Chinese housewife spent years fabricating historical accounts of mediaeval Russia on Wikipedia

• She fabricated details about a silver mine that was a source of wealth for Russia in the 14th and 15th centuries.
• A team of volunteer editors discovered that either her citations weren’t accurate.
• She used web translators to comprehend articles before filling in the blanks.

Chinese novelist Yifan revealed the fraud in a post on a website resembling Quora. Yifan discovered one of her articles while conducting research for a new book. It described a silver mine that produced wealth for Russia in the 14th and 15th centuries. According to accounts, the document was so extensive that it included information on the composition of the soil; the layout of the mine, and the processes used to refine the silver. But when Yifan tried to fact-check her sources with Russian speakers; she found that the pages or editions of the books Zhemao referenced didn’t really exist.

A group of volunteer editors reviewed her work in response and found that either her citations weren’t correct. Zhemao said in a post on her page that she was also making up information. She acknowledged that her spouse is Chinese, not Russian; and that she does not live in Russia. She also does not hold the PhD in world history from Moscow State University that she claimed to have; rather, she is a housewife with a high school certificate. She expressed anger about her inability to understand texts written in both English and Russian; according to Vice’s examination of the post. She appears to have read internet articles with the aid of site translators; then filled in the holes with her own creativity.

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She could have easily produced a book set in mediaeval Russia; which would have probably been well-liked given that Yifan and her other editors had praised her; contributions for being well-written and interesting. The website has permanently barred Zhemao and her sock puppets; so she might need to look for another venue for her art.

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