A writer from central China once hailed as a “literary prodigy” has had her master’s degree revoked for plagiarism.
Jiang Fangzhou, 36, grew up in an ordinary family in Hubei province. Her mother is a Chinese-language teacher and online writer, while her father is a railway police officer. But her precocious rise captivated generations of ambitious Chinese parents.
Jiang began writing at seven and published her first book, Open the Skylight, at the age of nine. Drawing on her experiences as a class monitor, it was celebrated as literature for children written by a child.
At 11, she published a novel tackling puberty, school bullying and other social issues through the eyes of a primary school pupil.
Her fame followed her into higher education. In 2008, Jiang scored 561 of a possible 750 points in China’s fiercely competitive National Higher Education Entrance Examination, also known as gaokao, but entered prestigious Tsinghua University’s journalism school through an exceptional admission process that effectively added 60 points to her result.
Critics accused Tsinghua of trading on her celebrity and undermining the fairness of the test. The university said experts had identified exceptional writing ability and potential, arguing that rigid reliance on scores risked overlooking unconventional talent.