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Original case text:
One afternoon in April 2019, the defendant, Ren Qiang (pseudonym), reminded his upstairs neighbor, Li Yan (pseudonym, deceased at age 22), to close the door gently, which angered her and resulted in her verbally abusing him. He chased her to her door to argue, and Li Yan called her parents, claiming that she was being bullied by her downstairs neighbor. The two then got into a physical altercation, which was broken up by bystanders, and the police took them to the police station for mediation.
According to the indictment by the Fushun Municipal People's Procuratorate in Liaoning Province, Li Yan deliberately made noises upstairs after returning home, making it unbearable for Ren Qiang.
The following evening around 9 p.m., Ren Qiang again tried to persuade Li Yan's father not to keep making noise upstairs. Soon after, the Li family of three came downstairs, banging on the door and shouting. Ren Qiang picked up a fruit knife from the dining table and opened the door.
During the conflict, Li Yan's father stabbed Ren Qiang in the chest with a box cutter. Li Yan and her mother fought back, causing Ren Qiang to kneel on one knee. Ren Qiang then got up and used a fruit knife to stab all three of them repeatedly, resulting in the deaths of Li Yan and her mother.
Recently, the China Judgments Online website published the criminal and civil judgment in this case. The defendant, Ren Qiang, was found guilty of intentional injury and sentenced to seven years in prison; he was also ordered to pay the victim's family a total of 86,015.72 yuan in economic losses.
What is the true nature of this case?
Why do they suddenly become furious when we mention that our upstairs neighbors are making noise that's bothering them?
Similar cases have occurred before, but none have been as serious as this one:
(China Court Network News, Ye Wei and Xu Taoping) A dispute over excessive noise from upstairs neighbors escalated into a physical altercation. Recently, the Anyuan District People's Court of Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province, concluded this case involving a dispute over the right to life, health, and bodily integrity caused by noise pollution. The defendant, Peng, was ordered to pay over 9,000 yuan in compensation.
On the evening of October 24, 2016, Zou, a resident of a certain community, went upstairs to discuss with her neighbor Peng, who was experiencing excessive noise from upstairs, disturbing her mother who had just given birth. Zou requested that Peng reduce the noise and not disturb others. Peng responded aggressively and verbally abused Zou, and the two began arguing loudly. Zou's parents, hearing the noise, came upstairs to investigate. The situation escalated into a physical altercation, during which Peng pushed Zou and attacked Zou and her parents with a knife. Peng suffered a contusion to his left eye, and Zou was hospitalized with injuries sustained from the knife attack. A forensic examination determined that both the plaintiff and the defendant sustained minor injuries.
The court held that citizens' rights to life, health, and physical integrity are protected by law and no one may infringe upon them. In this case, the plaintiff, Zou, and the defendant, Peng, were neighbors and should have lived in harmony, communicating amicably with mutual understanding and consideration. However, both parties acted irrationally during their communication. Therefore, the court rendered the above judgment.
Source: China Courts Website
Date: December 29, 2018
These two cases have many similarities, but also significant differences that led to a qualitative change in the outcome.
Similarities: 1. The people upstairs are all uncommunicative; they start flying into a rage after just a few words.
2. The upstairs neighbors initiated the physical attack. In the case of the disabled man, the upstairs neighbors used a box cutter to stab the downstairs neighbors; in the Jiangxi case, the upstairs neighbors used a knife to slash at the downstairs neighbors.
Differences: 1. The degree of retaliation differed. In the disability case, the man used a fruit knife to retaliate; in the Jiangxi case, the man used force to retaliate, and both men sustained minor injuries.
2. The outcomes differed. In the disability case, two people died and three were injured upstairs, and the disabled man was sentenced to seven years in prison for excessive self-defense; in the Jiangxi case, the upstairs neighbor was ordered to pay more than 9,000 yuan in compensation.
(If a similar case happens again, will you still dare to retaliate so easily?)
The most controversial aspect of this case seems to be the distinction between legitimate self-defense and excessive self-defense, but at its root, it's actually a neighborhood noise dispute. Therefore, the essence of the conflict in this case is: noise from upstairs.
In many cases of noise from upstairs neighbors, we often find a strange phenomenon: when we communicate with the upstairs neighbors about their noise affecting others, they suddenly become furious and even accuse us of having a problem.
What are these people thinking? Why can't they accept criticism from others? Let's look at another case:
Similar news examples:
Recently, a news report on 1818 Golden Eye featured a delivery driver surnamed Li in Hangzhou. Li recounted an incident where he couldn't contact a customer for an order and, unable to use the elevator to go upstairs, left the food on the delivery rack downstairs. Later, the customer complained about not receiving the food and he was reported. However, Li discovered through CCTV footage that the customer had actually picked up the food. According to the reporter, the customer insisted on going downstairs to collect the food, claiming the bananas had oxidized and turned black, and not only denied receiving the food but also complained about the delivery driver.
Source: 1818 Golden Eye
In the video, when the reporter arrived at the scene to interview her, the customer did not show her face at all. When the deliveryman confronted her, she said "Shut up" and then closed the door.
Not showing her face and closing the door are typical behaviors to protect one's privacy, which is understandable. However, suddenly telling the delivery guy to "shut up" shows that she was filled with disgust towards him. Looking at the whole incident, this customer actually got a free delivery, and the delivery guy was simply trying to get an explanation for being complained about. So where does her disgust towards the delivery guy come from? Does it stem from the shame and indignation she felt at being aware of the ugliness of her own behavior, only to have it exposed to the media by the delivery guy?
After analyzing the above cases, can we draw a simple conclusion: some people, when their ugly or low-quality behavior is exposed, their first reaction is not apology, but anger and disgust, deliberately using rage to create the illusion that they are the victims.
No matter how much reasoning you give someone like that, they won't listen. Because in their worldview, even if they realize they're wrong, they won't admit it; they'll even see you as the one in the wrong because you're not to their advantage. This kind of person is a sophisticated egoist, with a value system centered on their own self-interest.
So what should we do when we encounter people like this?
- Record the conversation beforehand to preserve evidence of your righteous actions. Speak politely and tactfully, avoiding any words intended to provoke others. If someone upstairs continues to verbally provoke you, do not initiate physical violence, no matter what. If the other party does attack, call the police immediately. Even after calling the police, if the other party continues their attack, only retaliate in self-defense. (When the attacker's actions threaten your life, your self-defense actions will be considered legitimate self-defense; those interested can learn more about the difference between mutual assault and legitimate self-defense.)
These kinds of people care about their image, so try not to go looking for them alone. Instead, ask the property management or family and friends to go together. Their fake performance will be more interesting in front of multiple people.
Neighbor noise often leads to encounters with unreasonable people. The best way to avoid direct conflict with these individuals is to take measures to ensure proper soundproofing.