The Sudden Death of Hu Yaobang
15th Apr, 1989 (Sat)
"Those who should have lived died,
Those who should have died live."
Hu Yaobang, former head of the party, dies of a sudden heart attack at 7.53am.
Under Hu Yaobang, many people who were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution are rehabilitated. He also pursued a less interventionist policy for Tibet and believed in a greater freedom of speech and press for China. Yet he had paid a high price for his liberal views: in January 1987, following large student pro-democracy demonstration across the country, he has been forced to resign by Deng Xiaoping.
At major universities in Beijing the reaciton to Hu's death was swift. Numerous elegies and essays in Hu's memory were posted on the walls of school buildings. By 4.30pm, the first mourners had appeared in Tiananmen Square.
Some of the writing from the time:
"Those who should have died live,
Those who should have lived have died."
"A sincere and honest man has died,
But the hypocritical and false live on.
A warm-hearted man has died,
Indifference buried him."
Exhibition Pack on the Tiananmen Massacre 
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Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China