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1905
1906

23 years ago today. (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by jeanpaulfartre

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[–]ezcheesy 198 points199 points ago

What's amazing is he didn't flinch and when the tank tried to go around him, he moved to cut it off.

[–][deleted] 99 points100 points ago

Now that takes balls.

[–]ThatTakesBalls 14 points15 points ago

Indeed.

load more comments (4 replies)

    [–]Apostolate 41 points42 points ago

    You mean his courage and determination?

    load more comments (13 replies)

      [–]coolsubmission 238 points239 points ago

      from a different angle

      further infos in the post in r/historyporn

      [–]exekutor 49 points50 points ago

      Allow me to hijack your comment to post these set of photos taken by a solider, showing the aftermath on Tiananmen Square. They were posted in /r/China and I posted in the comments below.

      http://i.imgur.com/RuaZR.jpg

      http://i.imgur.com/CFOlK.jpg

      http://i.imgur.com/cBnro.jpg

      [–]jewunit 132 points133 points ago

      I really like that the guy on the left looks like he's having the best time in his life while the guy on the right looks like a bomb just exploded behind him.

      [–]Decatf 89 points90 points ago

      He's got a bit of a Ridiculously Photogenic Guy vibe going.

      [–]NwordJim001 14 points15 points ago

      Almost like this is the original.

      [–]Rixxer 1 point2 points ago

      More of a Leonardo DiCaprio "Haters gonna hate" goin' on.

      [–][deleted] ago

      [deleted]

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        load more comments (1 reply)

          [–]sebastiansboat 32 points33 points ago

          When this was posted a few months ago (I think) people started disussing if it was shopped or not. Made my soul cry.

          [–]lud1120 17 points18 points ago

          China was so different back then. Almost every citizen had a bike, very few having a car.
          15-20 years later, the complete opposite is true.

          (I had planned to make a submission some time ago about the huge difference from the early 90's with the late 00's, but I somehow forgot about it).

          Edit: That guy standing to the left with a grocery bag and something else, isn't that the Tank Man...?

          [–]uriman 6 points7 points ago

          The earliest video of Mao's China was in the 70s when they invited Michelangelo Antonioni to film them. Mao got pissed when it showed reality and how they were still really poor.

          [–]nojusticenpeace 1 point2 points ago

          Most places you go there is a significant amount of bikes and ebikes, mostly the ebikes you can peddle

          [–]0ctopus 1 point2 points ago

          Great article!

          [–]itisthumper 1 point2 points ago

          Pretty sure there are still more bikes than cars

          load more comments (4 replies)

            [–]accipter 1 point2 points ago

            I tried to recreate this picture when I was in Beijing last week: http://i.imgur.com/B1Wud

            I admit that it isn't the best re-creation, but I was doing it from memory and trying to capture the change.

            Bonus extra shot: http://imgur.com/rXmyh

            [–]delux_247 3 points4 points ago

            Where are the tanks? You did not do a very good job of the recreation.

            [–]accipter 2 points3 points ago

            Behind the buses.

            [–]cebols 3 points4 points ago

            Came here looking for this. Was not disappointed.

            load more comments (13 replies)

              [–]treedick2011 52 points53 points ago

              I wonder how that tank driver felt.

              [–]fry_hole 66 points67 points ago

              Who knows but it's always good to ask things like that.

              Have a link

              [–]smashedfinger 8 points9 points ago

              nice video, have an upvote

              load more comments (4 replies)

                [–]TheOceanWalker 17 points18 points ago

                Prior to the actual military intervention, there had been a huge rally happening in Tiananmen Square for weeks. Despite starting out as a student protest, it had a lot of local sympathy and support in Beijing. As a result, when they called in the army, the government called in troops from outside of Beijing who didn't really have any idea what was going on.

                [–]Anonazon2 2 points3 points ago

                "I ain't paid enough to do this shit."

                load more comments (1 reply)

                  [–]ghostofanimus 221 points222 points ago

                  and to think we have problems....

                  This guy had the balls to stand up to TANKS, while holding grocery bags, in Communist CHINA!

                  wherever you are, much respect.

                  [–]WakkaWakkaMothaFucka 143 points144 points ago

                  He was never seen again after this. Human rights activists demanded for the man to be shown alive after this video got out, but the Chinese could do no such thing. He's either dead or really got at hiding.

                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man#Identity_and_fate

                  [–]NYR 39 points40 points ago

                  No way this guy is alive.

                  [–]fronts 82 points83 points ago

                  I would love to be charged with "political hooliganism."

                  ...just not in China. I enjoy not being murdered by my government. :/

                  [–]nothing_clever 9 points10 points ago

                  To be fair, not being murdered by anybody is among my favorite hobbies.

                  [–]hired_goon 18 points19 points ago

                  "political" hooliganism is one hooliganism charge I haven't gotten.

                  [–]LacksRethics 14 points15 points ago

                  No lollygagging!

                  [–][deleted] 11 points12 points ago

                  Well, it would be pretty hard to see him again considering his identity was never actually confirmed.

                  [–]nermid 9 points10 points ago

                  I can't wait for the Doctor Who episode where it turns out to have been the Doctor.

