(CNN) -- Long before Chen Guangcheng became internationally known as a human rights crusader, villagers near his home knew him as the man to go to when they had trouble with local authorities. 

Despite having little formal legal education, Chen began advocating on behalf of villagers in 1996 at the age of 25, according to China Human Rights Defenders, a China-based human rights group. 

Chen has been at the center of a burgeoning international impasse since his dramatic escape last week from the guards who kept him under house arrest in a small village in eastern China. He was confined to his home after serving four years in prison, apparently over his legal advocacy for what he called victims of abusive practices such as forced abortions by China's family planning officials. 

Fellow activists say he made his way to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where he remains as the United States and China try to sort out the future for Chen, who has sought to call attention to the practice of forced abortions and sterilizations in China. 

Yet he never sought out to be a rabble-rouser, said New York University law professor Jerome Cohen, who first met Chen when the activist traveled to the United States as part of a State Department program in 2004. 

"You got the feeling you were in the presence of some Chinese equivalent of Gandhi or something," Cohen said. "He had this gentle but steely moral force." 

Chen was born in 1971 in Dongshigu, a small farming village in eastern Shandong province, more than 400 kilometers (248 miles) from Beijing.  QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What is the name of the person that this article talks about?
2. What is the person that this article talks about called?
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Q2:
1. What is Chen Guangcheng known for?
2. What do people know Chen Guangcheng for?
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Q3:
1. On what scale did Chen Guangcheng become known as a human rights crusader?
2. Chen Guangcheng became known as a human rights crusader at what level?
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Q4:
1. What year did Chen Guangcheng start advocating on behalf of villagers?
2. Chen Guangcheng began advocating on behalf of villagers in what year?
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Q5:
1. How old was Chen Guangcheng when he started advocating on behalf of villagers?
2. Chen Guangcheng began advocating on behalf of villagers at what age?
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Q6:
1. Has Chen Guangcheng ever gotten in trouble?
2. Has Chen Guangcheng been in trouble in his life?
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Q7:
1. What did Chen Guangcheng do in order to get into trouble?
2. Chen Guangcheng did what that got him into trouble?
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Q8:
1. What type of punishment was Chen Guangcheng escaping from?
2. Chen Guangcheng was escaping from what type of punishment?
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