罗翔 — Luo Xiang — The Lawless Criminal's Professor

What Is 罗翔?

Criminal law professor Luo Xiang's Bilibili lectures went viral in 2020, gaining 10 million followers in months. His fictional student '法外狂徒张三' (Zhang San, the Lawless Criminal) — who commits every possible crime as a teaching example — became the most famous fictional Chinese criminal since Sun Wukong.

Origin

Luo joined Bilibili in March 2020, immediately going viral. His lectures use humor and a recurring cast of fictional criminals, especially Zhang San, to explain criminal law. Fans began making 'Zhang San' memes where any extreme scenario ends with 'that's exactly what Zhang San did.' A fan even recreated his classroom in Animal Crossing — itself a viral image.

Cultural Context

罗翔 represents the scholar-celebrity: someone famous not for performance but for genuine expertise delivered accessibly. Zhang San as a character became a template for all hypothetical wrongdoing. 'What would Zhang San do?' replaced 'what would happen if...' Zhang San is now the permanent test subject for all Chinese criminal law edge cases.

How It's Used