She Once Thought She Could Escape the Professor's Hands | Humanity#
Still from "The Summer That Cannot Be Told"
When she first heard her roommate Xiaowei laughing about being sexually harassed by the professor, Xiaoke thought it was just a teacher's affectionate behavior towards a good student, and comforted her by saying, "This should be a way for the teacher to express his appreciation for you." But a few days later, she too was sexually harassed by the professor.
Chen Jing was becoming increasingly anxious.
She dreamed again of going to class, encountering Professor Zhang Peng on the stairs, wanting to run away, but he grabbed her hand and maliciously asked: "Why did you report me? You've pushed me to the edge, and I won't let you live..."
Waking up in terror, Chen Jing was drenched in sweat.
Earlier this year, on May 4th, Youth Day, the five girls sent a letter of complaint to the disciplinary committee of Sun Yat-sen University, accusing Zhang Peng of continuously sexually harassing female students and teachers from 2011 to 2017, making him a notorious "beast" in the field.
Zhang Peng, a professor at the School of Sociology and Anthropology (referred to as "Sociology and Anthropology") and the School of Life Sciences at Sun Yat-sen University, is an interdisciplinary doctoral supervisor (in ecology and sociology) and a member of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He was awarded the Young Changjiang Scholar in 2016. Searching for his name online, whether on social networks for artistic youth or on well-known popular science websites, he often appears alongside "primate research."
1#
Chen Jing's nightmare began with a field survey of the population of the Lingshan macaques at the end of January 2016.
The field survey is a signature research activity organized annually by the Sociology and Anthropology School at Sun Yat-sen University. Every winter vacation, Zhang Peng leads a team to different islands to "stake out" and "circle the island" to assess how many macaques are on the island. Chen Jing enjoyed observing the behavior patterns of monkeys and had been observing them in the field.
On the last day of the field survey, the students took turns experiencing different roles, and Chen Jing switched from observing to circling the island twice. During the first circle, she encountered Zhang Peng, who was observing in one section of the path.
Noticing Chen Jing circling the island alone, Zhang Peng said, "Let me walk with you for a while." At that time, Chen Jing felt that Professor Zhang was "really approachable"—she had attended Zhang Peng's series of anthropology lectures in her freshman year and found them "rich in content and lively in atmosphere," which sparked her strong interest in primate research and respect for the teaching Zhang Peng.
On the way, Chen Jing spoke little, while Zhang Peng alternately praised her appearance, saying, "You look really cute," and analyzed her personality, saying, "You have the gentle qualities of a southern girl, along with the boldness of a northern person." Gradually, Zhang Peng moved closer to Chen Jing, becoming more specific in conversation, saying, "Your hair is really nice," and began to play with her long hair, occasionally smelling it and saying, "It smells really good."
At first, Chen Jing felt embarrassed, but soon became increasingly uncomfortable. She vaguely felt that this was not how a professor should behave, but she didn't know what to do and could only quicken her pace to reach the next section where there were classmates.
During the second circle, when Chen Jing encountered Zhang Peng again, he approached her again and suggested, "Let's walk together," naturally placing his hand on Chen Jing's shoulder. Chen Jing felt uncomfortable but, out of respect for the teacher-student relationship, did not explicitly refuse. After walking through a muddy section, Zhang Peng suddenly pulled Chen Jing to compare their heights, saying, "I feel like you're not even 1.6 meters tall." After comparing heights, he said, "I want to see how much you weigh," and before Chen Jing could respond or refuse in time, Zhang Peng suddenly picked her up and buried his head deep into her chest, taking a deep breath.
"At that moment, I was completely stunned and couldn't believe it." Chen Jing said that thinking of the action of him smelling her chest still makes her want to gag, filled with a strong sense of shame. Chen Jing struggled, and only then did Zhang Peng put her down. As soon as she was let go, Chen Jing quickly ran away, took out her phone, and nervously messaged her sister and her sister's boyfriend in a group chat: "I feel like Professor Zhang is a 'beast.'"
