Male, 37, worker at Beijing Internal Combustion Factory Number Four. From: Beijing.
In 1989, after the student movement started, Zhang was ill at home. He would often give out food and daily necessities to students who were passing by their house. At night on June 3, around 11 p.m., near the eastern intersection of Erqi Juchang Road, Zhang was shot in the liver by martial law troops using expanding bullets. He was taken to the PLA Second Artillery Hospital, where he died. Zhang’s ashes are buried at Beijing Jinshan Cemetery. His daughter was only six years old at the time, and his wife Lu Yanjing endured great hardships to raise their daughter.
Lu Yanjing (陆燕京) is a member of the Tiananmen Mothers.
Video testimony of Lu Yanjing, wife of Zhang Lin, 2013 (in Chinese)
Video testimony of Lu Yanjing, wife of Zhang Lin, 2019 (in Chinese)
After Zhang Lin died, I had a breakdown. I had elderly in-law and our young child to care for—how would we live? During that time, I couldn’t eat anything, and threw up anything I ate. I couldn’t sleep, and especially couldn’t watch any news programs on television that said the student movement was “riots” caused by “thugs.” Beijing citizens all lived through this student movement, and all the people know very well what they did. The authorities sent the military to slaughter and open fire at the university students—where in heaven is the justice in this? When I heard reports about “riots” caused by “thugs,” I went crazy. I was losing weight by the day until I was a bag of skin and bones. I wasn’t even 40 years old but my hair turned white at the temples. Zhang Lin’s parents fell ill and passed away one after another, and [their ashes] are buried at Jinshan Cemetery, together with Zhang Lin’s.
When my husband passed away, our child was only six years old and not even attending school yet. It was difficult raising my child by myself. So I had to take my retirement early and take other jobs to earn some extra money. I did all kinds of dirty jobs and menial labor and went through all kinds of hardships to bring up my child.
It has been more than 20 years since June Fourth, and even today the government has not come up with any just solutions. Every time I think about my husband, and all those innocent victims, my heart would ache and my tears would stream down uncontrollably. There is nowhere for me to pour out my hatred and my suffering. Now that I’ve found this group of family members of June Fourth victims, I am determined to persist with them till the end—to seek justice for our loved ones who have perished. I hope the day will come soon when the truth of June Fourth will be revealed.
