ABSTRACT
Historical analogies contributed still further to the mythologization process. Both the students and their opponents insisted from the start that their actions be understood in the light of history. The tale the authorities told appeared a cynical fabrication designed to justify an abhorrent act, a myth that should concern us only because it might mislead certain sectors of the Chinese population. The Julius Caesar, and King Lear have centered on high politics and emphasized the actions of top officials. Other kinds of tragic narratives of Tiananmen focus instead upon the character and behavior of the student protesters. The course of events in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet provides a useful outline for one such student-centered version of the events. A different set or attempts to demythologize the events of 1989 focuses on specific aspects of the protests or the crackdown rather than particular kinds of mythmakers.