Chen Jing's sister's boyfriend, Chen Hanyuan, a 2013 graduate of the History Department at Sun Yat-sen University, corroborated Chen Jing's account. He admitted that when he saw Chen Jing's message at the time, he didn't take it seriously, thinking, "I thought Zhang Peng just told her a dirty joke." It wasn't until Chen Jing returned to her residence and detailed the specifics that Chen Hanyuan realized it was sexual harassment. At that time, Chen Hanyuan only speculated from a male perspective, asking, "Does Zhang Peng really like you?"
Chen Hanyuan suggested that Chen Jing learn more about Zhang Peng's character. He had heard of Zhang Peng's many impressive titles, leading various national-level research projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation and Sino-Japanese international exchanges, and had also heard of a widely circulated story about Zhang Peng: it was said that during his research, he named the most beautiful female monkey in a troop after his girlfriend to alleviate his longing for her while spending months in the mountains. Later, others followed Zhang Peng in calling her that name, and thus in observation notes, it was written: xxx (Zhang Peng's girlfriend's name) flirted with a male monkey today and mated with another male monkey tomorrow. Zhang Peng took great delight in this.
Chen Hanyuan was worried that Chen Jing might be affected in her academic pursuits due to Zhang Peng's occasional "low-level mistakes" and tried to advise her. However, during several subsequent gatherings, Chen Jing would talk to her sister and Chen Hanyuan about her experience of being sexually harassed by Zhang Peng, becoming increasingly repressed and depressed, and continuing to have nightmares.
Chen Jing could not understand or accept Zhang Peng's actions, nor could she make others understand her feelings, "I felt like I was turning on a deserted island," so she could only choose to temporarily forget. After that, whenever she encountered Zhang Peng, she would avoid him as much as possible, even the once favorite "Primate Evolution" class became a torment.
Later, Chen Jing heard about Zhang Peng sexually harassing other girls.
2#
In fact, Zhang Peng's more frequent sexual harassment of female students concentrated in 2015.
That summer, Zhang Peng led a team to Hainan's Nanwan Monkey Island for a month-long field internship. At that time, sophomore Xiaowei and Xiaoke both experienced sexual harassment from Zhang Peng during this field internship.
During a phone call, Xiaowei spoke cheerfully; when talking about Zhang Peng, her tone became slow and firm: "Zhang Peng really harmed a group of girls; he has no right to be a professor at Sun Yat-sen University."
Xiaowei slowly recounted her experience of being sexually harassed by Zhang Peng:
One day after a group meeting, around 11 PM, Zhang Peng called her to "come to the office to revise the paper." Xiaowei thought it was reasonable to discuss the paper at night after spending the day observing the monkey troop; moreover, Zhang Peng had just returned from Japan and seemed very strict about research, so she went without worry.
Xiaowei originally sat opposite Zhang Peng, but he gestured for her to sit next to him. At first, Xiaowei maintained a half-meter polite distance, but Zhang Peng asked her to sit closer, saying, "Come over so you can see clearly."
Out of respect for Zhang Peng's position, Xiaowei didn't think much of it. Halfway through discussing the paper, Zhang Peng pointed out issues with her paper while his right hand lingered on her shoulder, not letting go for a long time, making Xiaowei feel awkward.
"He first pointed out what was wrong with the paper, then patted my shoulder, and after that, he just left his hand there." Xiaowei's thoughts were complicated; she was thinking about the paper while feeling inexplicably scared, "I kept comforting myself that it's common for elders to pat younger ones on the shoulder; I was just overthinking."
However, Zhang Peng's words became ambiguous: "You are really beautiful," and he started patting the back of Xiaowei's hand. "At that moment, I was really scared, nervous, and embarrassed, but he seemed very natural." Xiaowei said that looking back, she realized how terrifying Zhang Peng was, "He pointed out various problems with your paper to make you scared, while also seeming to comfort you, patting your shoulder and hand, making it hard for you to understand the true meaning of his actions; he controlled your emotions, keeping your attention on the paper issues, making it hard to recognize the nature of his behavior."
