It also shed light on the thrill-seeking subculture associated with rooftopping, in which ambitious daredevils scale skyscrapers around the world and take selfies against magnificent views above the tops of cities, from New York to Dubai to Russia.

In China, Mr. Wu’s death prompted the official media to warn about live-streaming stunts. “By climbing on high buildings without taking any safety measures, Wu put himself in danger and pushed himself to his limits, but that does not mean what he did is a sport,” a report in China Daily said on Tuesday.

Mr. Wu’s family told The Xiaoxiang Morning Post, a newspaper based in Changsha, that the young man, who had worked as a film extra, had dangled himself from the building for a video he hoped would earn as much as $15,000 if it went viral — money he would use to get married and pay his mother’s medical bills.

An excerpt from the video of Mr. Wu’s last moments shows him on top of the building, clad in black with his hair pulled back from his face, meticulously and repeatedly wiping the ledge. He swung his legs over the edge and partially hung there, clutching it with the full length of his arms, before pulling himself up and sitting down to wipe the edge again.

Then he swung his legs over one by one for a final time. He did two pull-ups into the void, gripping the ledge. Attempting a third, he appeared to struggle, trying to find a hold with one foot after the other. A small sound resembling a human voice, perhaps a whimper, can be heard on the recording. Then he dropped.