                  It's always the Doctor.

                  [–]ChaseSTi 5 points6 points ago

                  Here is a great Frontline PBS documentary on Tank man

                  load more comments (3 replies)

                    [–]rickyleg88 59 points60 points ago

                    Yeah but he still used the crosswalk. You can't break all the rules.

                    [–]wadech 25 points26 points ago

                    Because he's a well mannered political hooligan.

                    [–]atypicalreddituser 5 points6 points ago

                    Why put yourself in danger by not using a crosswalk?

                    [–]MatthewGeer 1 point2 points ago

                    As a pedestrian, if your in the middle of the crosswalk, you have the right of way. Oncoming tanks MUST yield.

                    load more comments (1 reply)

                      [–]selectedworksb 9 points10 points ago

                      I hope he is hiding!!!

                      [–]TheVandyMan 1 point2 points ago

                      I'll hope with you, but I don't think that's the case :(

                      [–]lud1120 1 point2 points ago

                      Grocery bags? I thought that was a suitcase...

                      [–]gconsier 4 points5 points ago

                      Briefcase, he just wanted to go home.

                      [–]American-American 1 point2 points ago

                      wherever you are, much respect.

                      Hate to be that guy, but he is most likely dead. He was never seen again after this.

                      load more comments (7 replies)

                        [–]-3- 51 points52 points ago

                        Frontline - The Tank Man

                        [–]hinduguru 6 points7 points ago

                        Such a brave man

                        [–]mehdbc 5 points6 points ago

                        Oh yeah, I watched that when it came out and I really moved me... and this no typical redditor hyperbole. Frontline did an awesome job with that story.

                        load more comments (1 reply)

                          [–]ireallyhatehumans 119 points120 points ago

                          Fuck the watermark...

                          [–]BruceLeeXIV[!] 58 points59 points ago

                          I know, huh? Not even close to being their picture, yet they put that crap on it.

                          [–]jeanpaulfartre[S] 87 points88 points ago

                          Yeah, didn't notice the watermark, just searched for a large image on Google Images and this is the first one that came up. Apologies for not selecting one without a website on there.

                          [–]jCcrackhead 35 points36 points ago

                          I forgive you.

                          [–]5one4 11 points12 points ago

                          I forgive you also jeal-paul farter

                          [–]kokogiak 1 point2 points ago

                          A self-link, but I just posted this photo plus 49 more covering Tiananmen here, at high resolution.

                          [–]BCMM 1 point2 points ago

                          Tineye reveals a high-res copy that seems to have been cleaned up somehow.

                          [–]DownvoteAttractor 10 points11 points ago

                          The only thing saving it is that it appears to be a site dedicated to this event. You might be able to excuse it in order for people (especially Chinese who are routinely censored) to find out about it

                          http://www.64memo.com/

                          [–]coolbho3k 1 point2 points ago

                          Seems acceptable. It's not like it's a 9gag watermark or anything, because the website is actually very relevant to the content at hand.

                          load more comments (5 replies)

                            [–]Robstaley 18 points19 points ago

                            Someone went and plastered their fucking watermark on it?!

                            [–]buzzkill_aldrin 1 point2 points ago

                            That would be the "Beijing Tiananmen Massacre - June 4th 1989 Memorial Museum".

                            [–]Dresden_skyline 45 points46 points ago

                            That can't be over 20 years ago, that would mean I am old.

                            [–]thefirebuilds 17 points18 points ago

                            I actually thought this was a much older picture and taken before I was born. the 80s was a crazy time for governmental upheaval.

                            [–]catjuggler 6 points7 points ago

                            Same. I'm 29 and thought it was longer ago.

                            [–]seagramsextradrygin 2 points3 points ago

                            Same. I feel like an idiot for not knowing this happened in my life time.

                            [–]nothing_clever 1 point2 points ago

                            If it makes you feel any better, my mom was still in the hospital with me after I was born while watching this stuff go down on the news.

                            load more comments (1 reply)

                              [–]IamtheFuego 14 points15 points ago

                              What's really poignant about this moment is not just of the tank man staring down the tanks, but also the tank driver himself who refused to run him over. The tank man gets all the credit (deservedly so), but the driver of the tank also did a brave thing that day.

                              [–]BruceLeeXIV[!] 77 points78 points ago

                              Oh boy, tempted to show this to my Chinese class tomorrow and have a discussion about it. But also don't want to get kicked out of the country...

                              [–]vonShang 90 points91 points ago

                              Please don't do that, it will just cause trouble for the students.

                              [–]Mrzeede 36 points37 points ago

                              Yeah seriously. Not a good idea.

                              [–]TrolleyPower 16 points17 points ago

                              Out of interest, why?

                              [–]FauxShizzle 27 points28 points ago

                              Apparently it's a sensitive topic.

                              In 1989, troops shot dead hundreds of pro-democracy protesters gathered in central Beijing.

                              The demonstrations have never been publicly marked in China, and the government has never said how many were killed.

                              But human rights groups' estimates range from several hundred to several thousand killed.

                              ...