In Xiaowei's previous understanding, Professor Zhang Peng had spent many years in the field, was young and accomplished, and was humorous—"The person in front of me was completely different from the respected professor who joked and laughed in class! How could this be? Isn't he a scholar who just returned from Japan?"
In her anxiety, Xiaowei struggled through an hour of discussing the paper. When she returned to her dorm, she shared Zhang Peng's actions with several roommates.
Roommate Xiaoke asked her, "Did you think too much?"
Xiaoke later explained to me that she asked this not to doubt Xiaowei—she had been fortunate to encounter various good teachers from elementary school to high school, so she always thought teachers were noble and would care for students, having an upright and grand image. So when Xiaowei said Zhang Peng "was a bit off" and touched her, Xiaoke thought it was just affectionate behavior from a teacher towards a good student, comforting her by saying, "This should be a way for the teacher to express his appreciation for you."
Another roommate told me that she was very surprised when she heard Xiaowei say Zhang Peng made ambiguous comments and touched her, "Although I hadn't heard Zhang Peng's class, many people said he taught well; I didn't expect him to be such a teacher." After returning from the field, Xiaowei also repeatedly expressed her aversion to Zhang Peng, "She said she didn't want to write this field report, didn't like Zhang Peng, and didn't want to see him."
Both Xiaowei and Xiaoke frankly told me that at that time, they had not realized, or were unwilling to believe, that a respected professor could sexually harass them. "If it were a stranger, if he casually put his hand on your shoulder, touched your back, patted your hand, smelled your hair, and said 'you're beautiful,' I would definitely know this is sexual harassment, but this person is a teacher, a professor I originally respected; he is so authoritative, how can I discern his behavior?"
The girls ultimately concluded that the solution was: no longer being alone with Zhang Peng, and when going to revise papers with him, their roommates would wait at the door.
3#
However, Xiaoke soon got "slapped in the face by reality": Zhang Peng also sexually harassed her.
A few days later, after a group meeting, Xiaoke asked two roommates to wait outside while she took her report into Zhang Peng's office. After asking her questions, Xiaoke wanted to leave, but Zhang Peng began to talk to her about matters unrelated to the field internship and the paper, sitting closely beside her, smiling and flattering her, while grabbing her wrist and saying, "Your hands are so delicate." When Xiaoke pulled her hand away, Zhang Peng then touched Xiaoke's hair, saying, "Your hair is so nice," and began to play with a strand of her hair.
Xiaoke felt extremely awkward and anxious, yet was at a loss for what to do. Suddenly, Zhang Peng stood up, walked to the door, and peeked outside—only later did Xiaoke realize he was checking to see if anyone was outside.
At that moment, Xiaoke comforted herself, thinking her roommates were outside, so there was no need to be afraid. However, she saw Zhang Peng close the door, citing "there are many bugs outside." At the moment the door closed, Xiaoke was stunned. Later she learned that since Zhang Peng had taken too long, her roommates had already returned to the dorm.
After closing the door, Zhang Peng's words became increasingly explicit: "I see you working so hard, it reminds me of when I was young, working hard too. You are like a little sister to me... let me hug you..." Before Xiaoke could refuse, Zhang Peng hugged her, "My mind went blank, and as soon as he let go, I quickly ran away."
Xiaoke, blushing, ran out of Zhang Peng's office, just in time to be seen by Xiaowei passing by. The two girls found it hard to understand why Zhang Peng, as a married professor, would behave so disgracefully. They also couldn't comprehend why Zhang Peng could appear in front of female students without any sense of shame afterward.
"He seemed so justified and natural, making you doubt if you were being too sensitive?" Xiaoke speculated that perhaps female students were just objects of Zhang Peng's whimsy?—but she later realized she was slow to realize that Zhang Peng's harassing behavior had long been afoot. In the spring of 2015, Xiaoke had followed Zhang Peng to Shangchuan Island for a small field study. During an evening break, the students discussed watching the sunrise the next day, and Xiaoke began checking the weather. At that moment, Zhang Peng walked behind her, placing his palm on her lower back and not letting go for a long time. At that time, Xiaoke suppressed her discomfort, interpreting this action as a form of affection from an elder to a younger person, "I didn't expect he was testing the waters step by step."
