His team's tally is the only one to contain the name, age, sex, school, class, grade, home address and guardian's contact number of each pupil killed in the disaster.

Weeks after the quake left 88,000 dead, Sichuan education authorities said it had killed 4,737 students. But parents said more than 10,000 had died. The authorities have issued no figure since, despite repeated pleas from grieving parents and the public.

Sichuan's executive vice-governor, Wei Hong, said last month the casualty figures for students would come out only when a final death-toll calculation was done. 'It's a very complicated process to verify the final toll,' he said.

Ai pledged at his Beijing home yesterday that the campaign would go on, but he admitted its volunteers were regularly detained and sent home. 'We will never give up the campaign; there's no question. I will not be bribed or threatened. We still have quite a number of volunteers in Sichuan, some of whom have been there long-term.'

Ai said ' the era has changed' and that media censorship or restrictions on the team's movements could not stop its work.

'Every life needs to be treasured. This is a value that should be shared by every one of us, including law enforcers and those in power,' he said.

'Equality, justice and democracy shouldn't be pursued as just a political ideal; rather, they should become the fundamentals of a society.'