Learn the law or learn journalism can not save us

When Tou Jiguang was young, he looked like Cui Jian. He also loved wearing hats, so the first class of undergraduates he led called him “Cui Jian” for four years.

At 8:14 on January 18, 2021, Tou Jiguang jumped from the 10th floor of the Tianjiaping Building of Sichuan Normal University, ending his Life at the age of less than 50.

This was the 12th day since Tou Jiguang’s death. 12 days later, students, colleagues, friends and even his wife were unable to tell a complete story of Tou Jiguang. What they could recall was only a certain role in his life, some fragments: as a professor, he was conceited, outspoken and brave; as a lawyer, he had an excellent memory and a strong sense of boundaries; as a friend, he was cheerful and even lively, especially excited to talk about gossip.

Only on the way to defend his rights, Tou Jiguang refuses to share his heart with others. With a dual academic background in journalism and law, and wrapped in the veneer of a “senior intellectual,” he has always chosen to defend his rights and interests in accordance with the law and regulations for nearly 10 years. He has never sought help from outside.

But academics and rights defense are two very different paths. With diligence and persistence, Tou Jiguang set a record of publishing more than 30 C-journals at Fudan University in two years; hoping for knowledge and wisdom, Tou Jiguang was unable to reconcile with the world and finally chose to fight with death.

At the age of 49, 17,885 days and nights, he disappeared in one long leap.

Funeral

At 9:30 a.m. on January 22, the sun melted away the mists. It was the day of Tou Jiguang’s funeral, and more than 40 people came to the Qixia Hall of Chengdu’s Eastern Suburbs Funeral Hall.

The farewell ceremony lasted for twenty minutes. In his speech, the head of the Faculty of Arts of Sichuan Normal University recalled the academic achievements of Tou Jiguang during his lifetime. Li Ying, Tou Jiguang’s wife, cried and thanked everyone, “Thank you all for being there.”

“Compared with the day of Tou’s accident, Li Ying’s condition has been better. A graduate student who studied under Tou Jiguang recalled, “On the day of the accident, she was in a daze. Just standing in the courtyard of the funeral Home, she kept giving phone interviews and repeating the same content.”

Four days ago, at 11 p.m. on Jan. 19, Li Ying was still insisting: she would not hold the funeral until the Chengdu Chenghua district government gave a reply. “My husband used his life to appeal to the government’s response, if the government does not respond, I will easily put him …… is not a bit sacrilegious. “Li Ying cried bitterly.

After the funeral ceremony, teachers and friends said goodbye and left with Li Ying. Li Ying wears a black down jacket, wearing a mask, fatigue is obvious, ponytail braid can not hide gray hair. “I watched the spirit all night,” Li Ying said, “my son He used to be petulant. After the accident, are not pampered with me. “

“I saw a reporter write that there are two chairs on the 10th floor. I was thinking, oh my God, he stepped on the chair up ah? Why is he so determined ah? He had no regard for me and the doll? He told me that he loves me and my son the most. “Li Ying said with tears,” he thought he might have no choice, he was fighting for us with his life. He is gone, I crawl on my hands and knees, crawl also to crawl out of the way, mainly because I still have the baby. “

Gao Guang

35-year-old Ren Loyal still clearly remember the first Time to see Tou Jiguang scene.

“In 2004, we were the first undergraduate students he took. ” Ren Loyal recalls, “he took our first class, class location in the first teaching building 102 classroom. He wore a hat to introduce himself, ‘My name is Tou Jiguang, I’ll give you this semester’s TV Journalism’, and started the class after that. “

Born in June 1971, Tou Jiguang was 33 years old when he graduated with a doctorate from Sichuan University and taught at Sichuan Normal University after graduation. “At that time, the head of the Department of Media in the Faculty of Arts attached great importance to him, and many specialized classes were arranged for him. But his classes were particularly boring, uninteresting, and he spoke in a low voice. Slowly, students were sitting in the last few rows, disrupting the class in any way they could, as long as they did not interfere with his classes. “

Classrooms throughout the empty hall dilemma, Tou Jiguang have experienced.

