Tank man is the nickname of the anonymous man who became internationally famous when he was filmed and photographed standing before a line of seventeen or more tanks during the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989.

Little is known of the man, including his current whereabouts or if he is still alive. History has identified him as Wang Weilin, a 19-year-old student; however, there's no absolute confirmation of this, and the Chinese government, if it knows, isn't telling. Some believe Wang was executed by firing squad several months after the incident; others believe he is still alive and in hiding somewhere in mainland China.

The incident took place on the ironically named Chang An Dai Du, or "Great Avenue of Everlasting Peace," on 5 June 1989, the day after the Chinese government began cracking down violently on the protests. The man stood unwavering and alone in the middle of the road as the tanks approached him. He appeared to be holding two bags of some sort, one in each hand. As the tanks come to a stop, he appears to be trying to wave them away. Later, the front tank attempts to drive around the man, but the man repeatedly steps into the path of the tank. After about half an hour of blocking the tanks, the man climbed up onto the top of the lead tank and had a conversation with the driver. Reports of what were said to the driver vary, from "Why are you here? My city is in chaos because of you" to "Go back, turn around, and stop killing my people" to simply "Go away." Finally, anxious onlookers pulled the man down and absorbed him into the crowd and the tanks continued on their way.

The striking still and motion photography of the small man standing alone before a line of very large tanks reached international infamy practically overnight; it headlined countless newspapers and news magazines and was the lead story on countless news broadcasts around the world.

In a 1992 interview with Barbara Walters, then-Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin was asked what became of the man. Jiang replied "I think never killed" (sic).

In April of 1998, Time Magazine named "The Unknown Rebel" in its list of "The Most Important People of the Century."