                              The US government has urged China to free all those still in prison after the crackdown.

                              [–]American-American 20 points21 points ago

                              Not only that, but they want to erase it completely from history books. They don't want their citizens to know exactly what they will do when push comes to shove, but most of them are already aware...

                              [–]devedander 5 points6 points ago

                              Approximately 80 years ago:

                              http://ovo127.com/media/batk-300x217.jpg

                              In the USA... lots of countries have things they would like erased from the history books if possible...

                              Fron this website: http://ovo127.com/2010/07/25/trevor-blake-the-bonus-army/

                              [–]kormgar 2 points3 points ago

                              I learned about the bonus army in my history class, in public school. In other words, a government employee told me about this sad bit of US history.

                              So, I must respectfully disagree.

                              [–]gimpwiz 2 points3 points ago

                              We learned about this more than once during elementary and middle school. It's one of the key points of that time period in the public school textbooks. Bad example.

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                                [–]OhMyWhatIsThat 3 points4 points ago

                                I have a Chinese roommate, and he admitted to never having seen this before he came to America.

                                [–]leigao84 2 points3 points ago

                                How old is he? If he's young then maybe, but as a 28 year old who lived in China at the time I remember 6/4 pretty vividly. Of course, I remembered the part where the state media calling the protestors "hooligans", being "disorderly", and "hurting the peace keeping troops".

                                [–]devedander 2 points3 points ago

                                Did you know about this?

                                Approximately 80 years ago:

                                http://ovo127.com/media/batk-300x217.jpg

                                In the USA... lots of countries have things they would like erased from the history books if possible...

                                Fron this website: http://ovo127.com/2010/07/25/trevor-blake-the-bonus-army/

                                load more comments (1 reply)

                                  [–]jeanpaulfartre[S] 39 points40 points ago

                                  Do it and film the results.

                                  [–]mr17five 13 points14 points ago

                                  Do it for science.

                                  What could go wrong?

                                  [–]olliberallawyer 22 points23 points ago

                                  We would have to send Bill Clinton in an airplane to negotiate the release of an American who claimed "I never would have guessed that teaching (whatever term they use for contraband information) to students would get me indefinitely detained and tortured."

                                  I am looking at you, Ling and Lee, who traveled into North Korea and acted like, woops, our GPS must have been a tad off. You don't travel to Singapore with drugs. You don't sail the coast of Somalia in an unaccompanied megayacht. You do not insult Mohammed in Muslim countries. You simply stay the hell away from Juarez, and so forth. These are just things that should be known.

                                  [–]Zruku 7 points8 points ago

                                  Hiking near Iran is also something you should avoid.

                                  [–]Auriee 6 points7 points ago

                                  Cannot stress this enough to people. I lived in China for three years and asked my friends girlfriend if she knew about this event. She told me "Yes I know. The man who told them to kill themselves is in exile in the United States." I then asked her what she meant by that and she followed up that in school they teach them that all of the people that died in Tiananmen Square killed themselves as part of a religious death pact and the leader had gone to the U.S. to escape punishment.

                                  After she told me that I didn't have the heart (or balls considering where I was) to tell her otherwise.

                                  [–]jeanpaulfartre[S] 1 point2 points ago

                                  fascinating...

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                                        [–]OscarMiked 19 points20 points ago

                                        Don't! Not only is it not appropriate in China to denounce the govt. but also it will have no affect on the students -- I went to China for a foreign exchange program not long ago. We asked them what they thought of the Tienanmen square incident and they just stared at us like we were from another planet. One of them even said "Our government would never do this to us" (+ something to the affect that the "govt. loves us"). The event is omitted from all records and media, the vast majority (even those alive during the event) have no knowledge of it.

                                        [–]darkguest 2 points3 points ago

                                        I had my Chinese professor show me long footage from the incident in a class in one of the biggest and most established universities in China. Well, he shut the drapes and stood by the door while he showed us this but still...

                                        In my experience almost every educated Chinese person my age knows of the event (I'm 26 and I've been living here for 1 and half year). I even know a person that during his collage years put up a big character poster that only said: 6 4. They got him on tape doing it but his teachers were kind enough to only warn him and not put it on his records. This guy wasn't even born when it happened.

                                        [–]darkguest 2 points3 points ago

                                        Oh yeah and one more thing, for the Chinese this incident has a completely different meaning than we in the West might think. The protests were very complicated, had a lot of to do with a lot of things but much less to do with asking for democracy and more to do with asking for political reforms WITHIN the communist party. Welcome to China.

                                        [–]OscarMiked 1 point2 points ago

                                        What region are you from? I stayed in Beijing - it seems as if the govt. might restrict certain aspects of this more in Beijing than in somewhere such as Hong Kong or Guangzhou.

                                        [–]darkguest 1 point2 points ago

                                        Just to be clear, I'm pretty sure that your experience is accurate and descriptive of the situation for a part of the population.

                                        On the other hand, I'm in Beijing, and in my experience it's rather country people that know less about the incident. Every Beijinger older than 30 remembers this, this was a huge deal. The protests were also mainly organized by university students, Beijing has the biggest concentration of Universities and the best universities and people from all over the country come to Beijing to study. This is also the case today and most university students have some idea of this incident. The current generation of scholars and professors were most on the square in 89.