Ren Loyal recalls: “junior year, there was a time when we all skipped class. He arrived at the classroom found no one, thought there was some activity class was canceled, he left, and did not call to ask how no one today. Later two students who went to this class were late and found out there was no teacher, so they called him. He then came back and gave the two students their lesson. “

“He said very little to us, unless we talked to him about academics and subjects. “You don’t want to talk to him about life or ideals,” Ren Loyal said. ” “He is still a bit conceited, a bit bullying, which is also a common characteristic of talented people. Zhao Peng, a professor at a university in southwest China, said of Tou Jiguang, “He is indeed more profound in understanding things, so when he sees something shallow, he is a bit conceited. . “

In September 2005, Tou Jiguang entered the postdoctoral station of journalism and communication at Fudan University. “He set a record of publishing more than 30 C journals in two years at Fudan University, which no one has been able to break until now! Very prolific. “Zhao Peng introduced. “How difficult is it to publish in C journals? For example, a PhD from Sichuan University has to publish three C journals to graduate. Many people stuck in this place, stuck for years can not graduate. ” explained Chen Tie, a teacher at Chengdu University.

In terms of academic research, Tou Jiguang has been a prolific professor.

According to the official website of Sichuan Normal University, Tou Jiguang has published more than 200 various academic papers in academic journals such as International Journalism, Modern Communication, China Television and Journalism University, including more than 130 papers in core journals of Peking University; and more than 60 papers in authoritative journals and CSSCI source journals as the first author or independent author.

In June 2007, Tou Jiguang left the Postdoctoral Station of Journalism and Communication of Fudan University and joined the Postdoctoral Station of Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law in September of that year to engage in scientific research, and left the station in June 2010. in September 2009, he passed the National Judicial Examination with a score of 412 and became a practicing lawyer.

“He is a person with a superb memory,” Chen Tie exclaims. “He knows very well what year and month people around us were born. He talks about the experiences of famous scholars, historical stories and anecdotes, and he knows them like the back of his hand. Moreover, he writes papers quickly. “

Boundaries

Ren Loyalty recognizes Tou Jiguang’s academic achievements, but so far does not recognize his teaching style.

“Because of the thesis defense, I held a grudge against him for a long time. “Ren Loyal recalled that in April 2008, he entered a local media in Sichuan through public recruitment. in May, after the Wenchuan earthquake, the unit was short of manpower, Ren Loyal was sent directly to the front line. “After staying in Beichuan for two months, the graduation thesis was completely put down. Before the defense, I took a leave of absence from the unit, three days to complete the entire process of writing the thesis, tutor revision and thesis defense. “

Before the final defense, Ren Loyal’s thesis was questioned by Tou Jiguang.

“Mr. Tou took my thesis and said, ‘Ren Loyal, I think your thesis is déjà vu.’ What he meant was that I had copied the paper, but I really hadn’t, and my supervisor was sitting right next to him, so I thought to myself, ‘How much face do you give? Ren Loyal disliked Tou Jiguang on the spot: “This paper of mine, where have you seen it before? You point it out, I want to see if he copied me. “Ren Loyal felt a little insulted to, “as a teacher, how can he say that? “

The smell of gunpowder was strong. When the defense officially began, Tou Jiguang asked several questions. For each question, Ren Loyal disliked back in a raw way. “One of the problems is related to livelihood news coverage. I was particularly embarrassed, I said Mr. Tou how many news reports have you published? How many years have you spent on the news front? “

In fact, before joining the university in 2004, Tou Jiguang had worked for seven years at Sports Weekly, Chongqing Morning Post and Huaxi Metropolis Daily, publishing more than 3,000 pieces of news.

