"Chastity class" for women ordered to stop in northeast China

SHENYANG, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in northeast China's Liaoning Province have ordered the closure of a "chastity class" in which instructors imparted specific moral discipline to female students.

On Sunday morning, educational authorities in Fushun said that the class "has some problems with social morals," confirming it was opened without authorization, and should be stopped immediately. Students should be released as soon as possible, according to the educational bureau.

The class recently caused controversy after video footage surfaced on the internet. In the video, an instructor tells the students that "women should talk less, do more housework and close their mouths." The instructor continued that "women should not strive to move upwards in society, but should always remain at the bottom level."

"If you order food delivery instead of cooking by yourself, you are disobeying rules for women," the instructor said.

Video footage shared on microblog Sina Weibo had drawn more than 5,000 comments as of 1 p.m. Sunday, with many chastising the content.

"Why do they abandon the essence of Chinese culture and learn the rubbish instead?" read a Weibo comment.

The class was run by a school launched by the Fushun Traditional Cultural Research Association. The association was established in 2011 following approval from Fushun's civil affairs bureau.

The school has many courses on traditional Chinese culture. It also has a long-term class for teenagers and recruits students from around the country. Branches have been set up in cities including Wenzhou, Zhengzhou and Sanya.

Initial investigations by education authorities found that the chastity class was opened in an unauthorized area, and problems with social morals exist within its educational content.

Authorities said they will learn an important lesson from the incident, and will not allow any institutions to operate without authorization, so that any such situation that goes against the core values of Chinese socialism will not occur. Enditem