Английская Википедия:Class of 1977-1978 (China)
The Classes of 1977 and 1978, Class of 1977-1978, or simply Class 77-78 (Шаблон:Zh) refers to the first two grades of Chinese college students after the return of the nation-wide college entrance examination following an 11-year suspension during the Cultural Revolution.[1][2]
These two groups of students who took the entrance examination in 1977 and 1978 respectively have a lot in common: they both had a very low admission rates, both entered colleges in 1978, both studied consciously and hard, and both had many older high school graduates of the previous years, etc. Therefore, they are often jointly called "Class of 1977-1978". Many of them have made amazing contributions in various walks of life after graduation, and have won the honor of "Golden 77 and Silver 78" from the public. [3]
Background
In August 1977, Deng Xiaoping, who had just come back to power for the third time, presided over a science and education symposium in Beijing. During the meeting, he pointed out that labor and talents must be respected. And it was decided to resume the college entrance examination, which had been suspended since 1965. On October 12, the State Council approved the "Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Student Admission of Colleges and Universities in 1977", which then became the government policy for the exam and admission. [4] On October 22, the People's Daily published a report officially announcing to the whole country the resumption of the annual college entrance examination. The good news made many people burst into tears, especially the Educated youths who had been sent down to the countryside to receive re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants for years. [5][6]
Examinations and Admissions
The candidates who took the exam include high school graduates from 1966 (when the college entrance examination was canceled due to the Cultural revolution) to 1977 (the year after the Cultural revolution), as well as outstanding high school students who (originally planned to graduate in 1978) took the college entrance examination in advance. So, there were 13 years of high school graduates. From November to December 1977, more than 5.7 million candidates aged 15 to 36 took the entrance examination. [5] The Admissions Committees proposes a list of candidates for political review and physical examination based on student performances of the entrance exam. According to the new national policy, political review mainly depends on the student’s political performance (to reduce the impact of family political background.) [4]
The original plan for the 1977 College Entrance Examination was to admit 200,000 people to college. Later, as more than 5.7 million people took the exam and many candidates achieved excellent results, the number of admissions for the Class of 1977 was expanded to 273,000. This year's college entrance examination was designed and organized by each province, municipality and autonomous region. The examination was held in the winter, and students started school in early March of the following year. [4] [7]
In 1978, the college entrance examination implemented "unified nationwide test questions[a], unified examinations, and unified admissions". The college entrance examination was from July 20 to July 22, and freshmen started school in September. Therefore, both the 1977 and 1978 students entered the school in the same year. In addition, there were also expansion of enrollment in 1978, with a total of 400,000 students admitted to the Class of 1978.[2] [7][6]
Unique features
Compared with other college students, the Class of 1977-78 is unique in many ways, and there are some differences between the two grades. [3][2]
First of all, the college entrance examination were very competitive and the admission rates extremely low. A total of about 270,000 people were admitted to Class 77, with an admission rate of 4.8%, the lowest level in the history of China's college entrance examination; 400,000 people were admitted to Class 78, admission rate 6.6%, which is also very low. [3][2]
The classmates had a wide range of ages and social experiences. When entering university, the oldest students were over 35 years old and the youngest only 15. There were teachers and students taking the college entrance examination together, mothers and daughters going to college at the same time, some were teenagers, and some were parents of several children. [1][6] In the college entrance examination in 1977 and 1978, due to the short preparation time, the candidates' original knowledge was particularly important. For those who were finally admitted, in addition to intellectual factors, non-intellectual factors also play a certain role. In an era when the theory that "reading is useless" is prevalent, they still insisted on reading. Moreover, after going to college, they cherished the hard-won learning opportunities even more. [3]
