(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. 
Who escaped?
From where?
What kind of punishment was he serving?
Was he guarded?
Had he already served prison time?
How much?
Why was he originally in trouble?
Where did he escape to?
In what city?
What issues is he concerned with?
When did he began advocating?
How old was he then?
Where was he born?
In China?
In what year?
How far is Donshigu from Beijing?
Was it a large town?
What is Jerome Cohen's profession?
At which university?
Had he met Chen before?
When?
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Who did he compare Chen to?
Chen
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.
a small village in eastern China.
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.
house arrest
 under house arrest in a small village in eastern China. He was confined to his home after serving four years in prison,
yes
dramatic escape last week from the guards
yes
 after serving four years in prison
four years
 after serving four years in prison
legal advocacy
legal advocacy for what he called victims of abusive practices such as forced abortions by China's family planning officials.
the U.S. Embassy
Fellow activists say he made his way to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing
Beijing
U.S. Embassy in Beijing
forced abortions and sterilizations
practice of forced abortions and sterilizations in China
1996
 Chen began advocating on behalf of villagers in 1996
25
at the age of 25
Dongshigu
Chen was born in 1971 in Dongshigu
yes
Chen was born in 1971 in Dongshigu, a small farming village in eastern Shandong province, more than 400 kilometers (248 miles) from Beijing.
1971
Chen was born in 1971
more than 248 miles
more than 400 kilometers (248 miles) from Beijing.
no
a small farming village
law professor
 law professor
New York University
New York University law professor Jerome Cohen
yes
 who first met Chen when the activist traveled to the United States as part of a State Department program in 2004.
2004
 in 2004.
in the United States
, who first met Chen when the activist traveled to the United States as part of a State Department program in 2004
Gandhi
some Chinese equivalent of Gandhi or something," Cohen said.