Yu Dan, a media expert and professor at Beijing Normal University, is in the spotlight again this week 10 Chinese researchers have demanded she resign from her TV show.

Yu is well-known for her interpretation of Analects of Confucius written by his disciples around 475 BC on television.

She has been a controversial figure since the day she first shot to fame via the television last October. Some people love her witty style, while others criticize her for straying too far from the original text.

The latest attack came on Saturday as 10 researchers in Beijing and other cities asked her to resign and demanded an apology for her "incorrect and misleading" interpretation of the classics.

Yu fought back through the local media on Monday, refusing to resign, adding that people need a lesson about Chinese culture.

The latest attack on Yu began when a doctoral student called Xi Jinru, who is researching ancient Chinese poetry, posted a critical piece about her on an online forum.

He quickly gained the support of nine other doctoral students who research ancient Chinese literature at different universities.

Xi accused Yu of misleading the public and labeled her approach as "ignorant, unfaithful and harmful".

His accusation has triggered more than 10,000 replies, both for and against.

In one case, at a ceremony to launch her new book at the Zhongguancun Book Store on March 3, a middle-aged man took off his jacket and exposed a shirt printed with the slogan, "Confucius is vexed, Zhuangzi is angry."

China Daily CRIENGLISH.com

(China Daily 03/07/2007 page3)