“I thought at the time that he was definitely going to hang up my paper. But what I didn’t expect was that he gave me an ‘excellent’. “Memories to this, Ren loyal did not hold back, cried out,” I often back to Sichuan Division, but are avoiding him away. In fact, I have long forgiven him in my heart, just feel guilty themselves. If he gave me a ‘poor’ at the time, I can blatantly hate him. “

“He did have tougher requirements and higher standards for his students’ thesis. ” Zhao Peng confirmed. “There is a rumor going around,” said the aforementioned graduate student who had studied under Tou Jiguang “Every time he defends his thesis, Mr. Tou is the strictest. Many students, afraid of not getting his vote, will find him in advance to let him see what else needs to be improved in the thesis, and Mr. Tou is happy to speak. “

“But he seldom mentions life to us, more or talk to us about academic matters. ” The graduate student stressed, “He still has a certain sense of boundaries, like a teacher. “

The nail in the coffin

If there had not been a steep descent into demolition, Tou Jiguang and his wife Li Ying would not have become nail households.

At the end of 1999, 28-year-old Tou Jiguang bought a house in Wannianchang Yunxiang apartment in Chenghua District. “At that time, it was the highest selling price in the whole area. I thought the location and neighborhood environment were good, so I placed an order to buy it. Also shelled out some extra money for the roof garden. “In December 2013, Tou Jiguang posted on Sina Weibo under the ID of @良知学人 Ma Zhiyuan: “How did the Yunxiang apartment in Chenghua District become a shanty house demolition?

“Around 2000, you could buy a 75-pin resettlement house for more than 70,000 yuan. The Yunxiang apartment next to it is a newly built commercial house, and you have to be several hundred thousand to buy it. ” recalls a retired worker who lives in a resettlement house near Yunxiang apartment.

In Chenghua District, Tou Jiguang and his wife Li Ying still have a set of housing. In September 2011, the then Chenghua District Unified Construction Office planned a mock relocation of the staff dormitory at the Southwest Petroleum University’s Qinglong Campus. The mock relocation was described by Tou Jiguang as “like an abyss”. “a terrible nightmare”.

The Family is really a coincidence, Chenghua District in which planning is not good, they planned the family in Chenghua District, the two sets of housing. “Ren Loyal said helplessly.

The relocation price became the first disagreement between Tou Jiguang and Chenghua District.

On February 3, 2012, Tou Jiguang publicly published “The blood-curdling cry of an old journalist and university professor – Chengdu is too big to put a peaceful desk in me! (hereinafter referred to as “Cry”) mentioned that on October 18, 2011, the Chenghua District Unified Construction Office commissioned an intermediary agency to announce the Appraisal price of the staff residences at the Qinglongchang campus. Tou Jiguang told the representatives of the residents present at that time during a collective discussion of that price that, in accordance with national and Chengdu city policies, negotiated pricing could be used in the mock relocation, rather than having to assess the price, and that people could ask for negotiated pricing. “Unfortunately, this suggestion failed to receive a greater response. Many households signed up with the Chenghua District Unified Construction Office one after another in the face of various pressures. “

The Scream also mentioned that on the afternoon of December 14, 2011, Mr. and Mrs. Tou Jiguang Li Ying negotiated with a working group leader who claimed to be from the Chenghua District Unified Construction Office and the Southwest Petroleum University Qinglongchang Campus Mock Relocation Project. “The other party remained adamant that the compensation package must be based on their assessed price, with no room for loosening and absolutely no possibility of negotiated pricing. “

The mock demolition of Yunxiang apartment then began 2 years later. in November 2013, Chengdu Chenghua Urban Construction Investment Co. carried out a mock relocation of Tou Jiguang’s Yunxiang apartment in Wannianchang.

In July 2014, Tou Jiguang made an analogy in his personal microblog: demolition and relocation is a civil act, but the operation is led by the demolition agency to assess the price, and the owner has no right to refuse, “just as we go to Gome and Suning to buy appliances, and find someone to offer 100 yuan for his color TV, and if you don’t sell it, I I have to ‘buy according to law’ it! “

On the afternoon of January 18, the person in charge of the retirement office of Southwest Petroleum University recalled: “I heard the name TOU Jiguang spoken by the retired people who used to live there when they swung idly. The retired people there have a lot of opinions about their family, just because of the levy. It seems that in the end they were the only ones left. I heard that they were asking for a high price, to be compared to Shanghai’s expropriation standards, and I’m not sure exactly how much. “

At press time, Li Ying did not respond to the above statement.

