三天，两位才女翻车：蒋方舟、贾浅浅接连被撤硕士学位

Today, a topic that's been fiercely debated on the Chinese internet these past few days.

In just three days, two once-famous women writers had their master's degrees revoked by their universities, one after another.

One is called Jiang Fangzhou, one is called Jia Qianqian.

Many people have probably heard both names.

First, Jiang Fangzhou.

She's someone the public watched grow up — a "genius girl."

She started writing at seven, published her first book at nine, riding the "genius" halo all the way.

When she took the college exam, she was reportedly admitted to a top school under a special waiver, with her score cut by a wide margin — which, to many ordinary students at the time, seemed less than fair.

Now, Jia Qianqian.

Her background is no small matter either: her father is Jia Pingwa, a hugely famous senior figure in China's literary world.

Jia Qianqian herself is an associate professor at a university, and also holds a post in the Writers' Association.

A few years back, some poems she wrote were mocked by netizens, and she was accused of joining the Association through her father's connections.

You could say one is a "genius myth" and the other a "literary heir" — both carrying a halo, and both carrying background.

So what happened this time?

Bluntly put, both women's papers were found to contain serious plagiarism.

On Jiang Fangzhou's side, in fact, a Tsinghua University professor had already reported her thesis for plagiarism last year, under his real name.

At first, Renmin University, after investigating, said: no problem found.

But public opinion never died down, and new clues surfaced later.

The school reopened its investigation and finally ruled that her thesis indeed had nine passages overlapping a foreign journal article, with no source cited.

On July 13, Renmin University formally revoked her master's degree.

Just two days later, on July 15, Northwest University struck too.

It ruled that Jia Qianqian had committed academic misconduct and, in one stroke, revoked her master's degree, her associate-professor title, and terminated her employment.

The investigation found that of her dozen-plus papers, more than half contained plagiarism.

Facing the ruling, Jiang Fangzhou apologized publicly online, saying she accepts the school's decision and apologizing to readers and teachers.

The two events fell so close together that they were naturally discussed side by side.

Many applauded, seeing it as a rare victory.

Because whether you're a genius or the child of a famous person, once you cross the line of academic fraud, you pay the price all the same.

To many, behind this is the ever-stronger public oversight of recent years, truly at work.

Of course, some also feel it's a pity.

Two such talented, famous people who could have gone far, yet because of plagiarism, ruined years of reputation overnight.

In just a few days, two writers went down one after another, leaving many unable to help asking: what has become of our academic world?

The truth is, whether you're a genius or a literary heir, what really lets someone stand firm has never been the halo above your head or the background behind you, but the work you write, solidly, yourself.

Cross the bottom line of plagiarism, and the brighter the halo, the harder the fall.

Okay, that's where we'll leave this story today; see you next time.