TurningPoint
ChenYongjunwillneverforgetthedateofOctober21,1977.Beforeleavingworktogohomethatday,then22-year-oldChengotthenewsfromChinaNationalRadio(CNR)thatthegaokao—thenationalentranceexaminationtocollegesanduniversities—wouldreturn.“Itwasabusy,noisytimeinthefactorywhenweheardthenews,”herecalls.“Icouldn’thearthewholepiece,butIcaughtthephrase‘resumingthegaokao.’”
Thenextday,Chenrushedtothereadingroomassoonashearrivedatthefactorytolookforthepreviousday’sPeople’sDaily,wherehefoundthefulltextofthegaokaoresumptionnotice.
Hewasoneofmanyhigh-schoolgraduateswhodevotedconsiderabletimetovariouscampaignsoutsideacademicstudiesduringthe“culturalrevolution”period(1966-1976).“Ididn’texpecttopasstheexambecauseIhadn’tlearnedmuchinschool,”admitsChen.“Butthepastdidn’treallymatterbecausetheexamcouldstillchangemyfate.”Hedecidedtoregister,alongsideafewotherfellowworkers.
Withamonthuntiltheexam,Chenhuntedforstudymaterialsandworkedhard,lateatnightafterworkandduringanydaylighttimehecouldfind.
“Duringthedecade-long‘culturalrevolution,’noneofusgotasolideducationalfoundation,”saysChen.“Iamextremelygratefultomyprimaryschoolteachers,whohadhelpedmeupinthefirststeptowardstheexam."Aswellasstudyinghard,heattributeshissuccesstogoodhabitslikereadingbooksandnewspapers.“WhenIwasachild,IfoundPoliticalEconomyoftheSovietUniononmyfather’sbookshelf,andIlikeditsomuchthatItookitwithmetowork.”ThebookmighthaveplayedaroleinChen’schoicetostudyeconomicsaftergraduationfromcollege.
Thatyear,270,000youngmenreceivedadmissionlettersfromcollegesanduniversitiesafterfierce,faircompetition.
In1978,Chenbidfarewelltohisco-workersandheadedtoAnhuiInstituteofFinanceandEconomicsinBengbu,AnhuiProvince.Inanunprecedentedmove,candidatespassingtheexamin1977and1978startedthesemestersimul-taneously.Hewaspartofthe“non-traditional”groupcomposedofmostlyolderstudentswhohaddelayedcollegeduetothechaotic“culturalrevolution.”
“Thereweretwogenerationsinmyclass,”grinsChen.“Theyoungestwas16andtheoldest32.”Evenwithfiveyearsofexperienceinarailwaypowerplantunderhisbelt,hewasn’tevenclosetobeingtheoldestintheclass.
Thecampusbuzzedaftersomanyyearsofsilence.Joyfilledtheairaspeoplereadbooksandrecitedpoetry.Earlyeachmorning,studentscouldbeseenonplaygroundsandinfrontofdininghallsrecitingEnglishwordsandexpressionsorreadingtextbooksaloud.
“Wewereluckytohaveanumberofprofessorswhohadstudiedatworld-famousuniversitiessuchasHarvard,CambridgeandOxford.Theirtalentshadbeenwastedduringthe‘culturalrevolution’andtheywereexcitedtobeback,”recallsChen.“Ourclasswassolively.”
Afterreceivinganundergraduatedegree,ChenYongjuncontinuedstudyingforaPh.D.andeventuallybecameaprofessorofeconomics.Today,heisaninternationally-renownedeconomicsscholarandteachesattheBusinessSchoolofRenminUniversityofChina.Hisdaysarefrequentlypacked:Afewdaysago,hereturnedhomeinBeijingat5:00a.m.fromaBeltandRoadseminarforlocalentrepreneursinShenzhen,GuangdongProvince,butbeforetakingarest,heappearedatanacademicsalonattheSchoolofManagementofRenminUniversityofChinaatnoon.Afterthat,herushedtoalectureforEMBAstudentsattheuniversityintheevening.
Amonthago,ProfessorChenreturnedtohisoldpowerplanttoattendareunionofformeremployees,mostofwhomhavesinceretired.Afterseeingfamiliarfacesagainaftersuchalongabsence,everyoneappearedemotionalandwaxednostalgicaboutthegoodolddays.“Thegaokaohelpedmemakeabeautifulturnatthecrossroadofmylife,”Chenadmits.“Forme,everystepItookatvarioustimeswascrucial.Myfive-yearexperienceofworkinginthepowerplantgavemethechancetolearnaboutthegrass-rootsclassinChina.ItensuredthatIstayedgroundedduringmyacademicresearch.”
OnthemorningofAugust4,1977,DengXiaopingpresidedoveraseminaronscience,technologyandeducationintheGreatHallofthePeople,wherehemadethedecisiontoresumethegaokaosystemafteran11-yearpause.Xinhua
Brainstorminganswersaftertheexam.byLiMiao
Invigilatorsexplainthedo’sanddon’ts.byGaoMingyi
Springof1978:PekingUniversitywelcomesthefirstgroupoffreshmenafterChina’sresumptionofthegaokao.
