Recently, Professor Yang Nianqun from the Institute of Qing History at Renmin University of China has sparked widespread discussion due to being publicly accused by multiple women of emotional manipulation, quid pro quo relationships, and other inappropriate behaviors.
A lengthy exposé detailing the accusations against Professor Yang Nianqun has brought him under intense public scrutiny. The accuser, Liu Rui, a former researcher at People’s Daily and a partner at a financial startup company, based her claims on her own six-year personal experience. She alleged that Yang Nianqun had long concealed his marriage status and maintained inappropriate relationships with at least a dozen women, using his academic position to manipulate emotions and trade resources, even resorting to falsifying documents to evade police investigation.
Born in 1964 into a prestigious scholarly family, Yang Nianqun is the great-grandson of Liang Qichao, and the grandson of Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin. He is a respected scholar in the fields of modern Chinese history and Qing dynasty thought, wielding significant influence in the academic community.
According to the accusations, in 2020, Liu Rui, then a master’s student at Renmin University, met Yang Nianqun through an online course, where he presented himself as a “single, dedicated to academia” individual.
To make Liu Rui fully believe his “single” status, Yang Nianqun took her to his family’s ancestral tomb, where he instructed her to walk around it three times, claiming it would bring ancestral blessings. He shared childhood experiences to portray a vulnerable and trustworthy image, planned a future of buying a house, having children, and growing old together with Liu Rui, and brought her into his office at the Institute of Qing History, showing personal items to create an illusion of being a “hostess.”
In February 2026, while handling affairs, Liu Rui accidentally accessed Yang Nianqun’s email inbox, discovering numerous archived historical emails. Among them, a crucial email from a woman named “Hai Qing (Shen Wei)” in 2006 wrote: “When will you divorce? I have waited too long, I cannot be without identity. I want your child.”
Yang Nianqun’s reply did not deny his marital status, but instead deferred and avoided the issue with reasons like “give me time” and “it’s not the right time.” It was then that Liu Rui realized Yang Nianqun’s “single” persona was a complete lie from the start, as he was not only married but had maintained multiple relationships for over 20 years.
Subsequently, Liu Rui discovered that she was just one member in a long-term emotional entanglement with Yang Nianqun, with potentially over ten such women identified in the accusations.
The exposé alleged that Yang Nianqun systematically manipulated the women involved, including a female associate professor from Tsinghua University. Several young scholars were also pointed out as academic labor for Yang Nianqun, providing long-term unpaid assistance in research.
The exposure of Yang Nianqun’s misconduct has sent shockwaves through the historical academic community and the public.
Some netizens are calling for scrutiny of Yang Nianqun’s involvement in various academic evaluation processes, questioning whether there were exchanges of academic resources for emotional loyalty. Many are concerned that if the allegations prove true, it will severely damage the credibility of the “New History Movement” spearheaded by Yang Nianqun and others. While this movement aimed to break free from traditional historical constraints, the involvement of its key figure in traditional academic circles of power, money, and sex trade has cast an enduring shadow over the New History Movement.
Both Renmin University and Tsinghua University have yet to respond, but Yang Nianqun’s profile is conspicuously absent from the list of “teaching staff” on the official website of the Institute of Qing History at Renmin University.