Did the Tiananmen Square Massacre actually happen in the square or is it just called that because that's where the protests happened?

by 04231993
light_parsecs

Some geography would be helpful here. If you take a look at the area (map is offset due to chinese GPS BS - stay in areal view), the Square itself is only the lighter grey area in the middle of the screen (surrounding the plain white literal square which is Mao's Mausoleum). You can see that it's surrounded by streets on each side, and situated within dense city blocks all around it. As with any notable landmark, it's also often colloquially used to refer to the entire vicinity, not just itself. So are you asking whether anyone was killed within the literal boundaries of the square? or are you more curious about that general area vs. some other part of the city?