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"Tank-man" ("Tank-man"), created in 2019. It was created by Mr. Chen Weiming based on the photos taken by the Associated Press reporter Jeff Widener during the June Fourth massacre in Beijing. It was completed on the eve of the 30th anniversary of June Fourth. In the sculpture design, Chen Weiming formed the "Tank Man" and the "64 Monument" into a main sculpture. The tank was advancing towards the "64 Monument", and Wang Weilin stood in front of the tank to prevent it from advancing.
The tank man in the sculpture is made of 1,300 pounds of concrete. The character is holding a briefcase in his left hand and a shirt in his right hand, with his eyes fixed on the tank directly in front of him. The whole body is painted in dark bronze. At first, the artist planned to use a real military tank of type 59 that was modified from the Soviet T54, which was used in the suppression of the CCP’s army, but was unsuccessful. Instead, he switched to an olive green made of recyclable steel, wood, fiberglass, and plaster. Duplicate the tank, use plastic foam for the tread, and paint it grass green. During the June 4th Incident in 1989, tanks of the Chinese People's Liberation Army drove into Tiananmen Square to suppress unarmed students and citizens. When the tank was leading to Chang'an Avenue in Tiananmen Square, it was blocked by a young man alone. This fearless young man of about 30 was called "Wang Weilin" by people, but no one knows whether this is his real name. The scene at that time was photographed and published by Associated Press reporter Wei Denner, which shocked the world. "Wang Weilin blocking the tank" is considered one of the most influential photos of the 20th century. Time magazine rated it as one of the 100 most influential figures of the 20th century. The American media claimed that Wang Weilin blocking the tank "is the conscience of mankind." And courage is challenging the ruthless state apparatus." Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, described the photo as "the most enduring image of the 20th century will forever be imprinted in the conscience of the world." Although Wang Weilin is still a mystery and his whereabouts are unknown, he dared to resist tyranny without fear of death, inspiring people who love freedom and democracy. In Chen Weiming's hands, this sculpture represents a strong and strong force, which is enough to compete with the autocratic armored tank. Facing the CCP’s ruthless iron-clad tank, the courage to stand up to confrontation is now turned into a cement sculpture. Chen Weiming said, “The'tank man' is a representative image of the Chinese people who insist on justice in the face of power. Now we give him an artistic form to create a fixed frame. , To tell the world the Chinese people’s courage to resist tyranny and to encourage us to fight for China’s democracy and freedom", "We are not building a monument for someone, but for the backbone of our nation, for the ideals of our generation, and for freedom. Fighting. From this point of view, it is worthwhile to pay more."
What is Wang Weilin's true identity? Where did he go after being pushed away by a group of people? Chen Weiming said that these questions may never have answers. As an artist, he fixed this shocking "tank man" image three-dimensionally on the ground. "This is the spirit of a generation and the most beautiful side of the Chinese."
At the June 4th 30th Anniversary of the Freedom Sculpture Park on June 4, 2019, Mr. Fang Zheng, the chairman of the "China Democracy Education Foundation" in San Francisco, who was crushed by a PLA tank during the "June 4th" massacre, expressed The surging mood when entering the Liberty Sculpture Park: “It’s like going back to Tiananmen Square 30 years ago. We felt so close to China’s democracy at that time, but when I saw the'tank man' sculpture, I seemed to see that again. A bloody suppression. From today’s perspective, despite the difficulties, we are not disappointed in China’s democratic cause. We are still pursuing it and are full of confidence."
Wu Jianmin, the leader of the Nanjing Student Movement in exile in the United States, said that after 30 years of people's pursuit, the "tank man" finally stood on the ground in the United States, giving the Chinese people a new sustenance for the "June 4th" complex. "Overseas there are still batch after batch, including many young people, who have joined the anti-communist forces. From the Liberty Sculpture Park, you can see the grand scale. Today hundreds of thousands of people have come, once again showing the world that people are not. I will forget the June Fourth Movement. The Communist Party wants to obliterate it, but it cannot do it."