                                        So if you talk to some random Chinese tourist from some far away city visiting Tiananmen, changes are that he doesn't know of this or simply forgot about it. If you would talk to the Beijinger that sells fruits on the street corner next to Tiananmen he will probably remember it vividly but perhaps not willing to talk about it. If you talk to some middle school students and teenager they will not know, they are not educated on it, this is not talked about so they won't know. If these teenagers will keep on studying (or at least grow into being interested in current affairs) they will sooner or later hear about this. Friends can talk about anything. It's probably different how they will react to it, some very nationalistic people might be very dismissive but usually in my experience people are just very sad about this whole thing.

                                        [–]devedander 3 points4 points ago

                                        To be fair most US citizens assume their government wouldn't ever turn tanks on them either...

                                        http://ovo127.com/media/batk-300x217.jpg

                                        Fron this website: http://ovo127.com/2010/07/25/trevor-blake-the-bonus-army/

                                        [–]Hiyasc 8 points9 points ago

                                        Don't worry, you won't be kicked out of the country...

                                        [–]NYCphotographer 16 points17 points ago

                                        Obviously you don't live in China. Kids and teens in China have no idea what happened during June 4th, let alone tank man. The government has literally wiped this from the history books. If one of those kids he taught told their parent, he would definitely be kicked out of China.

                                        [–]szilard 28 points29 points ago

                                        I think the joke there was that he would either get sent to a labor camp or killed rather than get kicked out of the country.

                                        [–]czhang706 8 points9 points ago

                                        They probably wouldn't do that to a foreigner. Bad press and all.

                                        [–]Eat_Every_Vegan 2 points3 points ago

                                        People disappear all the time.

                                        [–]LikeAgaveF 17 points18 points ago

                                        Whenever the younger generation is asked about the events of June 4th and shown this photo, they have no idea what happened or what is going on in this photo. They think it is a military parade of some sort.

                                        There are stark generational differences in China regarding political reform. The younger generation, while not brainwashed per se, has been conditioned to care much more about financial and economic advancement rather than political freedom. Their grandparents still remember when China was in turmoil and at the very least appreciate the CCP for stabilizing the country. It is the middle generation that made the push for political reform. The tragedy of modern China is that their desire for liberalization has been silenced.

                                        [–]Medane 1 point2 points ago

                                        Not necessarily. Some people in China are privy to this information and know about the events of that day, including some of my relatives who live there. I also talked to exchange students at my school from China, and they were aware of the event, although I'm not particularly sure what context.

                                        [–]Truth_ 1 point2 points ago

                                        I've heard stories from teachers before, and I've never heard of anyone being kicked out. Scolded and threatened by the school's principal, yes, but never deported. They weren't stupid enough to do it a second time and see what would happen (which would include being fired and possibly deported).

                                        [–]zakbroman 3 points4 points ago

                                        What part of China do you live in where this would constitute deportation? I'm in Guangdong and have shown plenty of my students this picture. Nothing has happened.

                                        [–]NYCphotographer 2 points3 points ago

                                        Shanghai. Out of curiosity why are you showing your students the photo and what do you tell them?

                                        [–]zakbroman 1 point2 points ago

                                        I'm in Guangdong. I forget why or how I brought it up (I try to stay away from political issues as much as I can), but nonetheless it's a historically significant image that I feel everyone has the right to see, especially the Chinese.

                                        [–]NYCphotographer 3 points4 points ago

                                        I agree but it's important when delving into this topic, you are very informed. It's an extremely complicated protest and aftermath...it wasn't as simple as the Chinese wanting a democracy. Not saying you know the full history of it, but if you are going to be showing them about what happened, it's very important that the first information they hear is accurate and non-bias (Chinese or Western).

                                        [–]zakbroman 1 point2 points ago

                                        I agree with you. It's tough to be fully-informed on subjects like this. That's why I think it's a wise decision for English teachers not to bring up politically-sensitive issues when they can afford not to.

                                        [–]Gyrant 1 point2 points ago

                                        Best case scenario is you get to meet the Panchen Lama

                                        [–]MomentOfArt 1 point2 points ago

                                        About 6-7 years ago or so, in a conversation with some of our Chinese co-workers, someone mentioned Tiananmen Square. One guy was from Beijing, and knew of the place. They both lived in China at the time, (different parts) however neither of them had a clue about the events that took place in 1989. They honestly thought we were joking. We had to pull up videos and such to prove this really did happen.

                                        That evening they each talked with relatives still living in China... nope... nothing. No one had heard of it, and furthermore there was nothing on the Internet to back them up.

                                        When they did manage to find a route around the censorship, they learned two life changing things. The first being that they were in fact being censored, and second; that they were not being told of everything happening in the world, let alone within their own country.

                                        This was seriously a subject that was not for public consumption as far as the Chinese authorities were concerned. If you are there as their guest, I would consider that fact.

                                        tl;dr: This event continues to change lives.

