The Tank Man
Earlier this afternoon I watched Frontline’s internet broadcast of The Tank Man and was quite impacted by the program. I was in my early teens when the incidents surrounding Tiananmen Square took place, but I remember vividly watching the news footage of that solitary individual staring down a column of tanks. I don’t know what my reaction was at the time, but in watching the event this afternoon, I was both moved by the courage of the individual, the humanity of the moment, and the inane pointlessness of man’s need to kill one another.
The program does an excellent job retelling the events surrounding the famous tank standoff, but also delves into more current topics regarding China, Capitalism and business. I highly recommend the program to anyone interested in history or China.
In a few short weeks I will visit many of the locations covered in the program – I hope to both remember the events that took place there such a short time ago and also to hopefully come away with a better understanding of what drives people to such destruction and carnage.
TAGS: This entry was posted on Saturday, April 15th, 2006 at 11:07 pm and is filed under CalPoly MBA, China, Interesting News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
April 16th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
I’m really looking forward to reading your thoughts either while in China or after your return. So much of the Tiananmen crackdown was based around power, which essentially has driven the top echelon of Chinese society since the emperors. Despite some sympathies in the Politburo (e.g. from Zhao Ziyang), which caused a split in the Communist Party, the old ways of unity and violence seemed to be preferred to allowing self-determination—from which the Communists thought would lead to chaos. As we know, the result was even more chaotic when the crackdowns happened and the Politburo attempted to shut down satellite links from Beijing, preventing free media from covering the incidents. Red China’s decision to make the events of 1989 a taboo topic means it will be a matter of time before similar energies resurface.
April 17th, 2006 at 8:56 pm
Jack: I am really looking forward to the trip as are all of my classmates. We have been engaged in around 2-6 hours of “China” lectures a week recently (on top of our regular load, of course) and will be increasing our discussions as we move closer to the trip departure. Additionally, the level and depth of the discussions that are taking place on the trip’s blog has been increasing, which I think is great.
What impresses me most is that both our trip itinerary and pre-departure lectures span business, current events, and cultural content and have consistently included a focus on the “dark” sides of China. To be honest, I was expecting a heavy business bias and give a lot of credit to my classmates and the professors putting the trip together for pushing a much broader agenda.
I am hopeful that I will be able to post daily during our travels but have heard that my blog is not accessible from China ISPs. That may change, or I may be able to figure out some workaround, but I will be sure to record my thoughts and post them here one way or another. I’ll have my camera with me too, so perhaps a bit more of my creative side might show up on this blog as well…
As our itinerary firms up I’ll post the general details on here. I am interested if you have been to any of the places we will be visiting, either some time in the past, or more recently and if you have any insight or recommendations.
What you posted in your comment about the Tiananmen incident is very interesting, especially the last portion. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the PBS Frontline broadcast, I highly recommend it. One of the most interesting and disturbing portions of the program was an interview with four Chinese college students from one of China’s most prestigious schools. When shown the famous “Tank Man” photograph, none of them knew what the photograph was from. …and I don’t think their lack of knowledge stems from a disinterest in history…
April 17th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
I probably won’t be able to post a more detailed itinerary until after the trip is completed, but here are the cities and major attractions we will be visiting during our 18-day trip:
- Shenzhen (mostly visiting businesses and markets)
- Shanghai (businesses, temples, Shanghai Museum, and various historic areas)
- Wuzheng
- Hangzhou
- Suzhou
- Beijing (businesses, Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, universities, and markets)