Trouble

Nuisance followed the dissent.

In his “Shout”, Tou Jiguang cited that on December 10, 2011, 10 staff members of the Chenghua District Unified Construction Office first nuisanced his residence in Jinjiang District, and left after calling the police to deal with the other side. On the 14th of the same month, Mr. and Mrs. Li Ying unsuccessfully negotiated with the Chenghua District Unified Construction Office, and on the 16th, “staff from the Chenghua District Unified Construction Office led a few residents of the Qinglongchang Campus to continue to harass Mr. and Mrs. Tou’s home. “On the 20th, the lock on the door of Tou’s Jinjiang District residence was blocked with universal adhesive, and Tou Jiguang called the police and smashed the door to enter the home.

On January 31, 2012, a long time had passed since the termination deadline for the simulated relocation of that set of houses on the Qinglongchang campus of Southwest Petroleum University. Mr. and Mrs. Li Ying asked the Chenghua District Unified Construction Office to terminate the mock relocation in accordance with the regulations, but the other party refused.

TU Jiguang, a college professor with a dual academic background in journalism and law, chose to intermittently protest on Weibo. According to the Times reporter’s statistics based on available microblogs: in 2012, Tou Jiguang posted six microblogs about the eviction; in 2013, the figure was 20; in 2014, he posted 19; and in 2015, none.

Among them, on September 11, 2012, Tou Jiguang posted three microblogs in a row, saying that “several demolition and relocation agencies in Chenghua District of Chengdu City frequently use black tricks to force tenants to sign extremely unreasonable demolition and relocation compensation agreements. Please pay attention! In February 2014, Tou Jiguang retweeted the microblog “Top 10 Demolition and Relocation Cases in 2013 “I am the victim of violent demolition and illegal eviction. He also @ the media and the legal profession in the microblog, stating that “I will insist on this matter. I will persist in this matter.”

As of Jan. 25, 2021, Tou Jiguang’s personal Weibo followers numbered only 852. He is a university professor, a lawyer by profession, a former journalist, a post-doc in journalism and communication, and a post-doc in law, and a person who strives for truth and justice.

“Since he came to teach in Sichuan in 2004, he has led students who are basically active within Sichuan, and even nationwide. “We basically know about the demolition of his house, but there are very few people who can help him,” Ren Loyal introduced. Although he asked for help on Weibo, but he did not open his mouth with students. “

The two sides continue to stalemate.

Asking for help

It seems that the wind is calming down, but there are dark currents.

Southwest Petroleum University Qinglong campus staff housing simulation relocation has not been negotiated. Li Ying told the Times reporter that in March 2012, the school stopped paying her salary. “You are a size 40 foot and they give you a size 35 shoe. ” Li Ying said by way of analogy.

“The Chenghua district side also greeted individual leaders of Sichuan Normal University through Southwest Petroleum University and other units in an attempt to suppress Tou Jiguang. “Tou Jiguang said in a public reporting material.

A number of interviewees confirmed to the Times that Tou Jiguang “had not been able to be evaluated as a doctoral director, and this matter had become his heartache. In addition, he could not be evaluated as an academic leader. “”His relationship with the college is not good. If he thought something was wrong, even if the matter had nothing to do with him, he would say it bluntly, and therefore offended some leaders. “

“He scoffed at those scholars who were vain, especially the ‘scholars’ who did not have any academic achievements but also waved around, he He finds it ridiculous and disgusting to see. Chen Tie commented, “the academic world is also a jungle, there are bound to be such and such things, but he just does not want to be with the stream of dirt. “

“He is in this kind of adversity, but still dare to speak out, I think he is quite brave. Other people, after such frustration and pressure, would have shut up. ” said Gu Zongyu, a professor at Yunnan University. Gu Zongyu met Tou Jiguang at an academic conference. “About four or five years ago, he asked if he could add a WeChat, so he did. After a long time, I slowly discovered that we were Fudan alumni. I think this person is still relatively straightforward, he did not climb with me, nor did he get close. “

