Original link: https://sehseh.substack.com/p/aa5
Text / Jia Xuanning
On September 19, several alumni of the Beijing Film Academy forwarded to me an article on WeChat about the founder of an art school examination preparation organization “15 years of seducing and raping many underage female students and dropping out of school”, I saw A familiar name: Du Yingzhe. That night, the incident was searched on Weibo; the next day, public opinion was further fermented, and more victims came forward to speak out. This rare incident of large-scale indecent sexual assault also “breaks the circle” and attracts more attention.
The Du Yingzhe incident was pulled out by another sexual harassment incident. A male student who had received training at the art examination institution “Shadow Road Platform” founded by him and is now studying in the Nortel Directing Department harassed several girls for filming assignments. One of the harassed female internet celebrities, Shi Ziyi, said that “the victim’s bold revelations in the incident” gave her courage, and decided to reveal Du Yingzhe, the principal of the art examination institution “Shadow Road”, under her real name.
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“His teachers are all accomplices”
Shi Ziyi pointed out that Du Yingzhe’s actions may be “the most serious sexual exploitation with the longest duration, the largest number of victims and the youngest average age of the victims” in the Chinese education sector. She herself is not a direct student of “Shadow Road”, but she was harassed because she took Du Yingzhe’s class, and the female students of “Shadow Road” who were in the same class as her were basically harassed by Du Yingzhe.
Later, she learned that since the establishment of “Shadow Road” in 2007, girls have been harassed, molested and even sexually assaulted in every session. One of the girls, born in 2003, was deceived by Du Yingzhe during a class at “Shadow Road” at the age of 17. Pregnant, drop out of school to have children.
Shi Ziyi and the other two victims’ real-name documents quickly spread on the Chinese Internet. Former students who participated in the training at “Shadow Road”, former employees of “Shadow Road”, and graduates of the Department of Literature of Nortel spoke together, so there was a second article “breaking the circle” ” 21 art examination circle Fang Siqi’s Blood and Tears Complaint, About Shadow Road Du Yingzhe .
The article contains more allegations of lewd details of Du Yingzhe, including that he would use tutoring to write, try on interview clothes, and verbally or physically harass female students. His then-wife, Chen Xin, assisted him by inviting girls to private places for reasons such as making up classes and taking a hot spring, and the employees of “Shadow Road” were unaware of this.
A girl who used to teach at “Shadow Road” said: “What scares me is that his teachers are all accomplices. They know who Du Yingzhe is and turn a blind eye. These students at the time were all accomplices. It’s just a hug to keep warm.”
What the two articles state does not surprise me. Du Yingzhe and Chen Xin were senior sisters of my university when they were in the literature department of Nortel, and they had heard about their character during their school days. But what surprised me was that the “Shadow Road” was only a private training class at the time. Later, it not only operated institutionally, but for more than ten years, Du Yingzhe implemented long-term, long-term, The widespread sexual assault has survived unscathed so far.
What’s the problem with such a large-scale sexual assault continuing to happen?
“I thought it was my fault”
First, it is the self-recognition of female victims in the Du Yingzhe incident.
From the self-reports of many witnesses, it can be seen that whether they are students or teachers of “Shadow Road”, the reason why many people have been silent for many years is “fear”: on the one hand, they are afraid that they are weak and that they will be attacked by Du Yingzhe; On the one hand, he is afraid of “slut humiliation”, worried that he is not a perfect victim, and that he cannot produce substantial evidence.
So the girls chose to remain silent, even “thinking it was their own fault”. Some people deeply blamed themselves: “Why can’t I even resist, why?!”
In addition to fear, many people were overwhelmed by what happened at that time. As a victim who was both a former student and former employee of Shadow Road said: “I can feel that the incident should be ‘abnormal’, but I don’t know what it means, and I don’t dare to say anything about it. Anyone who mentions .
These sexual assaults spanned more than 15 years. Fifteen years ago in China, there was very little large-scale discussion of sexual harassment, and most of the sexual assault/harassment incidents that attracted widespread public attention involved murders. It was not until 2018 that the #MeToo movement really sparked a change in the field of gender dialogue in China. In the era when many victims of “Shadow Road” were violated, not only did the public opinion atmosphere far from being as advanced as it is today, but also women’s perception of sexual assault was not as popular and clear as it is today.
In such a big environment, only 17- and 18-year-old girls who have not yet been deeply involved in the world do not know how to react when they encounter a structure like Du Yingzhe and “Shadow Road” that regard sexual assault culture as the default rule. Feeling overwhelmed, shame, self-blame, fear and other emotions are all entangled together, they can only be silent.
Today we can use “Fang Siqi in the art examination circle” to describe their common experiences. But back then, there was no such statement, and they didn’t know how to tell what they had experienced, let alone resist or even seek legal support. The victimization experience of an individual can only be isolated.
Another point worth exploring is the position of some women in the incident.
Some female employees are both victims and accomplices who acquiesce to evil deeds. If it is said that in the workplace structure of “Shadow Road”, turning a blind eye to Du Yingzhe’s behavior is “normal”, then Du Yingzhe’s ex-wife Chen Xin’s position is worthy of It’s called “twisted”.
A large number of former students and employees of “Shadow Road” mentioned that Chen Xin not only condone Du’s behavior, but even his “complicity”, she would help him invite girls, let girls relax their vigilance, and it would be easier for Du to succeed. Some victims said that they “always did not understand what role and motives Sister Chen played in this”, and some classmates of Chen Xin in the Nortel Literature Department revealed the past of being sexually assaulted by Du Yingzhe, calling for Chen Xin “do his own confession”.