Even after seeing Zhang Peng's "beastly" nature, the girls didn't know what to do: there was only their research group on the island, and only Zhang Peng as a professor; they didn't know whom to report to. Moreover, the field report required Zhang Peng's grading, and they had Zhang Peng's class, and even chose him as their thesis advisor.
What they could do was to avoid direct contact with Zhang Peng.
"Those days were overshadowed by a huge shadow; the world seemed to be filled with darkness." On the other end of the phone, Xiaoke, who had originally been excited to accuse Zhang Peng of his misdeeds, suddenly lowered her voice, "You know, reporter Huang, at that time, I felt like I was in hell."
4#
In fact, the girls had also made efforts to resist within their means.
Due to the project and the paper, Xiaoke still needed to interact with Zhang Peng frequently; she thought she had mastered Zhang Peng's "routine," "feeling like I could protect myself."
Every time she had to report to Zhang Peng in person, Xiaoke would be on high alert: "When he put his hand on my thigh, I directly moved my leg away; when he scanned me with his eyes from top to bottom, that kind of gaze made me very uncomfortable, but I couldn't control his gaze; when he asked if I bought new clothes, if I curled my hair, if I became prettier, I would say 'no' and immediately shift the topic back to the paper or project."
Being tough in resisting the teacher, Xiaoke felt the outcome wasn't as bad as she imagined—at that time, she didn't know that more girls had suffered from Zhang Peng's more blatant sexual harassment.
Zhang Peng had not restrained himself.
Xiaoke clearly remembers one night in April 2017, around 8 PM, when Zhang Peng approached her study table and invited her to "discuss the paper." Xiaoke found it hard to refuse him face-to-face, and it was also inconvenient to take out her phone to message her roommates in advance, so she could only follow him to the office.
Staying in the office until nearly 10 PM, Zhang Peng sat next to Xiaoke, and she became worried, quickly messaging her roommates: "Wait for me."
Seeing Xiaoke send a message, Zhang Peng immediately became furious: "The teacher is specifically guiding you, and you are playing with your phone?!" Then, Zhang Peng began to verbally attack her with insulting language: "Uncultured, selfish," "The teacher hasn't eaten because of your paper; what have you done for the teacher? I provided you with the resources of the lab; what have you done for the lab?"
Xiaoke was frightened by Zhang Peng's sudden change in attitude and could only apologize, but Zhang Peng did not stop scolding: "The teacher has put in so much for you; do you treat the teacher as a tool? Do you want to graduate quickly and leave, turning your back on me, doing nothing for me?"
Xiaoke found it hard to believe that a professor, a role model, could say such things. Later, when she communicated with other girls, she learned that Zhang Peng would seize on various "mistakes" made by different girls, replicating the same pattern of scolding after failed sexual harassment or rejection, trying to control the girls' thoughts.
"He scolded many girls for being selfish, but this lab itself is an investment in teaching by the anthropology department for students; we should all have the right to use it properly. However, every time we were in the lab, Zhang Peng made us feel that (being able to use the lab) was all due to his kindness and generosity, which was a heavy moral burden."
Later, the girls who had been sexually harassed by Zhang Peng gathered together and found that he usually targeted female students with gentle personalities, ordinary family backgrounds, and no support. His sexual harassment behavior repeated across multiple individuals, showing a certain patterned characteristic:
He did not overtly threaten but rather planned and utilized situations (such as revising papers, conducting field projects) to gradually close the distance; he would also manipulate the victims' psychology, finding different reasons and excuses to harshly reprimand them, first attacking and destroying the girls' self-esteem, making them tremble; then softly comforting them, expressing admiration and affection, using the guise of "care from a mentor" to take the opportunity to pat their backs, squeeze their hands, hug, or even kiss, leaving the frightened girls unable to discern the true purpose of his actions.
Xiaoke and Xiaowei felt fortunate—they graduated in time and did not encounter more severe harassment from Zhang Peng.
5#
By chance, during a book borrowing opportunity, Chen Jing met senior Xiaoke. After getting familiar, Xiaoke warned her, "Be careful of Zhang Peng." The two chatted in detail and discovered that Zhang Peng's sexual harassment targets involved girls from various grades.