The frequency of their meetings was about once a year, and Tou Jiguang also mentioned a few times to Gu Zongyu about the demolition of his house and the injustice he had suffered. “We did not care at the time. Things like the evaluation of the doctoral director, in colleges and universities is still relatively common, there are always people on, someone not. But in retrospect, he may have been asking for help at the time. “

“These two days I always feel very guilty. “Gu Zongyu sighed, “he should be very lonely these years, a lot of things to say no one to say, so even people like me who have not known him for a long time, he will spill a few words. But he didn’t look any different from anyone else, just a normal scholar. If we had known more about his specific situation at that time, maybe what happened later would not have happened. “

But Chen Tie did not believe that Tou Jiguang had asked for help from the outside world. “He didn’t feel like asking anyone for help. Mr. Tou mentioned the demolition with many people he knew. When I first met him, he mentioned it. In my opinion, he has used the matter of demolition and eviction as a practice tool to refine his legal profession, just that feeling: resist at will! “

“When we used to get together in the division, he mentioned it once or twice. ” The aforementioned graduate student recalled, “He said each time half-jokingly, more like a self-deprecation. Drinking and drinking, he started saying, ‘Don’t say you can’t do it, I’m not so good either.’ Then he said something about a car being stabbed, a house dispute, and so on. We didn’t take what he said to heart. “

“He is studying law, he wanted to use his knowledge of law to argue on the basis of reason and defend their rights. “Chen Tie often and Tou Jiguang cut academic issues, “he has been fighting alone, because he is a scholar with strong self-esteem, so he will not go to the relationship, begging people. He pinned his hopes on the law, and he felt that with his own wisdom and knowledge he could get the matter resolved. “

“He had called me for advice in 2018,” said Wang Cailiang, a lawyer. “I advised him to defend his rights according to the law as soon as possible, but he still took the path of internal communication and coordination. “Informed sources revealed that in recent years, the communication between Tou Jiguang Li Ying couple and Chenghua District Government nearly stagnant, the government side had repeatedly advised them, “If you do not feel If you think it is not appropriate to take the legal route, we public to public. To date, however, the couple has not initiated administrative proceedings.

Tou Jiguang has tried to escape. A number of people familiar with the matter said, “Around 2018, he had wanted to leave Sichuan Division, and submitted job search materials to a number of universities. Zhengzhou University gave him a special appointment, but because there are some problems on the side of Sichuan Division have not been resolved, it has not been able to go. If the time to change the environment, it is estimated that it will not go to today. A teacher working in a 211 institution confirmed: “Tou Jiguang’s materials were submitted to our school, but his level did not meet the requirements of the high-level talent that the school wanted to introduce. He was dismissed. “

No one thought that Tou Jiguang would commit suicide.

In the eyes of Chen Tie, Tou Jiguang loved life: he would sign books and give them to friends and relatives, he had to walk enough 6000 steps every day, he was afraid of high cholesterol and did not eat eggs, he took his children all over the country during summer and winter, and he especially loved to talk about academic gossip.

“He was very excited to talk about gossip, and would take the initiative to call over and talk for a long time. We chat very easy, there is no kind of bitterness and hatred. “Chen Tie speaks with some ease.

Counterattack

Gaze into the abyss for too long, the abyss will stare back.

Ren Loyalty clearly remembers the last time he saw Tou Jiguang. “Last summer, at school, he was wearing sneakers, shorts, and a tattered white background black striped short sleeves, carrying a bag in his hand, walking towards the playground with his head down, very decadent and disheveled. How tattered is that T-shirt? The white between the two black stripes are turning gray, and even a little transparent. “

In late September 2020, Mr. and Mrs. Tou Jiguang Li Ying learned that their family’s two sets of housing located in Chenghua District have been demolished.

Informed sources said that both sets of homes were demolished in 2016. Why did Mr. and Mrs. Tou Jiguang not know about the demolition until September 2020? And through what means did they know about it? Li Ying refused to answer these questions.

