This piece by Yue Minjun has clear inspiration from the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 where the military opened fire on protesters, killing hundreds. As with the majority of Minjun’s works, everyone is depicted with a massive grin. I see this a representing how the people under the CCP had to always appear happy with the state of their country even this wasn’t true because if you expressed your dissatisfaction you would be killed. As stated in an interview in 2015, Yue Minjun says “In my work, laughter is a representation of a state of helplessness, lack of strength and participation, with the absence of our rights that society has imposed on us. In short, life. It makes you feel obsolete, which is why, sometimes, you only have laughter as a revolutionary weapon to fight against cultural and human indifference”. Knowing this, it can be interpreted that with nothing the victims of the Tiananmen square massacre could do nothing but smile. I also find it interesting that the people who are supposed to be the shooters are also smiling, possibly showing that the military had to shoot because if they did not prove their loyalty to the CCP, they could just as well share the same fate. To Minjun, Laughter is almost like a form of mockery of the CCP for how ridiculous their actions are and to show that despite being powerless, the victims can still demine their killers with one final act.