The Aftermath of Zhao Ziyang: A Reflection of Communist Rule

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Zhao Ziyang’s House Arrest

Everyone knows that after Zhao Ziyang was removed from office in 1989, he was placed under house arrest in a siheyuan (courtyard house) at No. 6 Fuqiang Hutong in Beijing. Armed police stood guard at the entrance. He was allowed to move around within the courtyard but was generally prohibited from meeting outsiders. Any visitors needed special approval. Even some of his old friends had to go through bureaucratic hurdles just to chat with him.

Before the Tiananmen Square crackdown, Zhao Ziyang urged the students to withdraw. Standing to his left was Wen Jiabao.

At one point, when the political climate loosened slightly, he was briefly allowed to travel south. However, when he arrived, he received an enthusiastic welcome from senior Party officials, which alarmed Beijing. Authorities quickly revoked his permission to travel, fearing that his influence remained too strong within the Party. This realization—that even years after his removal, he still commanded significant respect—prompted the government to tighten its restrictions on him once again.

During his years under house arrest, Zhao took advantage of visits from close friends to record his recollections of internal Party affairs. These recordings were later compiled into a memoir, which became an essential historical document for studying the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Zhao Ziyang’s Burial Controversy

On January 17, 2005, Zhao Ziyang passed away, having spent 16 years in house arrest. Yet, even after his death, his ashes remained unburied, stored in his home at No. 6 Fuqiang Hutong. The authorities initially proposed that he could be buried in Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, but only with the status of a zhengju-level (department-level) official. Zhao's family rejected this offer. After all, he had once held the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party—burying him as a mere zhengju-level official was a clear downgrade.

To understand why this mattered, one must look at the strict hierarchical burial system of Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. The cemetery spans 150 acres and is divided into burial grounds and urn chambers, further categorized into different zones by rank. The highest-ranking officials are buried in Cemetery Zone 1, while urns are arranged in hierarchical order: those of zhengbu-level (ministerial-level) officials are placed in prominent positions, while those of fubu-level (vice-ministerial) officials are relegated to the sides. A zhengju-level official would be placed in an obscure section of the cemetery.

However, the real problem wasn't just Zhao’s burial rank—it was the political risk of burying him at all. Despite his removal from power, Zhao Ziyang remained a highly influential figure. If he were buried in Babaoshan, his gravesite could become a focal point for public commemoration, especially on significant anniversaries. This posed a political risk that the authorities were unwilling to take. Instead, they delayed making any burial arrangements, leaving Zhao's ashes in limbo.

A Low-Key Burial in the Outskirts

In 2013, Zhao Ziyang’s wife passed away, prompting renewed discussions about his burial. After years of negotiation, the government finally permitted the family to handle his burial privately in 2015. However, even a so-called "private burial" required official approval, as no cemetery dared to accept his ashes without government consent. This was not unusual—many politically sensitive figures, such as Xu Jiatun and Liu Binyan, also had to wait for Communist Party approval before being buried in China.

Ultimately, in 2019, Zhao Ziyang was buried in a private cemetery 60 kilometers from downtown Beijing. His funeral was highly restricted, with only direct family members allowed to attend. The burial site was modest, marked by a 10-ton stone stele. However, even this low-profile burial did not prevent controversy. As news of his final resting place spread, people began visiting the site to pay their respects. Authorities, once again uneasy, took further steps to suppress public commemoration: they planted a ring of pine trees around the grave to obstruct visibility and installed surveillance cameras to monitor visitors. Even in death, Zhao Ziyang remained under watch.

The Fates of China’s Top Leaders

Zhao Ziyang’s fate was not unique. The posthumous treatment of Communist leaders often reveals much about the Party’s internal logic.

Mao Zedong’s body remains on display in a crystal coffin at the Mao Mausoleum in Tiananmen Square—an extreme form of deification, despite the Party’s official stance on atheism.

Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Liu Shaoqi, and Zhou Enlai all opted for their ashes to be scattered in rivers or over Chinese soil. This practice, while seemingly egalitarian, was itself a privilege—an honor unavailable to ordinary citizens.

Hu Yaobang, another disgraced reformist leader, was buried in Gongqingcheng, Jiangxi, in recognition of his contributions to the area. Hua Guofeng, Mao’s short-lived successor, was buried in a grand mausoleum in Shanxi, called Hua Ling (Hua’s Mausoleum), which was nearly as elaborate as Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum, sparking controversy over its extravagant scale.

Zhao Ziyang’s situation was unique because his burial was entangled with the Party’s refusal to reassess the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. His gravesite was not just a physical location but a political statement. As long as the Party refused to revisit its stance on the events of 1989, Zhao Ziyang’s burial remained a sensitive issue.

The Communist Party’s Ruling Logic

The controversy surrounding Zhao Ziyang’s burial reflects several key characteristics of Communist Party rule:

Atheism vs. Deification – The Party claims to be atheist, yet it preserves Mao Zedong’s body in a mausoleum, allowing continued veneration.

Rigid Hierarchies – While the Party promotes the idea of a classless society, its internal structure is deeply hierarchical, even in death. Babaoshan’s burial arrangements strictly follow political ranks.

Endless Political Struggles – In the Communist system, political battles do not end with a person’s death. Even deceased figures can be rehabilitated or purged posthumously. For example, Liu Binyan’s epitaph was censored, and Kang Sheng’s ashes were removed from Babaoshan and smashed by the families of other Party elders.

The Unresolved Question of Tiananmen – Zhao Ziyang’s burial is, in essence, a continuation of the political battle over how the Tiananmen Square crackdown should be remembered. As long as the Party refuses to reassess the events of 1989, Zhao Ziyang’s gravesite will remain a politically sensitive location.

Despite efforts to suppress public remembrance, Zhao Ziyang’s memory persists. His burial site, though hidden and monitored, continues to attract mourners. The Party may control the physical site, but it cannot erase history. One day, if the Tiananmen Square incident is reevaluated, Zhao Ziyang’s burial location may be reconsidered as well. Until then, his grave remains both a silent testament to history and a quiet source of defiance.