Yuzhang College Self-Cultivation Education School was a private non-degree school established in 2013 in Nanchang City, Jiangxi, China. The school accepted and ‘disciplined’ teenagers with rebellious behavior. Its predecessors were a school for Internet addiction called "Dragon Confession School" established in 2007 and Yuzhang College Moral Education School established at the end of 2011, also referred to as Yuzhang Academy.
The school claimed to ‘focus on self-cultivation courses for young people’. Many students have alleged the school of having a series of corporal punishment policies in place to manage students, and coercing students by physical and mental means to the point of suicide.
This college has aroused widespread public attention after being exposed on the Internet of abuse. At the end of 2017, the school took the initiative to apply for the cessation of operation. In 2019, Yuzhang Academy once again caused widespread discussion on the Internet. In July 2020, the school's founder, Wu Junbao, was found guilty of illegal detention and sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison. In January 2021, the Intermediate People's Court of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, revoked the attached civil judgment on the grounds that the facts were unclear and remanded the case for retrial. Nowadays, due to the law not being enforced, many branches of Yuzhang Academy are still running in some cities and towns in China, where children are still being abused and some died.
Background The predecessor of Yuzhang Academy was established in 2007 as an Internet addiction school called "Dragon Confession School". In June 2010, Wu Junbao applied for the registered trademark "Yuzhang Academy". At the end of 2011, the trademark was successfully registered, and the moral education school of Yuzhang Academy was formally established in Ruxi Wu Village, Luojia Town, Qingshanhu District, Nanchang City. Wu Junbao claimed that the establishment of the academy was the "resumption of learning" of Yuzhang Academy in history, and he hoped to "awaken the improvement of social atmosphere through the return of 'tradition'", and inspire the "post-90s" and "post-00s" with Chinese culture. Li Douluo, the former mayor of Nanchang City, was the honorary principal of the school and endorsed the college On May 16, 2013, Yuzhang Academy's Self-Cultivation Education School was officially established in Wancun, less than 10 minutes away from Wucun and its qualifications are private non-academic educational institutions, and students have moved to the new campus. In January 2014, the college added the job function of general delinquent youth transformation. On February 23 of the same year, the academy was listed as the Guardianship and Mentoring Base for Minors of the Xihu District Procuratorate of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, and became the first Guardianship and Mentoring Base for Minors in Jiangxi Province.
Curriculum According to the public information of the college, the college focuses on the self-cultivation course for young people, involving the learning of the college in the past dynasties, academic training, and even the classical learning of the school, such as uprightness, teaching women, and discipline. Among the textbooks provided by the students are books such as "Teaching Women's Will", "Self-cultivation", and "Psychological Zen". However, the students claimed that "there are fewer actual lectures, and there is more etiquette training such as sitting and standing." In addition, stipulates that work-study schools shall strengthen the content of legal education and shall not implement corporal punishment, abuse or discrimination against students. However, a student at the school said that there was "no legal class" in it.
School management Mr. Zhou, who used to work as a teacher and instructor at Yuzhang Academy, confirmed to the Legal Evening News that new students are forced to enter the "boring room" (called the "little black room" by students) for seven days after entering the school, during which students are unable to go out and are sent in three meals a day by staff. According to a student at the college, the boring room was "a small dark room of about 10 square meters, with some moldy green military quilts and a squat pit next to the bed." The official explanation of Yuzhang Academy calls it "Morita therapy" (Morita therapy advocates isolation and recuperation for the mentally ill). After coming out of the boring room, the new students began to attend classes and live normally. At half past five in the morning, the students begin their day, first worshipping Confucius, performing the "morning ritual", and then studying. In the evenings, the college conducts examinations to comment on everyone's performance, and those who make mistakes are punished with corporal punishment. Depending on the severity of the problem, students were subjected to varying degrees of corporal punishment, sometimes with "Ruler discipline" and sometimes with "dragon whips". Most of the students confirmed that the "dragon whip" was made of steel bar, and some said that it was fiberglass, and some posted photos of their buttocks being beaten to purple black. However, Wu Junbao, the top administrator of the college, said that the "dragon whip" was just a Hollow plastic tube. The school has a set of management methods similar to the . People at different levels of management have different permissions, and there are a series of procedures for reporting penalties. In addition to not being able to ensure adequate protein and other nutrients, there are even incidents such as food poisoning mixed with sundries and rags in the food. In addition to this, the student unions were overworked, and the living conditions were comparable to those of concentration.
