June 5, 1989 --- an hero citizen known only as "Tank Man".... dared to stand up for the People against the Machine, with this simple, symbolic, inspirational act:
Victims of the massacre. Photograph: AP
>> My most vivid memory of the Tiananmen days is the time I stood high on the Monument to the People's Heroes one afternoon in late May and looked down on a crowd of more than a million people assembled in the square. Every face beamed with hope and joy. The colourful swathe of humanity looked as peaceful as a meadow of wildflowers. There was a euphoric sense that after decades of tyranny, the Chinese people had found the courage to take full control of their lives and attempt to change the fate of their nation. Every person in that crowd was later a victim of the massacre, whether they lost their life on 4 June or survived, their ideals shattered and their soul scarred by fear. << --- Ma Jian, 2014
Victims of the massacre. Photograph: AP
>> My most vivid memory of the Tiananmen days is the time I stood high on the Monument to the People's Heroes one afternoon in late May and looked down on a crowd of more than a million people assembled in the square. Every face beamed with hope and joy. The colourful swathe of humanity looked as peaceful as a meadow of wildflowers. There was a euphoric sense that after decades of tyranny, the Chinese people had found the courage to take full control of their lives and attempt to change the fate of their nation. Every person in that crowd was later a victim of the massacre, whether they lost their life on 4 June or survived, their ideals shattered and their soul scarred by fear. << --- Ma Jian, 2014