February1978:Agroupoffreshmen,whowereenrolledin1977,haveaclassatTsinghuaUniversity.Theywerethefirstgroupofstudentstopasstheentranceexaminationandbeadmittedbyinstitutesofhigherlearningafterthecountryresumeditsgaokaosystem.XinhuaALifeMarkedbytheEra
“Suchstorieswerelikedropsofwaterintheseaduringthatera,”ChenYongjunsighs,contemplatingtherelationshipbetweenhispersonallifeandcareer.“Individualdestiniesareoftendeterminedbythebackdropofthetimes.Dropsofwaterdon’tshineexceptatthetopofthesea,ridingthewaves.”
In1976,Chinawasplaguedbyaseverelackofprofessionalpersonnelafterthe“culturalrevolution.”InMay1977,DengXiaoping,whohadn’tyetofficiallyresumedhispost,notedthat“thekeytomodernizationisadvancingscienceandtechnology,whichrequireseducation.Emptytalkwon’tmakeithappen.Wemustseizeknowledge;wemusthavetalentedpersonnel.”
InJulyofthesameyear,DengXiaopingresumedhischairasChina’sheadofeducation,scienceandtechnology.OnAugust4,heproposedasymposiumandinvitedfamousscientistsandeducationexpertsfromacrossChinatoformulateanactionplan.Overwhelmingly,attendeescomplainedinordinatelyaboutthesystemofadmittingstudentstocollegesanduniversities.
Atthattime,Chineseinstitutesofhigherlearningonlyadmittedstudentswhowererecommendedbythemassesandapprovedbyauthorities.Duringthe“culturalrevolution,”educationinprimaryandmiddleschoolsbecamefractured,withqualityvaryingwidely.Therecommendationsystemenabledwidespreadabuse,leavingcountlessoutstandingmindswithoutaccesstohighereducationandapollutedpoolofcollegestudents.
Ataseminarattendedbyheavyweightsofeducationandscientistsfromaroundthecountry,ProfessorZhaQuanxingfromWuhanUniversitycutstraighttothereasonscausingthechaosinhighereducation,andrequestedtheresumptionofthenationaladmissionsystemandfairexaminationsthatwouldrecruitthebesttalent.Medicalaidisavailableincaseofemergency.byGaoMingyi
Teacherswaitoutsidetheexamroomstoanswerquestionsfromtheirstudents.ThesubjectsforthecollegeentranceexaminationthatyearincludedChinese,politics,mathematics,physics,andchemistry.byGaoMingyi
Ascientificexperimentsclass.In1978,theUniversityofScienceandTechnologyofChinaestablishedaspecialclassfor21giftedyoungstersaged11-15.Xinhua
March29,1981:StudentsatPekingUniversityinvitedvolleyballplayersfromtheChinesemenandwomen’steams,whichhadwonhonorforChina,toajointcelebrationoncampus.OnMarch20,1981,theMen’sVolleyballTeamrepresentingChinaenteredtheVolleyballWorldCupafterbeatingSouthKorea3:2intheregionalpreliminarycontestinHongKong.XinhuaAfterseveralroundsofdiscussions,onOctober12,1977,theStateCouncilofChinaratifiedtheMinistryofEducation’sOpinionsontheRecruitmentofCollegesandUniversitiesin1977,whichstipulatedthatworkers,farmersandeducatedyouthswhoworkedinthecountrysideandmountainousareas,veteransandthatyear’shigh-schoolgraduateswerealleligibletotaketheentranceexaminationiftheymetbasiceducationalrequirements.Qualifiedcandidatescouldvoluntarilyregisterfortheunifiedexam.
ThatU-turnwasmirroredinmillionsoflives.Manyofthosewhopassedtheresumedcollegeentranceexamsin1977and1978arenowleadersinsectorssuchaspolitics,commerce,academics,andculture.StandoutsincludingLiKeqiang,China’spremieroftheStateCouncil,whowasadmittedtotheDepartmentofLawatPekingUniversityin1978,WangYi,China’sforeignministerandanalumnusofBeijingInternationalStudiesUniversity,andprolificfilmdirectorZhangYimou,whowasadmittedtotheDepartmentofPhotographyatBeijingFilmAcademyin1978.
Thosewhopassedtheexamin1977and1978hardlyhadachoiceinbecomingtrendsetters.Afterenduringturbulentlives,theyreturnedtocollegeswithinflexiblewillandbiglong-termgoals.Theirworkandlifeexperiencesgavethemafar-reachingvisionandthegrittoendurehardships.Thosepeoplecameofageasindustriesthroughoutthecountrywerestruckbyatalentcrisis,sothegenerationwassaddledwithahistoricmissiontodriveChina’srapiddevelopmentaftertheimplementationofreformandopening-uppolicies.