Behind the Scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen
As the June 4th Tiananmen demonstrations approaches, several stories have reappeared about the Tank Man. The New York Times documents and reviews the photos taken of the “Tank Man” that have become iconic outside of China:
Few images are more recognizable or more evocative. Known simply as “tank man,” it is one of the most famous photographs in recent history.
Twenty years ago, on June 5, 1989, following weeks of massive protests in Beijing, resulting in the deaths of hundreds, a lone man stepped in front of a column of tanks rumbling past Tiananmen Square. The moment instantly became a symbol of the protests as well as a symbol against oppression worldwide — an anonymous act of defiance seared into our collective consciousnesses.
“It all started with a man in a white shirt who walked into the street and raised his right hand no higher than a New Yorker hailing a taxi,” James Barron wrote the following day in The New York Times. The picture appeared on the front page of this newspaper as well as in countless other publications around the world.
To this day, the identity and fate of the man in the picture remains unclear. A riveting documentary, “The Tank Man,” by PBS Frontline in 2006 explored his fate. Yet still no one knows for certain who he is or what exactly happened to him. The image is largely blocked on the Internet in China. Despite its iconic status and historical significance elsewhere, most young people there do not recognize the photograph.
See also Jeff Kisseloff’s blog on the Nation and Jane Macartney’s piece from the Times on the Tank Man.
POSTED COMMENTS: 9 Responses
[...] China Digital Times [...]
This is a proof to show the whole world China is using its masive army against its own Chinese people.
[...] Capitol Visitor Center Orientation Theater North: Screening of the Frontline documentary “The Tank Man.” Sponsored by the Tom Lantos Human Rights [...]
Tank man, you are pillar of the hope. how mighty the evil wind blows but cannot extinguish the flame of truth. beacuse of the money and power, the leaders were drunked with the lush. even the prime minister Wen was there by the side of Zao Zhiyang but today he choose to remain silence. the time will come no matter how soon, the truth and justice will served. Gong Min lian!!
Heh??? “Gong Min lian”???
What’s “Gong Min lian”?
Anybody?
hey doc!I am not a chinese, atleast i tried, it means citizens power one of the slogan of june 4
[...] Tank Man of Tiananmen Behind the Scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen [...]
@ten chen
Didn’t try hard enough. If you’re going to use Chinese, at least try to do some simple research beforehand. You don’t have to be Chinese for that. Simple common sense suffice, provided you have any of course.
The Chinese language, especially Mandarin/Putonghua is consonant dependant and “power”/”rights”/”authority” in Pinyin translation is “quan”, not “lian”.
So citizens’ or people’s power is simply “min quan” or 民权. So try harder next time.
Having watched the entire program on PBS a few nights ago, it was totally new to me. Being very interested in foreign countries history – this was quite intriguing. One day, the whole world will experience what genuine ‘peace’ is, not only between all nationalities, races, languages, peoples and lands, but even between the same such. (as we unfortunately see here) Only through God’s Kingdom will this take place. Man is simply not capable of bringing this about. Only through the Kingdom God’s Son taught us to pray for “Let your kingdom come…”
Thanx for reading this…