A higher proportion of students were from intellectual families. According to a study by Xiamen University, among the students in the grades of 1977 and 1978, the proportions of intellectual family background reached 25.38% and 23.46% respectively, a record high and much higher than the 6.2% in 1965 (the year before the Cultural Revolution), and 9.83% in 1976 (when worker-peasant-soldier students were admitted to colleges based on recommendations from their units rather than academic entrance exams). In 1977 and 1978, the proportions of students from peasant families were 11.93% and 11.27% respectively,Шаблон:Efn the lowest in history, while in 1965 and 1976 they were 47.05% and 26.08% respectively. [3]
The "political review" was looser than in previous years. After the academic tests and the physical examination were passed, the candidate must pass a political review to check the personal political performance and family background, including whether any relatives had political and historical problems. The "political review" in 1977 was looser than in previous years, but still many students failed. Political review was further relaxed in 1978, and many candidates who re-took the exam in 1978 successfully entered university. [2]
In the Class of 1977 there still existed a small number of students recommended to enter colleges. By the time of the Class of 1978, there were no more recommended students. Candidates in 1977 did not know their college entrance examination scores, but candidates in 1978 could see their scores. There were fewer subjects available for students to select from in 1977, and many new subjects were added in 1978. There were also many majors with very limited enrollments in 1977 but greatly expanded in 1978. [2]
Compared with other college students, Class 77 and Class 78 also have some common disadvantages, such as poor basic knowledge learnt from primary and secondary schools. During the Cultural Revolution, middle school study was shortened from 6 years to 4 years (2 years for junior high schools and 2 years for senior high schools), and primary school was shortened from 6 years to 5 years. The knowledge students learned was very limited. The famous Tang poetry, Song lyrics and Western literature were basically eliminated from Chinese language textbooks. Mathematics, physics and chemistry courses were replaced by "Basic Industrial Knowledge" and "Basic Agricultural Knowledge". History and geography were not taught at all. As for English, many places did not offer this course until high school. Students learned the 26 letters and a few words rarely used in modern English, such as "poor and lower-middle peasants" (貧下中農), "worker-peasant-soldier students" (工農兵學員) and "comrade" (同志). [3]
After graduation
270,000 students of Class 1977 graduated from 1980 to 1984 (the duration of junior college education was generally 3 years, and some students graduated early due to urgent needs from the society; while undergraduate study in medical school normally took 5 to 6 years). The Class of 1978 was only half a year later than the Class of 1977, with 400,000 students graduating. At that time, China's Reform and opening up was in full swing. [4][3]
After graduation, except for a few belonging to the plan of "Commune-come-commune-back", Шаблон:Efn the students were uniformly assigned by the government to different jobs according to national plans (taking into account the students' wishes). Even so, most of them got good jobs because the entire country, especially big cities and big companies, was in desperate need of talents. [4]
Later, due to the high success rate of the Classes of 77 and 78, the society gave them the nicknames "Gold 77 and Silver 78". These college students have gathered the elites among young people in the past 13 years, so it is not surprising that talents were relatively concentrated. A large number of leading figures have emerged from these two groups in various fields including politics, science, and business. People saw more and more members of the Classes of 1977 and 1978 in China's top leadership groups of the party and government, and called it the "77 and 78 phenomenon" in Chinese politics. [1]
Retirements began in the early 2000s for the Classes of 77 and 78, and due to the large range of ages and careers, their retirements will last for quite a few years. [3]
Notable members
- Li Keqiang (Class of 1977)
- Li Qiang（Class of 1978）
- Wang Huning (1978 postgraduate)
- Ding Xuexiang (1978）
- Wang Yi (1977)
- Liu Xiaobo (1977)
- Zhang Yimou (1977)
- Xiong Xiaoge (1977)[8]
See also
Notes
References
External links
- Relive history with 'Examination 1977' (a film in memory of the exam)
- 77级 (Class of 1977) (from Wikipedia Chinese version)
- 77-78级 (Class of 1977-1978) (from Wikipedia Chinese version)
- China’s Pioneers: How Peking U’s Class of ’77 Changed China
- 77级、78级大学生的异同 (Similarities and differences between Class 1977 and 1978)
