, female, 20, student at the Chengdu Electronics and Communications Engineering Institute in Sichuan

  Li went with her boyfriend on the morning of June 4 to the square by South Renmin Road in Chengdu. Suddenly a conflict broke out between the People’s Armed Police anti-riot squad and a large crowd of demonstrators. The police threw several tear gas grenades to disperse the crowd. Li was caught by the police as she fled the plaza, then she was beaten and fainted. Soon the crowd took her to the hospital for emergency treatment, but her wounds were too serious, and she died that night. Her school held a memorial meeting for her. Her parents came from Guizhou Province to retrieve her ashes so they could be buried in her hometown.

  93. Kou Xia, female, 31, teacher at the Xisibei Nursery School, Beijing

  On the night of June 3, while Kou was walking on the sidewalk across the street from the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution, a bullet tore through her abdomen. She was immediately taken to the Beijing Railway General Hospital for emergency treatment but could not be saved. She died at five p.m. on June 4.

  94. Han Qiu, male, 25, salesperson at the Jiamusi City Nailery in Heilongjiang Province

  Han came to Beijing on business late in the student strike. Early on the morning of June 4, he was shot in the head at an unknown location.

  95. Liu Jinhua, female, 34, employee at the Third Cadre Retirement Home of the People’s Liberation Army general political department in Baishiqiao, Beijing

  Liu went with her husband from their home in Balizhuang to her aunt’s home in Yongdingmenwai at nine p.m. on June 3 to get medicine for their child
. While passing through Xidan, the couple ran into martial law troops, who were slaughtering innocent people. The couple returned home. They waited until eleven p.m. and went out again, and again ran into gunfire from martial law troops, this time near the Yanjing Hotel in Muxidi. Pedestrians fell one by one. The couple fled into a small alley next to Building no. 21 in Muxidi. The soldiers chased them, still shooting. Liu was shot in the forehead and died instantly. Her husband, hit by several bullets, was seriously wounded. He was taken to a hospital and saved.

  96. Wang Tiejun, male, age unknown, employee in the Muxidi passenger office of the Beijing Railway Bureau

  Wang was working the night shift at his unit on June 3. Out of curiosity, he went up to the roof with a telescope to watch the martial law troops enter the city. A sharpshooter saw him and killed him with one shot.

  97. Huang Tao, male, age unknown, a university student in Beijing from Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province

  Huang was killed in the early morning hours of June 4. The details of his death are unknown.

  98. Tao Zhigan, male, 24, a university student in Beijing from Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province

  Tao was killed in the early morning hours of June 4. The details of his death are not known.

  99. Xu Jianping, male, 19, a university student in Beijing; personal details unknown.

  Xu was killed during the predawn hours of June 4. Bullets blew away half his face and then he was flattened by a tank. His flesh and bones were embedded in the street.

  100. He Guo, male, 27, worker at a grain shop in the Yuetan neighborhood of Beijing

  Guo was killed at midnight on June 3 or early on June 4, when he was shot as he passed through Muxidi. His remains were found at Fuxing Hospital.

  101. Li Hui, male, 19, recent graduate from a law school in Beijing

  At eleven p.m. on June 4, Li suddenly heard gunfire. He asked his brother Li Ming to go out with him, and they left their parents’ home in the dormitory of the People’s Public Security University of China, in Muxidi, to find out what was going on. Soon afterward a stray bullet entered his left cheek and exited his ear. His brother was shot in the left leg at the same time. More than an hour later, the family found Li’s body at Fuxing Hospital.

  102. Luo Wei, male, 30, assistant engineer at the Beijing Semiconductor Materials Factory

  Luo was shot on the night of June 4 while riding a bicycle along the western side of Chang’an Avenue. The Guang’anmen Hospital issued a relatively detailed death certificate: “Gunshot to the abdomen, not immediately fatal; two bullets removed from the abdomen; one was a dumdum bullet that exploded in the abdomen, damaging the liver, kidneys, gallbladder, stomach, and digestive tract. An operation was performed to treat his liver and stomach, but he could not be saved. He died of acute kidney failure.”

  103. Qi Wen, male, 16, student at Beijing Railroad Middle School No. 3

  Qi was killed on the night of June 3 by a bullet that struck him as he passed through Muxidi. His remains were found at Fuxing Hospital.

  104. Liu Zhanmin, male, 38, employee of the China National Metals and Minerals Import and Export Corporation in Beijing

  Between three and four a.m. on June 4, Liu got a call from his wife, who had just given birth. Excited, he rushed from his home at No. 44 Dongsi Liutiao to his mother-in-law’s home on the southern end of Dong Si Liu Tiao. Nothing was heard from him after that. Three days later his family found his body at Peking Union Medical College Hospital labeled “No. 21.” The cause of death was a bullet to the right side of Liu’s jaw. Those who were there remember seeing that the hospital had put on display more than forty photographs of corpses with such serial numbers.

  105. Shi Yan, male, 27, musician in the song-and-dance ensemble of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force political work department

  During the early hours of June 4, Shi was shot in the head at an unknown location. A Red Cross ambulance took him to Beijing People’s Hospital for emergency treatment. He could not be saved. Later he was cremated at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing.

