The Tank Man

Tank Man, or the Unknown Rebel, is the nickname of an anonymous man who became internationally famous when he was videotaped and photographed during the protests at Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. Several photographs were taken of the man, who stood in front of a column of Chinese Type 59 tanks, preventing their advance. One of the most widely reproduced versions of the photograph was taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press from the sixth floor of the Beijing Hotel, about half a mile (800 meters) away from the scene, through a 400-millimeter lens.

The incident took place near Tiananmen on Chang'an Avenue, which leads into the Forbidden City, Beijing, on June 5, 1989, one day after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protests. The man stood alone in the middle of the road as the tanks approached. He held two bags, one in each hand. As the tanks came to a stop, he appeared to be trying to wave them away. In response, the front tank attempted to drive around the man, but the man repeatedly stepped into the path of the tank in a show of nonviolent action. After blocking the tanks, the man climbed up onto the top of the lead tank and had a conversation with the driver. Video footage shows that anxious onlookers then pulled the man away and absorbed him into the crowd and the tanks continued on their way. Eyewitness reporter Charlie Cole believes that the man was taken by secret police and was probably just one of the many executed, since the Chinese government was never able to produce him after the photo became public.

(the text was taken from Wikipedia. You can look up in YouTube and find an interesting documentary about him)

What is so compelling about the man? What makes me develop such an interest on him? Why Times Magazine put him in their Time 100: The Most Important Person of the Century?

He is practically unknown to this date. What makes him compelling and influential, is the reasons behind his action. He is a one-man army. He works alone, not governed by any political bodies. He acted on his behalf, not others. He's just too tired watching all the violence that occurred during the period, and he just wanted to put an end to it. What you see in the picture, is the vision of one man's pure intentions in ceasing all the unwanted violence. You can see human vs killing machine, where the actions of only one man can put a halt in the massacres of hundreds. He didn't care about his safety. He didn't care about his future. He only wanted a brief period of peace. His action works better than the work of thousands of protesters before him. While all the others hurled rocks and hollered vulgar words to the armed forces, he just make a stand without any efforts or violent actions. And while others had failed, he succeeds.

I believe each and every one of us has a tank man inside of them. All of us wanted peace and harmony in the world. We don't want war. We don't want genocides. We don't want violence. All the world leaders are constantly chanting this. But no one really has the guts to put an end to it. They condemned the act of terror, and yet their condemnations are only in the form of words and carefully crafted sentences. Or worst, they fight violence with more violence, setting a chain of events that will definitely make a gravedigger business a very lucrative one.

No terror can be fight with terror. Those kinds of fights are useless anyway.

Make a stand in front of the devil, and do wonders.