This conclusion shocked them even more, and they simultaneously developed the idea of reporting Zhang Peng, especially after hearing news that Zhang Peng had sexually harassed a freshman girl from the 2017 class, with serious circumstances approaching sexual assault. The girl informed her parents, and her father came to Sun Yat-sen University to seek justice. Due to video evidence, Zhang Peng could not deny it and was disciplined within the party.
Two students from the 2017 anthropology program at Sun Yat-sen University corroborated this news, admitting, "It was circulating in our class." One student revealed that the incident occurred on the night of April 3, 2018, around 10:30 PM, when Zhang Peng was alone with the victim in the lab, turned off the lights, and severely sexually harassed her. The next day, the victim's father angrily came to the school, and they happened to be in the same building at that time, seeing two security guards going to the lab to collect evidence and retrieving video footage from the lab corridor. A student who was in the lab at the time anonymously confirmed to me that security did indeed come to retrieve the video.
Informed students revealed that in the video footage, Zhang Peng first came out of his office, knocked on the doors of other offices, then turned off the lights and returned to his office. Nearly half an hour later, Zhang Peng exited his office, adjusting his pants in the hallway and tucking the exposed hem back into his pants, followed by the girl coming out, and the two leaving together.
What specifically happened in the office, the student was not clear about, but knew that the next day, the girl's father came to the school and went to the disciplinary committee office.
Zhang Peng was finally disciplined, which gave the students a glimmer of hope; however, a "party discipline" did not quell the students' anger.
"The news of Zhang Peng sexually harassing students has not stopped, but he continues to sexually harass students, and the situation is getting worse." Chen Jing said she felt, "It shouldn't take irreversible sexual assault to report; that would be too late."
Xiaoke was also furious about the school's conservative handling: "Zhang Peng's behavior is becoming bolder, more serious year by year; does it really take actual harm like sexual assault, with video evidence, to punish him?"
Chen Hanyuan, upon learning of the situation, could not sit still: "This is not a one-time impulse; he repeatedly sexually harasses students; he is a habitual offender. How can Sun Yat-sen University tolerate such a professor?"
The female students who had been sexually harassed by Zhang Peng consciously formed a reporting alliance. Xiaowei informed her classmates in the group chat: "If you choose Zhang Peng's class and 'fieldwork,' you must be extra careful to protect yourself."
This prompted more victims to respond. The reporters collected four signed complaint letters and one anonymous complaint letter, and to their surprise, one of the letters was written by a female teacher.
6#
The female teacher's complaint pushed the timeline of Zhang Peng's initial sexual harassment behavior back to 2011, and Zhang Peng's harassment of this female teacher was more direct and severe.
Because this female teacher had already submitted a signed complaint to the disciplinary committee and signed an agreement not to disclose other information, I can only quote the complaint materials I had previously obtained.
In her complaint letter, the female teacher stated that in 2011, when she had just joined the School of Foreign Languages at Sun Yat-sen University, while commuting between the South Campus and the East Campus (University Town) on the school bus, Zhang Peng approached her, "He sat next to me, and after a few words, he started touching me, first on the shoulder, then on the thigh and inner thigh. At that time, I was very scared; there were teachers and students on the bus, and I didn't dare to shout. I could only dodge, like turning my back to him or shaking off his hand."
That evening, when she took the school bus back to the South Campus, she encountered Zhang Peng again. He took the opportunity to sit next to her, "He kept trying to chat with me, talking about his troubles at home, how his wife didn't understand him, etc. Seeing that I wasn't responding much, he started touching me again, pulling my head towards his shoulder and trying to kiss my ear, and continued to touch my chest and inner thigh. I told him, 'Professor Zhang, what you are doing is inappropriate.' He said, 'I just really like you!' At that time, the school bus was nearing the school gate, and I quickly shook him off and got off!"
