College Entrance Examination Restored
In October 1977, the State Council approved the restoration of the national unified college entrance examination system (gaokao), which had been suspended for eleven years. Championed personally by Deng Xiaoping as a central element of post-Cultural Revolution rectification, the measure replaced the politically driven, recommendation-based admissions system with open competition on the basis of academic ability. In December 1977, approximately 5.7 million candidates sat for the examination, competing for around 273,000 university places — an acceptance rate of approximately 4.8 per cent. The restoration of the gaokao served as a powerful signal of the approaching reform era, and carried profound personal significance for millions of sent-down youth who had been denied educational opportunities during the Cultural Revolution.
A Decade Without Examinations
The college entrance examination system (gaokao) was abolished in 1966 at the start of the Cultural Revolution. For the following decade, university admissions were based on political criteria and recommendations from work units, favouring those from "correct" class backgrounds and with revolutionary credentials. Education at all levels suffered enormously; university education was effectively suspended until 1970, when a limited number of "worker-peasant-soldier students" were admitted without examinations.
Restoration in 1977
Deng Xiaoping, rehabilitated in 1977, made the restoration of the gaokao a personal priority as a symbol of the return to meritocracy and intellectual values. The exam was hastily reinstated for December 1977, giving candidates only weeks to prepare. An extraordinary 5.7 million people sat for the examination — the largest cohort ever — competing for approximately 273,000 university places. Applicants ranged in age from teenagers to thirty-year-olds who had spent their youth in the countryside.
Social Significance
The restoration of the gaokao was experienced by millions as a moment of profound personal liberation — the possibility of advancement through knowledge and ability rather than political loyalty. It sent a powerful signal about the direction of the reform era. The exam became the central institution of Chinese educational competition and social mobility, a role it retains today. Candidates in the 1977 cohort varied enormously in age, and many went on to hold prominent positions in academia, business, and government, becoming key participants in China's reform and opening-up era.
Narrative Comparison
| Source | Narrative |
|---|---|
| PRC Official Narrative | In 1977, the Party Central Committee made the resolute decision to restore the unified national college entrance examination system, which had been suspended for eleven years. This was a vital measure in rectifying the errors of the Gang of Four era — sweeping away the corrupt admissions system based on personal connections and recommendations, and re-establishing the principle of fair competition and selection on the basis of genuine ability and knowledge. This fully demonstrated the Party's correct policy of respecting knowledge and talent. The 5.7 million candidates who sat for the examination demonstrated through their actions their enthusiastic support for this far-sighted decision by the Party Central Committee. The restoration of the gaokao provided the state's modernisation drive with a large number of well-qualified and morally sound builders of socialism, and stands as an important milestone in putting China's socialist education onto the correct path — and as one of the historical starting points of the new era of reform and opening-up. |
| Western Academic Analysis | Western scholarship interprets the restoration of the gaokao in 1977 primarily as a political signal of Deng Xiaoping's return to power rather than a straightforward educational policy adjustment. Deng made the restoration a personal priority, using it to signal a break with the late Maoist approach of selecting personnel on the basis of class background and political loyalty rather than ability. Scholars have noted that the restoration carried profound symbolic and personal weight for the 'lost generation' of sent-down youth who had been denied educational opportunities during the Cultural Revolution. At the same time, some scholars have pointed out that the gaokao, as a single-track selection mechanism, progressively entrenched structural inequalities in educational resources between urban and rural areas in the decades that followed — a line of institutional critique that persists to the present day. The haste of the 1977 implementation — with the examination held barely two months after the public announcement — is also cited by scholars as a characteristic instance of political will taking priority over institutional preparation. |
Key Milestones
- State Council Approves Restoration of Unified University Entrance Examinations
On 21 October 1977, the State Council approved the Ministry of Education's report proposing the restoration of the unified national college entrance examination system, formally ending an eleven-year suspension. The announcement, published in the People's Daily and other major media, provoked an immediate and intense response across the country — millions of sent-down youth and urban young people who had been denied educational opportunities began preparing for the examination. The exam was to be held in December of the same year, leaving candidates barely two months to prepare.
- 1977 National Gaokao Held; Approximately 5.7 Million Candidates Sit
In December 1977, the restored national college entrance examination was held across the country (with minor variations in timing between provinces due to printing and organisational logistics; the main examination days were 10–11 December). Approximately 5.7 million candidates sat for the examination — the largest cohort in the exam's history. They ranged in age from recent secondary school graduates to sent-down youth in their thirties who had spent years in the countryside. Approximately 273,000 were admitted, an acceptance rate of around 4.8 per cent in an extraordinarily competitive field. This cohort later went on to occupy prominent positions across many fields and is regarded as a defining generation of the reform era.
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