The retired worker who lives in a house near the Yunxiang apartment said, “The main reason for demolishing the Yunxiang apartment is to repair the Shuangfu Second Road, before repairing the bridge in front of it. “The retired workers referred to the bridge for the Dragon Bridge, the bridge is 180 meters long. Bridge completion nameplate shows the start of construction in December 2016, completion time for January 2019. “In several batches of demolition, the first demolition is the house on this road, and finally all demolition is probably about 2018. “

As for the Southwest Petroleum University Qinglong Campus staff dormitory, has long been converted into Chengdu Experimental Middle School Qinglong Campus. 2012, Chengdu Experimental Middle School began enrollment.

In late September 2020, know that the house was demolished Tou Jiguang and Chenghua District to negotiate. “Meeting with the self-proclaimed ‘Chenghua District side negotiator’, he claimed that the demolition of our family home, are after the Chenghua District Government The decision was discussed in the standing meeting and then deployed for implementation. “Tou Jiguang said in the above-mentioned public reporting materials.

In October 2020, Chenghua District Smart City Governance Center replied to Mr. and Mrs. Tou Jiguang: “Because the two sets of houses have been unoccupied for years, and later identified their two sets of houses as D-class dangerous houses, based on this possible danger, the district shanty company in order to remove this danger and the implementation of the two sets of houses demolition. “

Tou Jiguang does not approve of the above reply. He believes that the Chenghua District Government carried out violent demolition of the houses without signing the demolition agreement, without starting the expropriation procedure, without applying for judicial demolition, etc.

Tou Jiguang began to fight back.

He posted the article “Report on Pu Fayou’s Abuse of Power and Violent Demolition of Citizens’ Legal Properties” (hereinafter referred to as “Report Letter”) on Weibo, claiming to be a whistleblower, while the person being reported was Pu Fayou, the mayor and deputy secretary of Chengdu’s Chenghua District. But after the microblogging, “no effect at all. “

Earlier, in April 2020, Tou Jiguang opened a headline number “law-abiding scholar Ma Zhiyuan”. In the headline number, Tou Jiguang mostly analyzes various hot news events from a legal perspective. The latest news item was published on January 6, and its content was related to “Epidemic” and “university”. “On November 6, 2020, Tou Jiguang forwarded a news article “Village chief arrested for forcing relocation with violence The news, with the text: to give a warning to Pu Fayou, the same behavior will have the same end.

“Looking back now, he was a little off last December. “Chen Tie looked through his WeChat records with Tou Jiguang, “Look, he sent me at 5 p.m. on Nov. 3 ‘Teacher, come back? (show teeth smile emoticon) ‘I gave him back ‘fat to come, eat for go wow’, he gave me back ‘five o’clock I can’t eat until 5:30. “

“But on December 11, I complained to him about something, and he just gave me a ‘yeah’ response. Yes’ ‘Forget it’. As before, he would at least reply with a long text. “

Li Ying did not notice that Tou Jiguang had light thoughts, but “he had insomnia for more than a month, more serious insomnia. Li Ying had mentioned in a media interview that her husband had been in a very bad mood since January this year and was diagnosed with severe depression. When asked about the time of diagnosis and the hospital where Tou Jiguang’s major depression was diagnosed, Li Ying did not respond. “He feels that he has exhausted his ability, there is no way out. He said studying law or studying journalism, can not save us. “

In the early morning of Jan. 18, Tou Jiguang walked in the cool, wet air, the willow branches overhead gently swaying under the gray-blue sky. Mist gently, accompanied by the fragrance of wax plum all the way, Tou Jiguang walked up to the 10th floor of Sichuan Normal University Tianjiaping, leaping down.

Earlier, nine years ago, on January 18, 2012, after experiencing the first mock relocation “like an abyss”, Tou Jiguang paid a visit to the tomb of Shen Congwen by the Tuo River in Hunan Province. s tomb by the Tuo River in Hunan Province. He wrote a poem: “Let’s see if your hometown is mournful of grass, with a bitter wind and no crystal snow. “

(At the request of the interviewer, Zhao Peng, Chen Tie and Gu Zongyu are pseudonyms, and intern Zhong Meiqi also contributed to this article)