After that, Zhang Peng followed her and escalated his harassment, "He followed me to and from class, finding opportunities to get close... his actions became increasingly excessive, blowing air into my ear, touching my chest, repeatedly asking for a sexual relationship. I had no choice but to try to arrange for students to accompany me on the bus every class. At that time, I met a female student who lived on the South Campus and also needed to take the bus back and forth. After class, noticing that Zhang was following me again, I quietly told the student in a foreign language about this, hoping she would protect me. After that, this female student accompanied me every time, always sitting next to me. She also witnessed some of Zhang Peng's sexual harassment behavior."
Through various inquiries, I learned that this accompanying female student was a student from the School of Tourism Management at the time, but later went to study in France and did not leave effective contact information; I have not been able to reach her for confirmation.
Zhang Peng's sexual harassment later became increasingly blatant and malicious. Another informed student revealed that before the female teacher wrote her complaint letter, she had told her: In early 2012, Zhang Peng sent her two or three text messages or called her every day, with ambiguous language, directly asking to go to a hotel or to date in the office.
In the spring of 2012, the female teacher was transferred to teach at the Zhuhai campus. Zhang Peng somehow found out her address at the faculty dormitory on the Zhuhai campus and came to her door, knocking continuously, "He knocked for almost an hour; there were few residents in the faculty dormitory, and there were not many people around, so I was too scared to move. He kept sending me text messages with very explicit language; I could only keep deleting them and blocked him. Because of him, I changed my number three times."
This harassment lasted for several years; the female teacher had since married and had children, but as late as 2017, Zhang Peng still attempted to add her on WeChat, persistently bothering her.
7#
The experiences of the 2017 female students and the female teacher served as a wake-up call for the students: if they continued to remain silent, they would only become lambs to the slaughter. On May 4, 2018, Youth Day, the girls sent five signed complaint letters to the disciplinary committee of Sun Yat-sen University.
The girls' complaints spread within the college, and supportive students independently formed the "Anti-Sexual Harassment Group of the Anthropology Department at Sun Yat-sen University" (referred to as the group), drafting a letter of suggestion and publicly soliciting signatures. They quickly sent the "Letter of Suggestion from Anthropology Students Regarding the Public Opinion Incident in Our Department and the Acceleration of Establishing an Anti-Sexual Harassment Mechanism" to the email addresses of the dean, vice-dean, and department head.
The students pointed out that they had reviewed the "Sun Yat-sen University Student Handbook," the "Interim Measures for Handling Student Complaints at Sun Yat-sen University," and the appendix's "Regulations on Campus Order Management in Higher Education Institutions" and "Measures for Handling Student Injury Accidents," but found no information on where to report sexual harassment, which institution/department was responsible for handling it, or how it would be handled. "There are many documents, but none have practical operational significance."
They also reviewed the "Implementation Measures for Establishing and Improving the Long-term Mechanism for Teacher Ethics Construction at Sun Yat-sen University," which indeed stated that the disciplinary inspection and supervision department was responsible for receiving reports related to teacher ethics: "However, we found that the email responsible person was unknown; the contact numbers we found were mostly for the Party and Government Office, which is also the contact route for the Sociology and Anthropology School, and one can imagine how busy it is. In the absence of a dedicated person responsible and with complicated affairs, we have reason to question whether complaints made through this phone will receive attention and be handled."
The group suggested that an effective campus anti-sexual harassment mechanism be established as soon as possible, including education for teachers and students on sexual harassment and pre-field training; establishing public channels at the departmental level to accept complaints and reports about sexual harassment, and appointing dedicated personnel to handle related matters.
Some Sun Yat-sen University students also submitted a proposal titled "Suggestions on the Norms of Teacher Conduct and Ethics at Sun Yat-sen University" during the "Top Ten Proposals Activity for School Development Planning," which detailed an analysis of the "Implementation Measures for Establishing and Improving the Long-term Mechanism for Teacher Ethics Construction at Sun Yat-sen University" and the "Implementation Measures for Teacher Assessment at Sun Yat-sen University (Trial)," pointing out that "Sun Yat-sen University has already established a system for teacher ethics construction and assessment at the institutional level, but the overlap, distinction, and even contradictions between existing different systems, along with the complexity of procedures across different channels, have deterred victims and rendered existing good systems ineffective."
