一位曾指導中國孩子如何成功的網紅猝然離世

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

(Source: The NYT)

The Sudden Death of a Man Who Told Chinese Kids How to Succeed

The influencer Zhang Xuefeng was known for no-nonsense, some said cynical, advice about how to win in China’s educational rat race. He died at 41.

The NYT - By Vivian Wang - Vivian Wang is a China correspondent based in Beijing, where she writes about how the country’s global rise and ambitions are shaping the daily lives of its people.

March 26, 2026

Updated 9:01 a.m. ET

Any Chinese parent or student fixated on education — so, basically, most Chinese parents and students — knew the name Zhang Xuefeng. As China’s most famous education influencer, Mr. Zhang was known for dispensing ruthlessly blunt advice about how to maximize a student’s chances at success.

The liberal arts? Only good for service jobs, he declared. Finance? Don’t bother unless your family has connections. Fast-talking and sharp-tongued, to his detractors he was cynical and utilitarian. But to his tens of millions of fans, he embodied a rare willingness to acknowledge the harsh realities facing less privileged students, especially in the face of steep inequality and a slowing economy.

So when Mr. Zhang suddenly died on Tuesday at age 41, of cardiac arrest, it prompted an outpouring — not only of shock, but also of reflection.

On social media, people asked: Had he steered young Chinese to better lives or discouraged their idealism? What did his abrupt death, after he had long complained of being exhausted and overworked, say about China’s hypercompetitive work culture? And if life was so unpredictable, did planning so carefully — for success that seemed increasingly out of reach — even matter?

“Zhang Xuefeng’s lesson to lost young people: Enjoy your life,” was one of the top hashtags on Chinese social media on Wednesday, where news of Mr. Zhang’s death dominated discussion. “Excessive self-discipline” was another, a response to state media reports that Mr. Zhang had collapsed after going for a run in Suzhou, the city in eastern China where he lived.

Another popular education influencer, Zhu Wei, posted a long tribute online, praising Mr. Zhang’s vigor and sincerity. Mr. Zhu urged his own students to slow down in their pursuit of test scores and jobs.

“But I also know, what’s the cruelest thing about the age of internet traffic? It’s that nothing lasts even a month before it’s forgotten,” Mr. Zhu wrote. “Everyone will soon go back to their usual state, endlessly striving and slogging, never able to stop.”

Mr. Zhang was born in a small town in northern China. His real name was Zhang Zibiao, though he later adopted the name Xuefeng. He tested into a middling university, where he studied water supply and drainage, for which he had little enthusiasm, according to interviews he gave. After graduation, he turned to tutoring and college counseling.

He shot to fame in 2016, for a video in which he — in what would become his signature rapid-fire, snark-infused patter — summarized China’s top 34 universities in seven minutes. He started a consulting company where he helped students choose majors, internships and careers based on cold-eyed considerations of their test scores, family backgrounds and whether they prioritized money or stability. His livestreams attracted hundreds of thousands of views, and his courses could cost thousands of dollars.

His celebrity came as much from his advice as his willingness to provoke. A comment in 2023 that parents should knock their children unconscious rather than let them study journalism, because of the weak job prospects, set off days of online debate. Critics said he misunderstood the point of education, or was suggesting that poorer students shouldn’t follow their dreams.

“I come from an ordinary family,” Mr. Zhang wrote in response. “If you come from a wealthy family, you have more choices, you can’t choose wrongly. But most families aren’t that well-off, and when choosing a major, you have to choose one that’s suitable and will put food on the table.”

For the most part, Mr. Zhang’s outsize persona fueled his popularity, and his business. The Paper, a Shanghai-based outlet, wrote in a profile of Mr. Zhang that the furor over his journalism remarks made his fans only more devoted: “The comment section is dominated by one voice: The poor need Zhang Xuefeng.”

After another controversy, Mr. Zhang started selling a T-shirt that said “I was wrong, I apologize.”

But he had recently landed in bigger trouble. In September, his social media accounts were blocked from posting or adding new followers, during a campaign by China’s cyberspace administration to erase what it called “excessively pessimistic” sentiment.

Mr. Zhang was among a list of influencers targeted, according to China’s state broadcaster, which said that he was being punished for using “vulgar language for an extended period” during a livestream.

But some observers speculated that his true offense was speaking bluntly about young people’s economic anxieties, at a time when the government has tried to hide high youth unemployment rates and accused young people of being too picky about jobs. (Others thought Mr. Zhang was being penalized for cheering on an invasion of Taiwan. The Chinese government, though it claims Taiwan, often censors what it deems overly hawkish sentiment.)

Mr. Zhang recovered his accounts a month later and returned to streaming multiple times a week. The morning he died, he did a broadcast then went for a run, as was his habit.

His death was announced by his company in a post on social media. He is survived by his wife and a daughter, according to Chinese media.