According to Caixin, many of Chen Xin’s college classmates want her to “take the responsibilities that she should take”, but some students believe that “she is actually the biggest victim” because she has been in Du Yingzhe’s strong PUA (emotional manipulation) for a long time. ) and mind control.
In fact, the two statements are not contradictory. Chen Xin, who has been assisting Du Yingzhe in sexual assault for more than ten years as his wife, is not only the perpetrator, but also the longest victim of “exploitation of authority, resources and gender” in “Shadow Road”.
Just like many women suffer from the patriarchal society, but consciously maintain and adhere to that system – “Shadow Road” is an extreme manifestation of the patriarchal power structure, in which some female victims are both exploited and become victims. The accomplice in the structure.
Systemic crimes hidden in the art examination industry chain
Behind the large-scale sexual assault and sexual exploitation that can last for many years, there must be a power structure behind it, not just because there are individual “perverts”. The art examination industry chain formed in China in the past decade is a breeding ground for unequal power relations.
“Art examination” refers to the professional examination that art college candidates need to take before the college entrance examination. Generally, it is divided into three stages: the initial test, the second test and the interview. After the “professional qualification certificate” is obtained through the interview, the applicant can only apply for the corresponding college during the college entrance examination.
The “Shadow Road” founded by Du Yingzhe was the first institution in Beijing to provide systematic training for the professional examinations of the five famous art schools (Beijing Film Academy, Central Academy of Drama, Communication University of China, Shanghai Academy of Drama, China Academy of Opera) – at least As far back as I can remember, earlier, there were no training classes in art schools to prepare for.
In 2008, “Shadow Road” registered a company, and “art test” gradually began to form a trend, and the art test industry became very popular. After 2010, the annual enrollment of “Shadow Road” has been more than 300, reaching 400 to 500 at its peak. In 2015, the “Film and Television Department” of the Chinese Opera Department planned to recruit 25 film and television directors, of which half of the applicants had participated in training in “Shadow Road”; “Shadow Road” took a class. After 2015, “Shadow Road” launched a “one-to-one” tutoring model, starting at 9,800 yuan, and the price of VIP classes was as high as 99,800 yuan.
Therefore, what is really worth reviewing is the “art examination industry chain” that can create huge profits and even the art examination system itself. Why can China’s art examination system promote a deformed power relationship between teachers and art candidates within a training institution? Du Yingzhe’s years-long sexual assault is taking advantage of this power relationship and is a systematic crime under the art examination system.
❝ The reason why power sexual assault can continue is because the perpetrator has the power to construct “rules”. ❞
Until the exposure of the incident shocked the whole network, Du Yingzhe was still defending himself in a systematic way. He responded twice to the victims’ collective accusations against him. The first time he deliberately shifted the focus, emphasizing the “absurdity of the art test”; the second time, when he found that the public opinion was impossible to restore, although he claimed to be a “sincere apology”, he still defended himself as The idea of ”using the evil side of human nature to make students perform better in art exams” destroys the boundaries of the teacher-student relationship.
Du Yingzhe said it was the “uncontrolled use of evil” that devoured him. This rhetoric of secretly changing concepts and evading the fact of one’s own sexual assault crime is actually very cunning to hide personal evil into “system evil” to shirk responsibility.
But at the same time, we really cannot ignore that it is the art examination system that gives him something to use, and the loopholes in the system that give him the possibility and convenience to do evil.
Some victims were coaxed by him that “you can only pass the exam if you sleep with me”; some victims were brainwashed by him “sex equals art, you don’t have sex, art schools will not recruit you”; some victims think, “Shadow Road” The disgusting “rule” is that “every student of the established Shadow Road has gone through the process that we also have to go through.”
Powerful sexual assaults continue to occur because the perpetrators have the power to construct “rules”. In a closed field of power like an art examination institution, Du Yingzhe is the rule maker. Who gave him this power? It is the art examination system that attracts candidates and brings many negative impressions to the public.
Enrollment in Chinese art schools has long been criticized for being chaotic. The admissions process is opaque, and the transfer of filthy and dirty interests is often exposed. Du Yingzhe is good at creating and strengthening the “dark” image of art schools in front of innocent candidates, so many girls who have been violated will be even more fearful and let them go. Asking for anything, and even mistakenly thinking that the culture of sexual assault within the training institution is the normal state of the relationship between teachers and students in art schools.
Powerful sexual assault that is difficult to be investigated by law
After the epidemic in 2020, offline art exams in colleges and universities such as Nortel and National Opera have been canceled on a large scale, and the art exam training industry has also been greatly affected. However, “Shadow Road” has held a leading edge in the industry for many years. Whether there is a rent-seeking phenomenon of power in art schools behind it is still worth investigating.
According to the “Haidian Public Security” notice, Du Yingzhe has been under criminal detention according to law, and his suspected sexual assault case is under further investigation. However, since China does not have a special sexual harassment prevention law or anti-sexual harassment legislation, only some principled provisions have been made in the “Women’s Rights Protection Law”, “Civil Code” and other relevant laws and regulations. Physical violence perpetrates sexual assault, so there is limited action and enforceability.
Whether many victims can ultimately be held accountable through legal channels remains a question mark. (Finish)
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This article is reprinted from: https://sehseh.substack.com/p/aa5
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