A story of American inventor Thomas Edison will be removed from the newest edition of a Chinese elementary school textbook after it was criticized by scholars as “not in accordance with history and common sense.”

The story, which was previously included in a Chinese textbook for Grade 2 students, noted that, as electric lights had not yet been invented, 7-year-old Thomas Edison utilized mirrors to reflect candlelight to help doctors finish an appendectomy being performed on his mother. Edison's clever method, the story went, saved his mother's life.

Though the story has been taught for almost 30 years, many educators and scholars have challenged its authenticity, worrying that students could see it as license to lie if it is perceived as false.

“I have often doubted the accuracy of this story when teaching it to my students. After searching carefully online, I realized that the story may be a fake one, as there is no written record in English of Edison saving his mother,” Chen Jiaqi, a Beijing-based elementary school teacher, told the People’s Daily Online.

According to a scientific article published on Colombia University’s official website, titled "History of Medicine: The Mysterious Appendix," surgical treatment for appendicitis didn't become commonplace until the 1880s. However, Edison would have been 7 much earlier, in 1854.

In response to the controversy, the publisher, People’s Education Press, said in an announcement on March 21 that the story will not be included its new textbook for the coming autumn semester.

The controversial story has also stirred up heated debate online. Many internet users recalled their own experiences studying “inaccurate stories" in elementary school, and left comments under the hashtag “NewTextbook&EdisonSavesMother” on Sina Weibo, which had garnered over 600,000 page views as of press time.

“In addition to Edison’s story, I also learned in elementary school the fable of George Washington cutting down his father’s cherry tree and then bravely admitting his fault, which has since been disputed. I think those stories were made up for educational purposes, like teaching the kids to be honest or innovative, and I have no problems with such adaptations,” one netizen wrote.

However, most netizens agreed that the fake stories should be removed from the textbook, for fear that students may be encouraged to lie themselves if they are “fed with lies.”

“Kids at such a young age are not equipped with mature judgment. They believe what they are taught, including those lies. Though it is a Chinese-language textbook, it should also cultivate kids’ morals, rather than encouraging them to lie,” another netizen commented.