Translation

一位曾指導中國孩子如何成功的網紅猝然離世

網紅Zhang Xuefeng以其直言不諱、甚至可以說是憤世嫉俗的建議而聞名，這些建議旨在幫助學生在中國激烈的教育競爭中脫穎而出。他41歲便英年早逝。

任何關注教育的中國家長或學生 - 也就是說，基本上大多數中國家長和學生 - 都知道Zhang Xuefeng這個名字。作為中國最著名的教育網紅，Zhang先生以其毫不留情的直言不諱的建議而聞名，這些建議旨在最大限度地提高學生的成功幾率。

他宣稱，文科？只對服務業有用。金融？除非你家有人脈，否則別費勁了。他語速飛快、言語犀利，在批評者眼中，他憤世嫉俗、唯利是圖。但在數千萬粉絲眼中，他體現了一種難能可貴的坦誠，願意正視弱勢學生面臨的嚴峻現實，尤其是在貧富差距懸殊、經濟增速放緩的背景下。

因此，當Zhang先生週二因心臟驟停猝然離世，年僅41歲時，引發了軒然大波 - 不僅是震驚，更是反思。

在社交媒體上，人們紛紛發問：他究竟是引導了中國年輕人走向更美好的生活，還是扼殺了他們的理想？在他長期抱怨自己疲憊不堪、工作過度之後，他的突然離世又反映了中國競爭激烈的職場文化怎樣的現狀？如果人生如此變幻莫測，那麼為了一個似乎越來越遙不可及的成功而去作出精心規劃，還有真的意義嗎？

週三，Zhang Xuefeng先生去世的消息在中國社交媒體上引發熱議，而「Zhang Xuefeng給迷失的年輕人的忠告：享受生活」也成為熱門話題之一。 「過度自律」是另一個熱門話題，此前官方媒體報道稱，Zhang Xuefeng先生在蘇州跑步後暈倒，蘇州是他居住的中國東部城市。

另一位頗受歡迎的教育網紅Zhu Wei在網路上發表了一篇長文悼念Zhang先生，讚揚了他的活力和真誠。Zhu先生曾勸告自己的學生放慢追求考試成績和工作的腳步。

Zhu先生寫道: 「但我也知道，網路時代最殘酷的是什麼？就是沒有什麼東西能持續一個月，很快就會被遺忘」， 「大家很快又會回到老樣子，無休止地奮鬥、拼搏，永不停低」。

Zhang先生出生於中國北方的小鎮。他的真名是Zhang Zibiao，後來改名為Xuefeng。他考入了一所中等水平的大學，學習供水和排水專業，據他接受採訪時所說，他對這個專業並不感興趣。畢業後，他轉向了輔導和大學諮詢工作。

2016年，他以一段影片一炮而紅。影片中，他用標誌性的語速飛快、略帶諷刺的語調，在七分鐘內概括了中國頂尖的34所大學。他創辦了一家顧問公司，幫助學生根據考試成績、家庭背景以及他們對金錢和穩定的重視程度等因素，冷靜地選擇專業、實習和職業。他的直播吸引了數十萬觀眾，他的課程收費高達數千美元。

他的名氣不僅來自於他的建議，也來自於他敢於挑釁的言論。 2023年，他曾說過，由於新聞專業的就業前景不佳，家長應該把孩子打暈，而不是讓他們學習新聞專業。這句話引發了持續數日的網路辯論。批評者稱他誤解了教育的意義，或暗示家境貧寒的學生不應該追逐自己的夢想。

Zhang迴應道: “我來自一個普通家庭” ， “如果你家境富裕，選擇更多，就不會選錯。但大多數家庭並不富裕，選擇專業時，必須選擇一個適合自己、能養家糊口的專業。”

Zhang先生的超大個性在很大程度上助長了他的聲望和事業。上海媒體澎湃新聞在一篇關於Zhang的報道中寫道，圍繞他新聞言論的爭議反而讓他的粉絲更加忠誠： “評論區幾乎全是同一種聲音：窮人需要Zhang Xuefeng。”

在又一次爭議之後，Zhang開始銷售一款印有「我錯了，我道歉」字樣的T恤。

但他最近卻陷入了更大的麻煩。 9月，在中國網信辦開展的一場旨在清除所謂「過度悲觀」情緒的行動中，張先生的社群媒體帳號被禁止發文和增加新粉絲。

根據中國國家電視台報道，Zhang先生是此次行動中被列入目標名單的網紅之一，他被處罰的原因是直播中「長時間使用粗俗語言」。

但一些觀察家猜測，他真正的過錯在於直言不諱地談論年輕人的經濟焦慮，而當時政府正試圖掩蓋高企的青年失業率，並指責年輕人對工作過於挑剔。 （其他人則認為Zhang先生是因為鼓勵入侵台灣而受到懲罰。中國政府雖然聲稱對台灣擁有主權，但經常審查其認為過於鷹派的情緒。）

一個月後，Zhang先生取回了他的帳號，並恢復了每週多次的直播。在他去世的那天早上，他像往常一樣進行了一次直播，然後去跑步。

他的公司在社交媒體上發布消息宣佈了他的死訊。據中國媒體報道，他身後留下了妻子和一個女兒。

              So, Zhang Xuefeng, as China’s most famous education influencer, has died at 41. To his tens of millions of fans, he embodied a rare willingness to acknowledge the harsh realities facing less privileged students, especially in the face of steep inequality and a slowing economy. Apparently, with Zhang passing away, others KOLs in China will take up his role in talking about the harsh realities facing less privileged students, especially in the face of steep inequality and a slowing economy.

Note:

1. The Paper (Chinese: 澎湃新闻) is a Chinese digital newspaper owned and run by the state-owned Shanghai United Media Group.(Wikipedia)