Man who froze deceased wife sparks debate for dating new partner

A Chinese man who cryogenically froze his dead wife has sparked a moral debate online after Chinese media reported he was seeing a new girlfriend while his ex-partner lay in liquid nitrogen.

As a sign of his devotion, Gui Junmin decided to freeze the body of his wife Zhang Wenlian after she died of lung cancer in 2017 at the age of 49, making her the first cryogenically preserved person in China.

But after it was revealed in a November interview that he had been dating a different partner since 2020, Chinese social media erupted over Mr Gui's predicament.

While some questioned why the 57-year-old didn't just “let go,” another commenter noted that he seemed “very committed to himself.”

After doctors gave Zhang Wenlian a few months to live, Gui Junmin decided to use cryonics, which is not scientifically proven, to preserve her body after her death.

After her death, he signed a 30-year agreement to keep his wife's frozen body with Shandong Yinfeng Biological Sciences Research Institute.

Since then, Jean's body was stored at the institute in a 2000-liter container in a vat of liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -190°C.

Chinese newspaper Southern Weekly reported that although Gui lived alone for two years after the procedure, he began dating again in 2020, despite his wife remaining in cryopreservation.

He told the newspaper that a severe attack of gout that left him unable to move for two days had begun to change his mind about the benefits of living alone.

Soon after, he began dating his current partner Wang Chunxia, ​​although Mr Gui suggested to the newspaper that the love was only “utilitarian” and that she had not “entered” his heart.

Reacting to the news, some commentators on the Chinese social network Weibo expressed sympathy for Gui's plight, highlighting how long it has been since his wife was placed in a cryogenic chamber.

Some believed it was time for him to leave his frozen ex-wife, adding that he should “let those who have passed… rest in peace.”

But others suggested he acted selfishly to only “satisfy his emotional needs”, with one post asking: “Would Zhang agree to this? Is this fair to Van?”

Cryonics is where the entire body is cooled to sub-zero temperatures, filled with cryoprotectants similar to antifreeze to prevent the formation of ice crystals, and then stored in liquid nitrogen.

It is hoped that one day the body can be revived when future technology makes this possible.

The practice is now used on a smaller scale in everyday medicine, where living cells such as blood cells, sperm and embryos are frozen at ultra-low temperatures for storage.

It is estimated that more than 500 people are cryogenically preserved worldwide, most of them in the United States.

No one has yet been successfully revived from cryopreservation, and scientists believe that preserving and reviving an entire human body still remains a remote possibility.