However, after the proposal was submitted, some school leaders repeatedly spoke with the students who submitted the proposal, stating that the proposal was well done but "this topic is too sensitive to discuss publicly," even refusing to allow students to publicly defend the proposal. The award certificate for the excellent proposal also could not mention the specific name of the proposal.
I contacted the relevant departments at Sun Yat-sen University for a response regarding the Zhang Peng sexual harassment incident and the students' suggestions and proposals for an anti-sexual harassment mechanism. The other party stated, "We cannot accept interviews; all interviews go through the publicity department of Sun Yat-sen University." I called the publicity department of Sun Yat-sen University four times during office hours on July 5th and 6th, but no one answered.
8#
Chen Hanyuan told me that the final trigger for him to stand up and speak out was seeing Chen Jing's anxiety and her disappointment in academia.
"She used to be very interested in primates; when she talked about the attributes of monkeys, observing their social lives, naming them one by one, she was full of enthusiasm. She went to the island for fieldwork, lived poorly, ate poorly, was bitten by mosquitoes, and had bumps all over her body, yet she didn't complain at all, always excited. Now, because of Zhang Peng, she has given up her originally most interesting research. Her love for academia was suddenly shattered. Zhang Peng's sexual harassment of girls has cut off a girl's academic path and harmed her right to receive an equal education." Chen Hanyuan lamented, "She is so smart and diligent; if she had encountered a good mentor, she would definitely continue doing research."
Chen Jing admitted that later Zhang Peng invited her to participate in a research project in Sumatra, Indonesia, during the summer, but she gave up the opportunity because she didn't want to have any more contact with Zhang Peng.
Xiaoke originally wanted to try doing research in the same direction, but after the project ended, she completely lost interest in primates. She found she had a strong psychological aversion to Zhang Peng, "In the domestic field of primate research, Zhang Peng has a certain authority; if professors behave like this, what is the point?" For various reasons, she gave up this research direction and even the opportunity to pursue a master's degree at Sun Yat-sen University.
Xiaowei also told me that although Zhang Peng's sexual harassment was not the only reason for her to give up primate research, it was one of the main reasons. The girls from the 2017 class, after being sexually assaulted by Zhang Peng, also chose to give up.
"You ask, he has harmed so many female students; why can he still stay at Sun Yat-sen University?" Chen Jing could not let go of this for a long time, "Why does the school think 'the teacher's pinches, hugs, and kisses towards students are trivial matters'?"
It has been two months since the complaints were filed. The disciplinary committee of Sun Yat-sen University has talked with the girls one by one, but the punishment for Zhang Peng remains unknown.
The girls said that during the investigation by the disciplinary committee, Zhang Peng was also questioned, and he denied everything.
I called Zhang Peng to interview him, asking if the contents of the girls' complaint letters were true. Zhang Peng replied, "You have no work unit; I don't know you," and hung up the phone, refusing to respond further.
Zhang Peng continued to come and go in the lab as usual, as if nothing had happened. Zhang Peng's wife also entered the lab, asking the students to write a statement saying "Professor Zhang has no inappropriate behavior," but was met with refusal from the lab students.
Chen Jing and other parties still at school were worried that the incident would be suppressed again; they feared that if the school continued to condone it, Zhang Peng would inevitably become even more unscrupulous and harm more people.
What saddened them even more was that in a course group, there was still a teacher who posted a message titled "Do you still dare to apply for the part-time graduate program in anthropology at Sun Yat-sen University?" and publicly expressed opinions such as "Don't get too entangled," "Some societies can tolerate colored jokes to relieve work pressure," etc.
The courage and confidence that the reporters had painstakingly built up were slowly fading away.
"Does it really take sacrificing lives, like the girl from Qingyang, to make his behavior seem heinous? What should we do?"
Chen Jing became anxious again; that day in her nightmare, Zhang Peng was holding a knife, preparing to kill her.
(Names have been changed at the request of the interviewees: Chen Jing, Xiaowei, Xiaoke)
Editor: Xu Zhibo
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