                                        [–][deleted] 4 points5 points ago

                                        Not worth the effort. Most of them probably don't even know about it, and secondly, it's probably not as significant to them as westerners who have are biased against the current regime.

                                        [–]OOPC 2 points3 points ago

                                        Any evidence for this, or just repeating something you heard before. Of course this is significant to Chinese people. I asked my wife (who is Chinese) about this. It is taught in Chinese schools, by Chinese professors. Where people get upset is when foreign teachers approach sensitive topics like this. Same thing would happen in any country. People just don't like outsiders coming in and telling their children about their own history.

                                        [–]Varns 3 points4 points ago

                                        Don't you will be kicked out of the country, unless you're in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan. If you're on the mainland you will be thrown out in an instant.

                                        [–]zakbroman 25 points26 points ago

                                        Spoken like a true, uninformed idiot who has likely never taught in China. I've been teaching/living here in Guangdong for three years. I've shown and witnessed other teachers showing this picture numerous times and I've never heard about anybody being "thrown out in an instant".

                                        Most schools and training centers have policies that urge you not to speak about politically-sensitive issues, but I've never remotely heard of anyone ever being deported over this picture. Take your fear-mongering bullshit somewhere else. China isn't the depraved Communist dictatorship you think it is.

                                        EDIT: Please continue your downvotes and circlejerk over how "evil" China is; it really reflects well on your community

                                        [–]ATmega 26 points27 points ago

                                        Having once lived under a communist regime, I can honestly say with absolute certainty that you have not ( and I pray you will never) see the side of China that the natives see, especially ones that oppose the government. The Chinese government has been the source of a list of human rights violations, ranging from unwarranted executions to torture and intimidation, to name a few. You can live there your entire life and you'll rarely experience any oppression in China, so long as you stay quiet and obedient. With all due respect, you're not seeing the big picture.

                                        I don't usually downvote, but this comment:

                                        China isn't the depraved Communist dictatorship you think it is.

                                        pushed me to do so.

                                        Good day.

                                        [–]ohgodwhatthe 4 points5 points ago

                                        Your experience isn't necessarily reflective of the experiences of everyone else. This is true for anyone, for any sort of experience. You say you "once lived under a communist regime." Was it China's communist regime? Was it China's communist regime within the past decade? Because different countries with the same political system can (and do) vary, and they aren't locked to the same political climate over a wide span of time.

                                        China used to suck, pretty bad. It still kind of sucks. However, while they were horribly oppressive in the past, and still are pretty oppressive now, they've softened to the extent where they don't just imprison everyone who says bad things about the government.

                                        The topic of the Tiananmen Square protests may be the subject of censorship, but that doesn't mean that it isn't discussed and that people who are found discussing it are imprisoned.

                                        [–]zakbroman 2 points3 points ago

                                        Not seeing the big picture? I've heard all of those stories from my wife (who is Chinese) and her family alike. I'm not saying China is anything close to a human rights utopia, but all of the government bullying people rant and rave about is near politically-sensitive areas in the north or in the countryside. I feel like the younger generations of China will radically change a lot of China's faults... just look at how much has been transformed in the past twenty years.

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                                          [–]majiming 6 points7 points ago

                                          Many of the people that ordered the massacre of innocent students in 1989 are still part of the governing apparatus. The party is, in fact, still the same bunch of murderous thugs and i have no doubt they would do the same thing again to stay in power. China is not evil, the Chinese are not evil, but the government is still a dictatorship, corrupt to its very core.

                                          [–]Iazo 3 points4 points ago

                                          Yes, that's why it censors Google, Wikipedia and all searches for Tian An Men square protests.

                                          All because it's so open and transparent.

                                          [–][deleted] ago

                                          [deleted]

                                          [–]Truth_ 1 point2 points ago

                                          Stability over everything. I understand why they did what they did, especially with the visit from Krushchev Gorbachev coming up. You can't stop a revolution of a billion people, so you need to stop it early. At least Deng stepped down afterward.

                                          [–][deleted] ago

                                          [deleted]

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                                            [–]zakbroman 5 points6 points ago

                                            Most Chinese who want to bypass the GFW can do it pretty easily, although the methods change fairly often.

                                            [–]Tamural 18 points19 points ago

                                            Nice straw man, there, buddy.

                                            (S)he never said it's open or transparent, just that it isn't what the op thinks it is.

                                            [–]zakbroman 12 points13 points ago

                                            I think the anti-Chinese sentiment I see on the larger subreddits is very unwarranted. It's some McCarthy-era bullshit, really... like the Chinese government is this monster trying to take power away from the USA. Little do both cultures know how exactly how dependent they are on each other for their economies to thrive.

                                            [–]leigao84 2 points3 points ago

                                            Trust me, most older Chinese people in China have a pretty good understanding of what went on during 6/4. The censorship is not to keep information hidden as much as keeping people from organizing oppositions.

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                                                  [–]YourDistraction 27 points28 points ago

                                                  Holy crap this was only 23 years ago?? I was alive when this happened?! I swear I thought this was from like the 60's. I feel like a complete idiot now.

