Is self-preservation a firing offense?

The most craven teacher in the world?

On 12 May, Fan Meizhong was teaching literature to a class of high school students when the earthquake hit. He shouted, “Earthquake!” and then ran out of the classroom, down the stairs, and out onto the field, leaving his students behind.

Fan was pilloried online. Netizens called him “the most shameless teacher ever,” partly for his cowardly abandonment of his students, but also for a post about the incident he put up on the Tianya BBS, which many critics saw as a pitiful attempt to justify a warped sense of morality. Fan confessed that his instinct for self-preservation meant that his daughter was the only person he’d ever think of sacrificing himself for — he’d even have left his mother behind.

Netizens called him “Runner Fan” (范跑跑), a nickname that even his boss used when talking to the media. Qing Guangya, principal of the privately-run Guangya School in Dujiangyan, is facing pressure to fire Fan for being a poor model for the students. Here is what he told the Yangtse Evening Post:

“In the earthquake, our school’s classrooms were not harmed at all, and none of the 800-plus students and faculty was injured. But Fan Meizhong, mocked online as ‘Runner Fan,’ was an exception. His emotional injuries were self-inflicted.”

“I don’t know why he wrote those words on his blog that so enraged everyone. Actually, at the time he didn’t say anything like that. When the earthquake hit, ‘Runner Fan’ just shouted ‘Earthquake!’ and was the first one out of the classroom and onto the field.” Qing Guangya recalled that he staggered out of his office later, and after he reached the field, he discovered that students and teachers from every class were crouching on the ground. So he said, “Do a head-count.” He remembers quite clearly that “Runner Fan” carefully counted the students who had been mocking him just then. After determining that there were no deaths or injuries, Qing organized the students and teachers to divert their attention and dispel their anxiety. The younger grades sang songs; classes that had been going on continued with review, reading, memorization, and discussions; upper levels continued their activities. During all of this, “Runner Fan” was just as cooperative.

This reporter noticed that Qing was obviously conflicted when discussing “Runner Fan.” “Giving a shout and then running off when the earthquake hit: I think that’s just a normal human reaction. But he really shouldn’t have said those things afterward. The stuff he said was really out of line!”

The newspaper quotes a “knowledgeable source” who said that “everyone, including all levels of the state education administration, have been talking to Qing Guangya hoping that he will fire Fan Meizhong. On one occasion, Qing said candidly that ‘Runner Fan’ was mistaken in what he said, but his actions were not wrong…”

On 31 May, Changjiang Times printed an interview with Fan himself, in which he spoke about his actions and the online response:

Changjiang Times: Why did you post that article on the Internet?

Fan Meizhong: I graduated from the history department of Peking University. After this major historic event, I wanted to record something in words, so I wrote that article online.

CT: Netizens say that it’s OK that you ran, but you shouldn’t be so boastful about it. What do you think about that?

Fan: If I wasn’t wrong to run, then what’s the problem with writing about it? True, a teacher has a responsibility and duty to educate students, but the Education Law does not have any regulations saying that during an earthquake a teacher must save the students. My running off alone didn’t violate national law. It only challenged the traditional ideas of education and morality that many people hold. They believe that a teacher ought to be a model of virtue for others, and in the face of disaster, students are the weaker group so a teacher should help them up.

But the fact is that at the instant of the earthquake, a teacher is weak, too. I had no experience; neither the state nor the school taught me live-saving or rescue techniques. I had no ability to save the entire class. If every teacher was like Mr. Tan [Tan Qianqiu, who used his body to shield four students from a collapsing roof], who gave his life for his students, then we’d have no more heroes. I admire heroes like Mr. Tan, but I can’t do that myself. I love my life more.

CT: Netizens say that it’s OK that you ran, but they ask why you didn’t call to the students to run, too?

Fan: (silent for a moment) I admit that I’m afraid of death. My life is more important to me than those of others. I was really scared right then, and my instinctive response was to run outside. I thought that if I yelled, “Earthquake!” then the students would run after me. When I got to the field, lots of students had run outside, but I didn’t imagine that no one from my class would run.

On this point, my wife also says that I performed badly. The past few days I’ve been thinking things over — why didn’t I shout to the students to follow me? If you must say that I’m wrong, then it’s because I ran without telling the students to come, too.

CT: Do you feel guilty?

Fan: I didn’t intentionally do anything wrong, so why should I feel guilty? The earthquake happened and killed all those people, so I’m saddened, but I didn’t create the earthquake, so there’s no reason for me to feel guilty. And when I returned to the classroom afterward, the students were perfectly fine.

CT: What was the class like then? What did you say to your students?

Fan: There were only two students under their desks. The rest were crouched on the floor with a look of panic on their faces.

CT: Why did you have to explain “I’d only save my daughter, not my mother” in your article? Netizens think that you are an unfilial son.

Fan: Feelings-wise, it’s hard to say whether my daughter or my mother is more important. But my daughter is only one year old, so saving her would have more chance of success. I brought up this example to explain the importance of one’s own life in the face of a life-or-death situation, not to say that I don’t love my mother. I know that saying this challenges China’s traditional concept of morality; I’ve broken a taboo and brought the criticism on myself. But I anticipated it.

CT: What would you like to say to the netizens who’ve attacked you?

Fan: I’d like to say that many netizens don’t really understand me. Their demands on me come out of their own personal morality; they hope that other people will do better, little realizing that in the same situation, they’d be exactly like me.

They’re not considering institutional and technological factors. If all the buildings were built to strict quality standards, would we have lost so many people? If the state and the school frequently instructed students in how to escape an earthquake, then they’d naturally run when an earthquake hit, and there’d be no need for me to shout.

Netizens can attack me and argue with me, but they’d do better to think about institutional and technological factors. If another earthquake comes, whether our houses are safe will determine whether we’ll escape safely.

Fan appeals to the Education Law to deny any wrongdoing. In response, commentators have suggested that Fan’s actions did indeed violate that law. Here’s an excerpt from a Rednet post by Li Zhenzhong, titled “The ‘Running teacher’ was also ‘tofu dregs’ in the face of disaster”:

The Compulsory Education Law does stipulate that “a teacher should be a model of virtue for others and should be devoted to the education of the people.” To be a “model of virtue,” to “undertake the duty stipulated in the law,” to be “devoted to the education of the people”: looking at the Compulsory Education Law, being concerned solely for one’s own life and leaving students behind while fleeing violates the spirit of the law.

The Compulsory Education Law was revised in 2006; the 1986 version only commanded teachers to “show concern for their students and be devoted to their duties.” But it’s likely that the netizens who are attacking Runner Fan’s morals would argue that simply shouting “Earthquake!” and then running outside doesn’t really show concern for the students, either.

Update: There’s an interesting meditation on Fan Meizhong’s actions and self-justification at Blogging for China.