Tiananmen

See also: Tian'anmen and Tiān'ānmén

English

Tian'anmen

Alternative forms

• Tian'anmen (Hanyu Pinyin, official)
• Tienanmen, T'ien-an-men, T'ienanmen, T'ien-an Men (Wade–Giles)

Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation for 天安門／天安门 (Tiān'ānmén), literally "the gate of Heaven's peacemaking" or conventionally: "the gate of heavenly peace", without syllable-dividing mark (隔音符號／隔音符号 (géyīn fúhào)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtjɛnənmən/, enPR: tyěnʹänʹmǔnʹ

Proper noun

Tiananmen

1. A gate near the Forbidden City, Beijing, China.
   • 1993 December 27, Steven Mufson, “CHINA MARKS CENTENARY OF MAO'S BIRTH”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-17‎^[2]:

     In 1966, Mao sanctioned the start of the Cultural Revolution, a campaign against entrenched party interests and "capitalist-roaders" that brought China to the brink of civil war and ruined lives and careers.
     All the while, he nurtured a personality cult. People carried around his "Little Red Book" of quotations; Mao thought was studied in schools, and his portrait hung on the Tiananmen gate in front of the former imperial palace. It hangs there still.

   • 2006, Philip Dodd, Ben Donald, The Book of Cities‎^[3], New York (printed in China): MJF Books, →ISBN, page 241:

     Like many Beijing landmarks - the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Literary Glory, the Hall of Martial Valour - Tiananmen's name, "The Gate of Heavenly Peace", is abstract and absolute, an appellation bequeathed by Mao Zedong, "The Great Helmsman," whose cult still lives on in his mausoleum in the square, and in the sale of kitsch Maomorabilia.

   • 2019 June 1, Krysta Fauria, Christopher Bodeen, “‘Tank man’ photographer urges China to open up on Tiananmen”, in AP News‎^[4], archived from the original on 2021-12-01‎^[5]:

     His May 30, 1989, photo captured the “Goddess of Democracy,” the students’ version of the Statue of Liberty, facing the portrait of Communist China’s first leader, Mao Zedong, on the massive Tiananmen gate.

   • 2019 October 1, Didi Tang, “Hong Kong shooting blights Beijing’s big day”, in The Times‎^[6], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 August 2021‎^[7]:

     “Today the socialist China stands tall in the world’s east,” Mr Xi, 66, told cheering crowds from Tiananmen Gate as he delivered a speech invoking the “Chinese dream” of national rejuvenation from the rostrum where Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

   • 2020 September 15, “Britain warns it citizens of risk of arbitrary detention in China”, in Reuters‎^[8], archived from the original on 2020-09-16, China‎^[9]:

     FILE PHOTO: A Union flag and a Chinese flag on a pole with security cameras in front of a portrait of late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong at the Tiananmen gate, during a visit to China by the then British prime minister, Theresa May, in Beijing, January 31, 2018.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Tiananmen.
2. Short for Tiananmen Square.
   • 2001, Jasper Becker, ‘‘Comrade Jiang Zemin does indeed seem a proper choice’, London Review of Books[10], vol. 23, no. 10:

     Jiang Zemin has almost managed to make the event disappear down an Orwellian memory hole. Even in Western countries, sub-editors have taken to calling it the ‘Tiananmen crackdown’, rather than ‘massacre’, making it seem as insignificant as the endless stories about routine ‘crackdowns’ on smuggling, prostitution, counterfeit goods, VAT forms or corruption, which provide the stuff of daily reporting here in China.

   • 2015 August 25, Chris Buckley, “China Shares an Eclectic Guest List for World War II Parade”, in The New York Times‎^[11], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-24‎^[12]:

     The parade will feature more than 10,000 Chinese troops who will pass by the rostrum at Tiananmen as close to 200 military aircraft fly overhead.

   • 2021 June 4, Amanda Rivkin, “Hong Kong marks Tiananmen anniversary — in pictures”, in Deutsche Welle‎^[13], archived from the original on 2021-06-04, News‎^[14]:

     Despite a ban on vigils by Beijing, Hong Kong residents found ways to remember the massacre that took place in Tiananmen 32 years ago.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Tiananmen.

Usage notes

Tiananmen can be considered a misspelling of Tian'anmen. In theory, a syllable-dividing mark (隔音符號／隔音符号 (géyīn fúhào)) should be added before a non-initial syllable beginning with a, o, or e. Hence, Tiananmen is not allowed since a word made up of tian, an and men would be spelled as Tian'anmen (cf. Tian'anmen), a word made up of ti, an, an and men would be spelled as Ti'an'anmen and a word made up of ti, a, nan and men would be spelled as Ti'ananmen. In practice, syllable-dividing marks are often added or omitted at will.

Derived terms

• Tiananmen Square

Translations

gate

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 天安門／天安门 (zh) (Tiān'ānmén)

• German: Tor des Himmlischen Friedens n
• Japanese: 天安門 (てんあんもん, Ten'anmon)
• Korean: 천안문(天安門) (Cheonanmun)
• Manchu: ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ
  ᡝᠯᡥᡝ
  ᠣᠪᡠᡵᡝ
  ᡩᡠᡴᠠ (abkai elhe obure duka)
• Russian: Тяньаньмэ́нь m (Tjanʹanʹmɛ́nʹ)
• Uyghur: تيەنئەنمېن (tyen'enmën)
• Vietnamese: Thiên An Môn (天安門)

Further reading

• Tiananmen, Tiananmen Square, Tian'anmen, Tian'anmen Square at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.
• “Tian’anmen, not Tiananmen”, in Pinyin.info‎^[15], 2009 June 2, archived from the original on 2009-06-05‎^[16]: “Microsoft Word certainly isn’t helping matters, as it flags the correct form (Tian’anmen) as a misspelling but does not flag the apostrophe-less form (Tiananmen). Indeed, if you ask the program to help you with the supposedly misspelled “Tian’anmen”, it suggests “Tiananmen”.”

Anagrams

• Mantinean