                                                  [–]IvyGold 19 points20 points ago

                                                  Yup, the Berlin Wall would come down the next year, while Gorbachev was doing the perestroika and glasnost thing in the Soviet Union, which would dissolve two years later.

                                                  It was a wild time.

                                                  [–]el_chapitan 3 points4 points ago

                                                  Wild time, indeed.

                                                  I've tried very hard to explain the concept of how quickly the definition of the world was quickly rewritten, and it is very hard to do. The best example I have now is the Arab Spring. It is a very good example, except that it lacks the looming evil empire in the background.

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                                                    [–]dro9383 5 points6 points ago

                                                    There aren't enough words to describe how powerful this image really is.

                                                    [–]Psyc3 8 points9 points ago

                                                    The top result for "Tiananmen Square massacre" on the most commonly used search engine in China (China's google)

                                                    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

                                                    Wow. I'm really not sure how to react to that. I suppose it makes sense they wouldn't want people believing it, but wow..

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                                                      [–]axd2011 4 points5 points ago

                                                      This is probably going to get buried, but my parents were actually part of this movement. When all of this crap was going on, they were grad school students. Even though they generally don't like to talk about it, I would always pester them with this one question when I was a bit younger. I would ask, "do you know who stood in front of the tank?" To which they would always respond, "No, no one knows who did."

                                                      So yeah, mystery hero. Go figure.

                                                      [–]Phrea 5 points6 points ago

                                                      Only 23 years ago...?
                                                      It feels like a lifetime.

                                                      [–]grldg 7 points8 points ago

                                                      whatever happened to that guy

                                                      [–]theposhfox 18 points19 points ago

                                                      I think it's actually a big mystery. The Wiki article says there are multiple theories, from him having been executed 14 days later to him secretly living in mainland China.

                                                      [–]AppleBlossom63 18 points19 points ago

                                                      I have a theory that he is the doctor.

                                                      [–]microfreak1 3 points4 points ago

                                                      Ron Paul?

                                                      With bravery levels so high, this is the only logical solution.

                                                      [–]Darth_Waiter 1 point2 points ago

                                                      He was just walking back to his TARDIS when these fat Daleks showed up.

                                                      [–]fry_hole 4 points5 points ago

                                                      The sad part is if he is living out somewhere in Mainland China there is an extremely good chance that he wouldn't know how famous he really is. Unsurprisingly not many Chinese know about this clip.

                                                      [–]goldflakes 2 points3 points ago

                                                      No one knows, but this set of interviews is incredible.

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                                                        [–]ClankyMoo 11 points12 points ago

                                                        but what has changed since?

                                                        [–][deleted] 36 points37 points ago

                                                        Among other things, trillions upon trillions of underwears my friend.

                                                        [–]CptMurphy 11 points12 points ago

                                                        Tanks are faster and have much more advanced technology.

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                                                          [–]dunus 3 points4 points ago

                                                          http://i.imgur.com/p9Tlk.jpg

                                                          [–]iTumor 4 points5 points ago

                                                          TIL I was alive when this happened.

                                                          [–]vixtt 2 points3 points ago

                                                          gif

                                                          http://www.gifsoup.com/view/2040964/tankman.html

                                                          [–]monobot3 3 points4 points ago

                                                          more gif

                                                          [–]redmongrel 2 points3 points ago

                                                          Same day as Killdozer? Can't be a coincidence.

                                                          [–]Gyrant 2 points3 points ago

                                                          Dear Tanks,

                                                          Because Fuck You.

                                                          Shopping Bag Guy.

                                                          [–]icithis 2 points3 points ago

                                                          One of my professors was involved in the events surrounding this, and passed away recently. Makes things like this much more real.

                                                          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fang_Lizhi

                                                          [–]redditreddit1234 2 points3 points ago

                                                          i recommend this documentary, Tank Man (PBS)

                                                          http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/view/

                                                          [–]StrangeJesus 2 points3 points ago

                                                          I just had to upvote a couple of people that had 0 points for saying "the sad thing is, most young Chinese are unaware of this incident." Who the fuck is downvoting people who make that comment?

                                                          [–]pink_ego_box 15 points16 points ago

                                                          One information I've retained from the Wikileaks Cablegate is that US diplomats have confirmed that no bloodshed happened on the Tian An Men square that day.

                                                          People were killed during the advance of the army toward the place, though. Also, there have been a huge number of protestors* imprisoned without trial. But the military never shot in the crowd with automatic weapons, so history books and newspaper are wrong on that point.

                                                          [–]uberphat 8 points9 points ago

                                                          protestants imprisoned without trial

                                                          Confusing Tiananmen with the troubles, common mistake.

                                                          [–]kuroyaki 5 points6 points ago

                                                          The "Streets and Alleys around Tiananmen Massacre" is a bit of a mouthful.

                                                          [–]BJoye23 4 points5 points ago

                                                          I think you mean "protestors".

                                                          [–]nigh70wl 3 points4 points ago

                                                          well, to be fair, there probably are a huge number of Protestants imprisoned in China without trial.

                                                          [–]pink_ego_box 1 point2 points ago

                                                          Oops. That's the french word for protestor, hence my mistake.