  106. Ren Jianmin, male, 30, peasant from Chenzhuangzi Village, Dingzhou, Hebei Province

  Ren was traveling in Inner Mongolia during the student strike, visiting his ethnically Mongolian wife, who had just given birth to their child. Just after enjoying his first taste of fatherhood, he was returning to his hometown in Hebei Province during the early morning hours. Passing through Beijing to change buses, he ran into martial law troops, who shot him in the abdomen, causing his intestines to erupt. He was sent to Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The examining physician pronounced him dead on arrival and sent him to the morgue. Then suddenly he “came to life.”

  When Ren’s family heard the news, they rushed to the hospital—but since they had no money, they could not afford to keep him there for further treatment. Ren’s brother-in-law took him back home to Hebei. During this so-called period of convalescence at home, the bullet hole in his abdomen continued to fester. He couldn’t stand the endless pain, and so, after the Mid-Autumn Festival that year, he hung himself.

  107. Sun Tie, male, 26, employee of the headquarters office of the Bank of China in Beijing; People’s Liberation Army veteran

  On the evening of June 3, Sun came across troops killing people in front of the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution. With a friend, he fled into the nearby Beijing General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, but before they had a chance to catch their breath, the soldiers caught up with them and attacked. No other details are known.

  108. XX, male, age and other details not disclosed by the family, high school student at Beijing High School No. 190

  This boy was the son of the captain at a Beijing police precinct station. During the night of June 3, out of his deep love for his father, he disregarded the martial law order and went out to look for his parent, who sternly reproved him and kept him in the station until early the next day. The father thought that calm had been restored and ordered one of his policemen to escort his son home. Walking in the area of Nanheyan Street, the boy was shot and killed.

  109. Su Shengji, male, 43, a journalist who worked at the Residential Construction News in the Asian Games Village, Beijing

  Su was discussing work at a friend’s house on Songshu Street in Xinjiekou late in the day on June 3. When night fell, the emergency martial law notice was announced on television, so Su headed back home. That was the last anyone heard of him. Su’s family searched for him for many years, but they never saw him again, either alive or dead.

  110. Ren Wenlian, male, 19, freshman in the mining department of the University of Science and Technology Beijing

  Ren was killed early in the morning on June 4. The details of his death are unknown.

  111. Huang Peipu, male, age unknown, living in Huang Zhuang in Dongran Village, Sijiqing Gongshe, in the Haidian District of Beijing

  Huang was killed before dawn on June 4. The details of his death are unknown.

  112. Zheng Chunfu, male, 37, squad leader of the Old Buildings Construction Brigade at the former imperial palace in Beijing

  Zheng left his home on Yanyue Lane in the eastern district of Beijing after eleven p.m. on June 3 and was never seen again. For years his family looked for him in the hospitals and crematoria of the Beijing region but never found him.

  113. Name unknown, male, 16, student at the Beijing Construction Industry School

  This boy was shot at an unknown location on the night of June 3. With two bullets in his body, he was sent to the People’s Liberation Army Air Force General Hospital for emergency treatment, which proved ineffective.

  114. Cao Zhenping, male, 29, employee at the computer center of the Beijing College of Agricultural Machinery Engineering; People’s Liberation Army veteran

  During the night of June 3, just as Cao was bending over to support the neck of a female journalist who had been shot, he himself was shot in the back. Immediately after, his lower abdomen was blown apart by a dum
dum bullet.

  115. Li Zhenying, male, 45, technician at the instrumentation factory at the People’s Liberation Army’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Beijing

  Li went to the hospital on the night of June 3 to get medicine for his child. At around ten p.m. he was seen standing at the northern entrance of the 301 Hospital (People’s Liberation Army General Hospital). As he chatted with a guard, a martial law convoy came from the west and fired indiscriminately. Struck, the guard staggered like a drunk, and Li quickly steadied him. He had just barely managed to say, “What’s going on?” when the two men fell to the ground dead simultaneously, looking as if they had been fighting.

  116. Yang Ruting, male, 41, administrative section chief at the Beijing No.1 Machine Tool Electrical Apparatus Factory Limited Company

  Yang went outside for a walk at eleven p.m. on June 3 because he was curious about what was happening. When he had reached the Fuxingmen overpass, two bullets struck him; one went through his lungs and the other broke an arm. When his remains were discovered, there was a large hole straight through his chest to his back.

  117. Wang Qingzeng, male, 34, driver for the Tiantan Staple Food Control Office

  Wang rode his bicycle from his home in the Zhushikou district at eleven p.m. on June 3 to report for the night shift. When he passed along the section of road facing Rubber Factory No. 8, wild gunfire was coming from the south. Wang was shot through the stomach.

  118. Zhou Deping, male, age unknown, master’s student in the Radio Electronics Department at Tsinghua University

  On the night of June 3, Zhou ignored warnings from his school and went out by himself. He was killed by a shot to the head at an unknown location.

  119. Wang Wenming, male, 35, mold fitter at the Beijing Qianjin Shoe Factory

  When the sound of gunfire reached his home at midnight on June 3, Wang, who had never been in a war, invited a neighbor to go with him to Zhushikou to see the real thing. They were hit by gunfire. A bullet went through the ribs on Wang’s left side and out the right side. A physician removed over six feet of his intestine but couldn’t go any further. Wang’s high fever would not go down. He died the following night. After Wang was cremated, his ashes were returned for burial to his home area of Wen’an County in Hebei Province.