Chinese student's art project using live butterflies sparks debate

"Her artwork has no aesthetic value at all, not to mention she has no right to kill the butterfly," Weibo user @chenxiao033 commented.

"If she is the keeper, she can do whatever she wants, but not for wild butterflies. Besides, she can totally use fallen leaves to express the same theme," said user @yanyuchangting.

However, one of the most liked comments was from a user who wrote: "If the girl uses caterpillars, will you still think it is ruthless?"

Some think that criticizing the student's method is hypocritical because though butterflies are pretty and beneficial, caterpillars are often leaf-eating, plant-destroying nuisances. Besides, some argue, what she did was no different from making butterfly specimens.

When asked to comment on the negative responses, the student said she was not afraid. "I've been thinking about replacing butterflies with other materials, but insist on doing so just for expressing the theme of 'rebirth'."