A group photo of students enrolled in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Sun Yat-sen University in 1977, including Chen Pingyuan (second right, second row), taken before their graduation. From the summer of 1980 to the spring of 1982, about 270,000 college and university students who enrolled in 1977 graduated. As the first group of college graduates after the launch of China’s reform and opening up, they became a new force driving the development of Chinese society. courtesy of Chen Pingyuan
On October 21, 1977, I read an article titled “College Enrollment Embraces?Major Reforms”?in?People’s Daily, which announced that candidates could start registering to participate?in?the?gaokao. By then, only about?30?days remained until?that year’s gaokao, the only national college entrance examination?held in winter in?the history of the People’s Republic of China. A total of?11 years had passed since the last?gaokao. At first, I didn’t believe what I was reading. A?few days later, I?decided to?do whatever I could to prepare for the upcoming gaokao.
That year, I was a 23-year-old “educated youth”?living?and working in a mountain village in Guangdong Province. Over the eight years since I graduated from secondary?school in 1969, I had been teaching at primary and secondary schools in the village. I spent two years studying at a senior high school during the period.
In fact, few members of?my generation completed formal?education as advanced as a?doctoral program,?as I did,?although?my process was interrupted several times.
Students attending the gaokao in a classroom in Xicheng District, Beijing in 1977. That year, China resumed the gaokao after 11 years of hiatus, and students of different ages and educational backgrounds took the examination to change their destinies. by Gao Mingyi/China Pictorial
The workload of a?rural?teacher wasn’t as intensive as that of a farmer. Additionally, teachers enjoyed special?allowances. For this reason, surviving?in the village wasn’t?as difficult for me as it was for?most locals. Money wasn’t a concern,?and my greatest?pain was inability to see?the future. Most?college students?like me?who enrolled in 1977 and 1978?would have stayed in villages forever if not for?the resumption of?the?gaokao?in China.
I learned much from the books collected by my parents. Both taught?Chinese?in secondary schools. They kept many?literary and history books at home including classical Chinese novels and poetry, translated Western poetry collections, and Chinese textbooks. They also had?books authored by professors from Sun Yat-sen University and Peking University, where I studied later. They had titles by my eventual doctoral tutor and renowned literary historian Wang Yao and famous expert in classical Chinese literature Huang Haizhang. This?context inspired me to choose?to major in?the humanities?and determined my future career.
The composition?I wrote for?my gaokao?was titled “New Look of a Year of Great Order.”?Luckily, my work was selected?as an exemplary?composition by Guangdong Radio Station and published in People’s Daily?on April 7, 1978. Far from perfect, the?essay still exerted far-reaching influence in China and even changed my destiny. I still remember the surprise of?hearing that my composition would be?published in the newspaper. The?meditation I performed after calming down marked the first crucial step of?my academic career.
Chen Pingyuan’s student ID card when he was studying at Sun Yat-sen University. His portrait on the ID card was taken at a local photo shop before Chen left home for university. courtesy of Chen Pingyuan
Back in?the 1970s and 1980s, many in China firmly believed that “knowledge is power.”?Any?opportunity for schooling meant a lot?to members of my generation,?and acceptance to?college provided the ideal?situation. We had no idea which majors would be the most?useful. When I filled out the application?form for college, I applied for all available?options. I was just eager to continue my studies?and?would have been happy to attend any college?in any location.
I was about?to deliver?a lecture to my students when I received my admission letter. I knew I had been accepted?upon seeing the characters “Sun Yat-sen University”?on the envelope, even before I opened it. I was lucky to be?admitted by my first choice. I finished?the?class as usual and didn’t read the letter carefully until I went home. I was excited to realize?my destiny was in my own hands. I believe that most people who?took the?gaokao?in those days felt the same way.、
China scheduled?gaokao?sessions in the winter of 1977 and the spring of 1978. Admitted students began attending college in February 1978. A few months later, another?gaokao was?offered for the summer of 1978. The Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held?in December?1978, marking a major turning point in?Chinese history. The country entered a new?era. We were proud to be a part of?China’s first group of college students to take the?gaokao?again.
With hindsight, I must admit?that the people of my generation were lucky. Benefiting from China’s reform and opening up, we were able to?keep?pace with the times, and many of my peers became?pioneers of their sectors. The life trajectory of many in my generation reflects to a great extent?the tremendous changes Chinese society has undergone since the resumption of the gaokao.
Today, people of my age?are?not as passionate and ambitious as young people. However, it remains helpful and enjoyable to reflect on the ups and downs we navigated?from political, ideological, cultural,?and educational perspectives and remember our experience as?legacy?for future generations.