In order to prevent students from saying things that are not good for the school, teachers will be watching when students talk to their families on the phone. In order to get out as soon as possible, students will do their best to say good things about the college. At the same time, a student at the college said that in order to cope with the parents' visit, the students had to "act" to create a harmonious scene, and if the students did not cooperate, they would be beaten. When parents came to ask about the school, some students also said that they did not dare to tell the truth, for fear that the teacher would ask the parents to ask, and thus be abused.
Student suicide Because under high pressure, students are powerless to resist, and some are so desperate that they self-harm and commit suicide. Self-injurious persons often incur penalties for rebar swinging due to the control of metal utensils, most suicide attempts commit suicide by swallowing toothpaste or laundry detergent. Some committed suicide by cutting their hands with disposable plastic cups. However, after the school found out that the suicide was committed and sent to the hospital, it did not dare to sign the critical illness notice and take responsibility, so the student was taken back to the college and washed the stomach by irrigating gastric lavage to induce vomiting, and even until the student vomited blood.
Timeline of events leading to the closure of school
In 2017, when Yuzhang Academy was full of praise. A certain "classmate Zhou" posted his experience at Yuzhang Academy on Baidu Tieba and other places, but it was deleted. And in July, he was investigated in the name of "swagger and slander". On October 16, after "Student Zhou" hit a wall in all aspects, he found the blogger "Gentle" on Zhihu and sent a private message, added QQ, and talked about things in Yuzhang Academy. On the same day, Zhihu user "Gentle" was inspired by Zhou, who "escaped" from Yuzhang Academy, to publish a post "How many Yang Yongxin are there in China" which was also the first negative article about Yuzhang Academy. After breaking the news that there were problems in the self-cultivation education school of Nanchang Yuzhang Academy, Yuzhang Academy aroused widespread public attention. Wu Junbao, the principal of Yuzhang Academy, found "Gentleness" and said that he provided evidence and hoped that the other party would delete the article. In the process of discussing with him, he admitted several things and made the official website of Yuzhang Academy close. On October 27, the relevant departments of Qingshanhu District, Nanchang City, investigated and said that the problem part of the post did exist, and instructed the District Education, Science and Sports Bureau to punish the school's educational institutions and relevant responsible persons. On October 28, Weibo user "Shan Nyima Dawang" published his experience which received a great response and attracted the attention of the Beijing News and the video was later reposted by several media outlets, including CCTV. On October 30, Wu Junbao, the executive chief of Yuzhang Academy, responded in the circle of friends: "All teachers and students officially announced today that they will completely stop using the discipline of the ruler. one of the editors of "The Big Incident" found "Tenderness" and discussed it with him. On November 2, Wu Junbao established a media WeChat group and released the news that Yuzhang Academy applied for suspension, saying that because ancient education methods such as "precept ruler" could not be accommodated in the current education system, in addition, the student object was special, and the teacher would be put in danger after stopping the "precept ruler". On November 3, the Qingshanhu District Education, Science and Technology Sports Bureau and the Qingshanhu District Civil Affairs Bureau issued a document approving the school's cancellation application and terminating the school. On the same day, CCTV13's "" column reported on Yuzhang Academy's "How Should Problem Teenagers Be Handed Over to Problem Schools" On November 5, Yuzhang Academy's open day, the Beijing News broadcast the day's event live on Tencent News, which also reflected that although some of the children's parents regretted sending their children to study at the academy some parents pulled banners expressing their support for the school to continue to operate and support the school to tide over the difficulties . But it was questioned by people including "gentleness" that it was "a shareholder investor, a hired trust, and a staff member of Yuzhang Academy". On November 7, the relevant person in charge of the Propaganda Department of the Nanchang Qingshanhu District Party Committee said that the qualification of Yuzhang Academy has been cancelled. In accordance with the relevant regulations, the college was ordered to properly resettle the students and teachers within one month, and at the same time, the person in charge said that the public security department had intervened in the matter but there was no follow-up response. And that night, Zhou Wenliang, a former teacher and instructor of the Information Office of Yuzhang Academy, said in an interview that during his work in the college, in addition to beating students with a ring ruler, he also saw a student complaining with his own eyes. On November 8, 12 days after the article "How Many Yang Yongxin Are There in China", Yuzhang Academy, which was originally open normally and has accumulated more than 100 million yuan in six years, took the initiative to apply for closure. But a few months later, due to "insufficient evidence", no decision was made to arrest the principal Wu Junbao, and it was returned for further supplementary investigation, and after two years, there was no news. On November 9, "Luo Wei" went to the Qingshanhu District Public Security Bureau to report the case, accusing Yuzhang Academy of illegal detention and asking the police to file a case for investigation.