What would you sacrifice your life for? Could it be money, family, or maybe even freedom? On June 5th, 1989, a famous photograph was taken in Tiananmen Square in Beijing China. The picture depicts a man standing in front of five tanks. The setting is in the Chinese district of Dongcheng in the city of Beijing. At the time, thousands of college students were protesting for democracy because of the democratic movement in China. Government officials as well as the military tried to cover up the iconic “Tank Man” picture; however they failed because the image became evidence of the peaceful democratic protests that were happening at the time (Stone). This photograph, taken by Stuart Franklin, emphasizes the bravery of the unknown protestor who faced five tanks during the Tiananmen Square Massacre as well as the impact this event had on The People’s Republic of China. 

A tank is a heavily armored war machine that can cause mass amounts of destruction. In Figure 1 there are five tanks lining up in front of a grown man holding shopping bags in his hands. The tanks as a military armored vehicle symbolize the war zone at the time. At the time, the military was invading Tiananmen Square. The photograph shows an empty Chinese street; one man, five tanks, and a burned down bus. The night before, the bus was burned down during the protests at the Square (Stone). This means that the man was in extreme danger.  The juxtaposition of the tanks and the man insinuate that the demonstrator was going to be killed easily. Stuart Franklin captures this image of the unknown protestor on the street from the fifth floor of his hotel (Witty). The man was in an extremely hostile environment, yet that doesn’t stop him from defying the tanks. He was casually carrying two shopping bags, demonstrating his fierce bravery. The unknown protester appears to be prepared to sacrifice his life because of the way he is obscuring the pathway of the tanks. This moment of courageous behavior will impact China long after the Massacre.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a communist state. The way the government handled the Tiananmen Massacre reveals how they have control its citizens. During the Tiananmen Square Massacre, myriads of peaceful demonstrators were brutally murdered by the military. In the photograph it is clear that on the left side of the image there are dark shadows (Franklin). The shadows are similar to storm clouds. The storm clouds can related the future of China because of how Figure 1 haunts the country for decades to come. The PRC used many methods to try to cover up the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Stuart Franklin recalls how hard the photographers worked to bootleg the films that contained evidence of the massacre. Chinese officials worked hard to obscure evidence of the massacre. An example of this would be how “The film was smuggled out in a packet of tea by a French student and delivered to the Magnum office in Paris” (Witty). The government, however, failed to stop the photograph from being publicized on major newspapers. This impacted China’s reputation negatively because a country that murders its own citizens is an awful one. The publications of the photograph were a great way the media got the word out on China’s incident. The image itself produces the emotion the Chinese people felt during the demonstration and uprising. The willingness to sacrifice oneself for a simple concept like freedom that Americans are born with puts into perspective how the picture produced an immense impact.

The late 1980’s were abominable for China. The country suffered through a massacre that killed many citizens, even though it was supposed to be a peaceful democratic movement. Stuart Franklin’s photograph is essentially a painting of the terrible fate of an extremely brave demonstrator during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Even though the government tried to cover up this event that negatively impacted China, they failed because of powerful image taken by Franklin as well as the extraordinary efforts taken to publicize the iconic image in Figure 1.
