In the past few years, social media has allowed us to understand various incidents and happenings around the world conveniently, no matter how far away we are from the situation itself.
But sometimes, we still find ourselves with little to no answers regarding some issues in the world.
Video of Mentally Ill Chinese Woman Chained
A few days ago, a video of a Chinese woman being chained by the neck in a small hut made its rounds around both Chinese and international social media after being posted on Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok.
The original video has been taken down, but there are still clips being circulated around various social media platforms.
To give the full story, here is the original video that caused the social media storm, which is still ongoing today (tw distressing content, not sure why the lock is blurred, as if that is the most shocking thing about this video..) pic.twitter.com/UOA5zrfeQ4
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 30, 2022
You can watch the original video through Twitter here.
The video shows a Chinese lady being chained by the neck in a dilapidated hut and being dressed in a single long-sleeved shirt.
FYI, the temperature there at the time of filming was 0°C, so she clearly should have been wearing clothes that were thicker than that.
She also appeared to be dazed and was speaking in a language that those interacting with her in the video clip could not understand.
On the table, there was also a bowl of food that seemed to have been frozen from being left there for a long period of time, and the woman did not touch the food at all.
Eventually, netizens found out that the video was taken in the village of Xuzhou, and that the woman’s surname is Yang.
They also found out that she was the mother of eight children – a shocking number.
However, there was barely any information about her apart from that, leading to many demanding answers and raising important questions to investigate why she was in such a plight.
How Her Plight Came to Light
The video that went viral featured a man, presumably a vlogger, who had gone to the province to check on the family, although his identity is unclear.
In the video, the man says as he helps Yang put on a donated coat, “Where has our love gone?”
Yang’s husband, who is currently only identified by the surname Dong, did create a Douyin account to showcase the life of his eight young children. Before that, news that he had eight children had previously surfaced.
This gained attention from many in China, especially since seven of the children were sons and Chinese society traditionally favours sons much more over daughters.
According to The Straits Times, “people sought Dong out for interviews. And Dong himself began posting videos on Douyin showing off his children”, and that could have possibly been what led to the discovery of Yang’s plight.
Meanwhile, the husband is proudly talking about their 8 kids (7 boys, 1 girl), youngest still a baby. This is what the online anger is also about: how could she even have babies while suffering from mental illness? When did she become this way? Was she used as a breeding machine? pic.twitter.com/pE1x4RCjqo
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 30, 2022
In the video above, Dong is seen to be showing off and talking about his children, and he claimed that the family spent very little money, and only used their money to make sure that the children were fed well.
On Dong’s Douyin account, none of his videos feature Yang.
Both Dong and the person who posted the original clip revealing Yang’s living conditions have presumably had their Douyin accounts suspended. Though their accounts are still visible on the platform, attempts to message the account will trigger a notification saying that their accounts have been deleted.
Comments From the Public
Understandably, the videos raised much anger amongst the public across the world.
Many questioned if she was forced into giving birth to so many children and if she even had the mental capacity to give consent to such acts.
Others in China expressed their frustration through art and other images.
There were also Chinese netizens who expressed their despair.
微博上面的话题已经消失了，我转发到相关的微博也基本已经看不见了，真的有一种无能为力的感觉
— 游民 (@baydMc43EP3ebla) February 2, 2022
After discussion blew up on social media, Chinese social media site Weibo censored several hashtags related to this incident, presumably due to the heavy censorship and communism in China.
In the Tweet above, the user mentioned how a lot of the discussion on Weibo had been taken down and that they were in great despair.
However, there were also others who had added various claims to the argument, although they have not been verified yet by authorities:
The missing information is that the mother is kidnapped when she was 15 or 16, sold to this man and was not having mental problems then. she was raped by the so called husband, husband’s brother and father.
— Feng Fu (@FengFu8) January 31, 2022
Because the female victim couldn’t stand the insult and resisted fiercely, she was beaten with only two teeth left and the tip of her tongue was cut off. Because the early victims shouted, the men lost their “interest” and poured medicine to destroy the victim’s voice.
— Love Taylor Forever (@LoveTaylorFore3) February 3, 2022
The Aftermath
After being informed of the news, the local authorities released several statements.
They mentioned that Yang had married her husband in 1998, and that she was not a victim of human trafficking.
My hometown is very close to Xuzhou, kidnapping women are very common there. up to 2 thirds wives are kidnapped in some villages
— Sarah (@Sarah36265273) January 31, 2022
According to several comments, it is apparently common for women to be trafficked and kidnapped in the village of Xuzhou.
In a later statement, officials announced that they were investigating Dong for locking his wife up to see if he can be considered criminally liable.
They did not answer any questions regarding whether or not Yang was forced into giving birth to eight children, although they did admit that her husband had “used various methods to evade the family planning department’s management” due to the two-child rule that was imposed on most Chinese couples until last year.
They did, however, say that Yang was diagnosed with schizophrenia and that her condition had caused her to be violent towards her children. Her condition had allegedly worsened from June 2021 onwards, and her family would chain her when she started acting violently.
It was also revealed that the local family department tried to implement birth control measures after the couple’s second child was born but to no avail.
According to statements, Yang is currently hospitalised for schizophrenia treatment.
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Chinese Society: The Patriarchy
In various social media threads, different topics such as the patriarchal society and women’s rights were widely discussed.
With the one-child policy being in place until recently, along with favouritism towards the male gender, many Chinese couples abandoned their daughters after birth in hopes that they would be able to give birth to a son after that.
Such a phenomenon has led to a bride-trafficking industry, where women, especially those with mental or physical disabilities, have been forced to marry out of their will. In some cases, they may not even be capable of giving consent.
Additionally, marital-related laws in China are still not enforced strictly, with many cases of sexual and domestic abuse slipping through the cracks completely.
For example, marital rape is legal in China.
Mental Illness
The inhumane treatment of Yang also shed light on how mental illness is viewed in the country, with it being an extremely shameful topic in the past.
Although there has been more awareness surrounding mental illness and its repercussions, most rural areas still adopt more traditional mindsets with regards to the issue, often demonising and mistreating those who struggle with such issues.
After the video was released, many also brought up the issue of how governments should provide those who are unable to take care of themselves with better resources and help so that they do not fall into similar situations.
Communism and Censorship
The issue of heavy censorship in China was also brought up in many arguments.
For example, Mr Hu Xijin, former editor of a state-controlled tabloid Global Times posted on his Weibo account that anyone could tell that Yang was being mistreated, and questioned why authorities blindly believed Dong’s side of the story.
This was in spite of the fact that Mr Hu once worked for a pro-government tabloid, proving just how much the public feels that China’s government needs to be held accountable.
After Weibo censored information and discussions related to this issue, journalism professor Fang Kecheng at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who studies media and politics commented on the issue to The Straits Times by saying, “They don’t want the people to talk or organise too much.”
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Featured Images: Twitter (@manyapan)