                                                          [–]CylonGlitch 5 points6 points ago

                                                          When I was in Beijing in 1992 the students and everyone I spoke with also told me this. There was no bloodshed in TianAnMen square; but there was on the way there.

                                                          [–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

                                                          not really a confirmation, or anything like proof, just a leaked US cable years later. in fact, the quote below from your own source shows just how little we can take as certain from those cables.

                                                          "He watched the military enter the square and did not observe any mass firing of weapons into the crowds, although sporadic gunfire was heard. He said that most of the troops which entered the square were actually armed only with anti-riot gear – truncheons and wooden clubs; they were backed up by armed soldiers," a cable from July 1989 said.

                                                          It's important to be accurate, don't you think?

                                                          [–]pink_ego_box 1 point2 points ago

                                                          Of course it is. My point is precisely about the lack of accuracy in the reporting of these events. This part of the article is, in my opinion, as important as the cable :

                                                          In 2009, James Miles, who was the BBC correspondent in Beijing at the time, admitted that he had "conveyed the wrong impression" and that "there was no massacre on Tiananmen Square. Protesters who were still in the square when the army reached it were allowed to leave after negotiations with martial law troops [ ...] There was no Tiananmen Square massacre, but there was a Beijing massacre".

                                                          I don't want to reduce the importance of these events in Chinese history, nor deny the hard truth of the massacres on that day. But I think the media focused wrongly on that particular place of Beijing, probably to artificially create a symbol of the repression that happened that day. That worked.

                                                          Doing so, they betrayed their ethics by falsely reporting that students were being slaughtered by thousands on that place.

                                                          Also, this is another article by James Miles about that.

                                                          [–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

                                                          fair enough. that is not to say there were no deaths, just that reports of a massacre were wide of the mark, i guess. in the long term it is possible to argue that the lie helped, if it were a lie, but if so it's scary to think where we'd be without it.

                                                          [–]zaphodbb42 7 points8 points ago

                                                          I was in Beijing on the 9 year anniversary, and I asked my teachers what they remembered from that day. One started to talk, and the other one smacked her on the back of the head.

                                                          [–]Hugsforpeace 4 points5 points ago

                                                          I started reading that latest revision of The Art of War again last night, and the publisher makes an astonishing point about how similar this man is to Sun Tsu.

                                                          [–]mkultra329 6 points7 points ago

                                                          according to Wiki, this occurred 23 years ago TOMORROW. Are you going for a first post or are you in the future?

                                                          [–]devilry 4 points5 points ago

                                                          I was going to comment about perhaps that is why Killdozer was unleashed this day... but I have nothing now.

                                                          [–]TheCake_IsA_Lie 1 point2 points ago

                                                          But......but....Killdozer...

                                                          [–]mkultra329 2 points3 points ago

                                                          And thanks to some generous emails from polite Chinese Redditors I have learned that effective 8 minutes ago they are, in fact, in the future. At least compared to this Orlando, Florida resident:)

                                                          [–]mkultra329 4 points5 points ago

                                                          F-it. I almost want to delete my comment b/c you at least reminded me of a horrible event the should not be forgotten. And the prelude to this photo did occur 23 years ago today. People are F'ed up.

                                                          The incident took place near Tiananmen on Chang'an Avenue, which runs east-west along the south end of the Forbidden City in Beijing, on June 5, 1989, one day after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protests.

                                                          [–]Antarmy1 12 points13 points ago

                                                          Technically is was 23 years ago today in china time. According to now, its 00:10 in china.

                                                          EDIT: Although OP did post 4 hours ago. Good point

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                                                            [–]pfalcon42 6 points7 points ago

                                                            Sad part is, most people in China have never seen or heard of this.

                                                            [–]ColoBB 1 point2 points ago

                                                            it is still a war machine even 23 years passed

                                                            [–]Cadd9 1 point2 points ago

                                                            That was also the year that this came down. I can still remember seeing news reports as they happened, even though I was 5 years old.

                                                            [–]indecisiverobot 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Never forgive, never forget

                                                            [–]GroundhogExpert 1 point2 points ago

                                                            So this and killdozer happened on the same day? What is it about June 4th breeds so much contempt for establishments?

                                                            [–]cdford 1 point2 points ago

                                                            So today is the anniversary of both the Tank Man's noble act at Tiananmen Square AND the Killdozer guy's rampage? Coincidence?

                                                            [–]Kijamon 1 point2 points ago

                                                            The best motivational picture I ever saw was this frame with a caption similar to this

                                                            "There is nothing funny about this photo. You are a hero. I hope you're alive. I hope you're safe".

                                                            [–]grimism 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Sucks that this guy is more well known, admired, and respected in the US than his own country.

                                                            [–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Why don't you ask the kids at Tiananmen square? Was Fashion the reason why they were there?

                                                            [–]Compromised_Identity 1 point2 points ago

                                                            I heard on NPR this morning that the Shanghai Index closed at 6,489 today, which are the same numbers as the date 23 years ago of this massacre (6/4/89). Apparently words associated with the stock market are currently being filtered by China's firewall.

                                                            [–]Karma_Anemic 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Ummm... not sure if anyone is going to see this at this point, but it's actually 23 years ago TOMORROW. June 5th, not June 4th

                                                            [–]Cosmologicon 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Nice. I always wondered why certain people think of Rachel Corrie as an idiot who should have seen it coming when she stood in front of a bulldozer, but think of Tank Guy as heroic. Seems like the same thing to me.

                                                            I need to know so I know how to secure a heroic legacy when I try to be the next Tank Guy!

                                                            [–]Blackmoonshine 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Generally when a large vehicle of some sort is moving towards a person, one would assume that they will be hit/crushed/run over. Rachel Corrie reportedly SAT DOWN in front of the bulldozer. And people are surprised that she was run over? That's the most likely outcome. And the people who were there protesting responded with "well, they always stopped before", like that makes a difference.

                                                            Tank Guy is heroic because:

                                                            a. because he stood in front of a tank, the day after there had been extreme bloodshed. Rachel Corrie was trying to stop a house from being destroyed.

                                                            b. He was willing to be crushed by a tank, we can see that because he keeps moving in front of it. He's not the only hero, the tank driver is as well. People who witnessed the Rachel Corrie incident appear surprised that people DIE from being hit by large vehicles.

                                                            When you do something like this you have to understand that there are risks and certain outcomes that generally occur. Even if Tank Guy had been crushed he would still be heroic. Why? He stood up against a tank, his country (he didn't go to someone elses country and protest them), and destroyed his future, and most likely his life by this act. Just because one doesn't witness him being killed doesn't mean it didn't occur later on.

                                                            That is my 2 cents about why Rachel Corrie was an idiot and Tank Guy was heroic. There is a huge difference between these two cases.

                                                            [–]thaimcloughlin 1 point2 points ago

                                                            i hate to be that guy, but whats the red smudge hiding?

                                                            [–]MattAmazin 1 point2 points ago

                                                            My favorite part about this is that he has no idea how famous he is. I mean, the subject of probably the most iconic picture ever taken probably has no idea a picture was ever taken.

                                                            [–]GB6801 1 point2 points ago

                                                            My favourite picture on this subject here

                                                            [–]SamuelRAnger 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Salute to you, brave son of a bitch.

                                                            [–]Aquamentus92 1 point2 points ago

                                                            the first thing that popped into my head after reading the title was, "IT WAS 20 YEARS AGO TODAY! SARGEANT PEPPER TAUGHT THE BAND TO PLAY! THEY'VE BEEN GOIN IN AND OUT OF STYLE, BUT THEY'RE GUARANTEED TO BRING A SMILE! SO LEMME INTRODUCE TO YOU, THE ACT YOU'VE KNOWN FOR ALL THESE YEAAAAAAARS! SARGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!"

                                                            [–]OuchWhatDoYouDo 1 point2 points ago

                                                            This is relevant: http://soundcloud.com/soundspelunking/john-vanderslice-do-you-remember

                                                            [–]spartaninspace 1 point2 points ago

                                                            来我的兄弟！

                                                            [–]protendious 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Not sure if relevant but I immediately thought of this picture when I saw this video last year during the Egyptian revolution. For those curios, "gadaa" is a commendation of bravery/reliability (hard to literally translate) and "ragill" literally means "a man" (another way of implying bravery etc), so the recorders are cheering him on.

                                                            [–]iraptor 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Sergeant pepper taught the band to play...

                                                            [–]UhOhOreo2012 1 point2 points ago

                                                            Did anyone ever find out what happened to this man?

                                                            [–]Coolala2002 6 points7 points ago

                                                            Sorry guys, but the Chinese government has admitted that this never actually happened.

                                                            [–]kuroyaki 2 points3 points ago

                                                            instant rimshot

                                                            [–]Sandi315 1 point2 points ago

                                                            The government. But not the person who did it, which is now mysteriously missing.

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                                                              [–]LordJelly 2 points3 points ago

                                                              Why don't you ask the kids in Tiananmen Square? Was fashion the reason why they were there?

                                                              [–]JamoWRage 1 point2 points ago

                                                              They disguise it, hypnotize it. Television made you buy it.

                                                              [–]thewhycats 1 point2 points ago

                                                              I was humming this while scrolling down the comment page. Happy to see that someones was thinking of that song too :)

                                                              [–]nigel45 3 points4 points ago

                                                              Technically what happened in the photo occurred on the 5th. However the actual massacre/the clearing of Tienanmen Square happened early (like 3 or 4 AM) on the 4th.

                                                              [–]StewieBanana 5 points6 points ago

                                                              WTF? Did his bags turn into a top hat?

                                                              [–]weagle11 4 points5 points ago

                                                              whats the big deal? Pedestrians always get the right of way

                                                              [–]vonShang 2 points3 points ago

                                                              The real hero is the Tank crew.

                                                              [–]kuroyaki 2 points3 points ago

                                                              Both, really. The tank crew had some balls.

                                                              [–]hartmanwhistler 4 points5 points ago

                                                              Does anyone know if they stopped or just ran him over? Always wondered that...

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