本站原创WhenLinXueliangtookthegaokao(universityentranceexam)in1955,studentsdidnothetheoptiontochoosetheirownmajors―thatprivilegewasnotextendeduntilafter
theearly1960s.Lin,whoisnowateacherinHubeiProvince,justtooktheexamandwastoldhehadbeenacceptedbyHuazhongNormalUniversity(Normaluniversitiestrainstudentstobeeteachers).ThenationwidelistofuniversityfreshmenwaslaterpublishedinthePeople’sDailynewspaper,andthatwashowLindiscoveredhehadbeenselectedtostudybiology.Hecutoutthescrapofpaperwithhisnameonitandheadedofftothecollegetoregister.
In1966,theCulturalRevolutionbegan,andarevolutionaryfrenzyengulfedthenation.Thegaokaowascanceledandwasnotreinstateduntilmorethanadecadelater,in1977.Forthatfirstbatchofpost-CulturalRevolutionstudentsandthosewhoimmediatelyfollowedthem,math,physicsandchemistry―oftenreferredtoasshulihua(数理化)―werethemostrespectedmajors.
Duringthattime,beingworkingclasswasstilldeemedthemostdesirablesocialstatus,andthemosteligiblebachelorswereworkersandsoldiers.WhenHuangMingjiangraduatedfromhighschoolin1977,hepickedchemistryoverEnglish―theonlytwomajorsailabletochoosefrominhisschool―explainingasthebasisofhisreasoningthat“ifIstudiedchemistry,Icouldworkinafactory.”
AndthenthereisthetaleofthemathematicianChenJingrun(陈景润),oneofthemostidolizedpeopleofthatdecade,whosestorycapturedtheimaginationofagenerationofyoungsters.CheniamouorhisworkonanunsolvedmathematicalproblemknownasGoldbach’sConjecture,aswellas“Chen’stheorem,”apaperhepublishedin1966.HeremainedobscureuntilagroupofforeignexpertsaskediftheycouldmeethimaspartofisittoChinain1978.
Shortlyaftertheirmeeting,famouswriterandpoetXuChi(徐迟)wroteupChen’sstory,thepiecewaspublishedinboththePeople’sDailyandtheGuangmingDaily,twoofthemostinfluentialstate-runnewspapers.XuportrayedChenasagenius,untroubledbymaterialhardshipandinsensitivetotheprospectofpoliticalpersecution.Xu’sstoryservedtoredefinethenation’simageofwhatadesirablemanshouldbelike―athin,bespectaclednerdwhowassoabsorbedinhisownworldthathewouldwalkintoastreetlampandapologizetoit.
ChenbecamenolessanidolthanTaiwanesepopstarletTeresaTeng,andintheprocess,sodidmath.Oneofthemostfamousquoteromthestoryread:“Mathisthequeenofallsciences.Thecrownofmathiaththeory.Goldbach’sConjectureisthepearlinthatcrown.”Hispopularity,binedwithDengXiaoping’scallforyoungpeopleto“marchforwardtowardsthemodernizationofthesciences,”producedasloganthatcanstillbeheardinschoolstoday:“Learnmath,physicsandchemistrywell,andyoucanwalkaroundtheworldwithoutfear”(学好数理化,走遍天下都不怕.Xu9h2osh&l@hu3,z6ubi3nti`nxi3d4ub%p3).
WangYunlai,nowaNanjingUniversityprofessor,recallsinaninterviewwiththeJinlingEveningNews,that“atthattime,therewaserystrongsenseofdivisionbetweenthestudentsofdifferentmajors.Whenwetookthetrainbackhomeovertheholidays,thosestudyingmath,physicsandchemistryseemedespeciallyproud,whilethoseofothersubjectsweremorehumble,becausetheirmajorsbetrayedtheirpoorperformanceinhighschool.”
For20yearsafterthegaokaowasreinstated,universityandcollegestudentsdidn’tneedtoworrymuchaboutjobs,astheytoo,inmuchthesamewayastheirchoiceofmajor,wereoftenallocatedbythegovernment.YanChunyou,aphilosophyprofessoratBeijingNormalUniversity,recallsthe1980sasanageofinnocenceintermsofacademicchoices.“Asstudents,wedidn’tneedtoworryaboutthefuture,andtheuniversitydidn’tputalotofemphasisonpublishingessays.Allweneededtodowastolearn.”
The’80swerealsoararetimewhenliteratureandphilosophywerevitaltoChinesepeople’sdailylives.PoetslikeGuCheng(顾城)andHaiZi(海子)wereheroes,andpeoplewerefascinatedwiththeworksofwhicheverphilosopherstheycouldfindintranslation:Hegel,SartreandNietzsche,forexample.Inthioreliberalatmosphere,majorslikeliteratureandphilosophybegantoattractanewweoftalentedstudents.
Inthe1980s,chemistrystudentsliketheseataNanjingcollegeweretheenvyoftheirpeers,alongwiththosestudyingmathandphysics.
“InthewakeoftheCulturalRevolution,peoplewereverysensitivetoliteratureandphilosophy.Inthethreeyearsaftertheresumptionofthegaokao,alotofstudentsvoluntarilyappliedtomajorinphilosophy,”Yansays.“Butnowadays,fewstudentsapplytoourdepartment.Wecanonlyrecruitadozenundergraduatestudentseachyear,andmostofthemaretiaojisheng(调剂生,studentstranerredbecausetheirscoreswerenothighenoughforthedepartmentstowhichtheyoriginallyapplied).”
Romanticpatriotiwasanotherinspirationforyoungpeopletolearnphilosophy.YangQunsheng,whostudiedphilosophyatZhongshanUniversityin1978,recallsinamemoirabouthiscampuslifethat“atthattime,thephilosophydepartmentswereseenasthecradleof[future]politicalleaders.Notlongafterweenteredschool,thePartyheldtheThirdSessionofthe11thCentralCommitteeandannouncedtheReformandOpening-Uppolicies.AllmyclasateswereexcitedanddiscussedbothopenlyandinprivatewhereChinawasgoingandwhatwecoulddo.WeallfeltthefutureofChinarestedonourshoulders.”
Butitwasnotlongbeforepragmatitooktheplaceofidealiintermsofchoosingmajors.Inthemid-1980s,asthegovernmentputmoreemphasisonimplementingdemocracyandtheruleoflaw,acareerinthelegalprofessionbegantoappearmorepromising,andeagerstudentsbegantosignupforlawcourses.
Governmentpolicywasalsoinstrumentalinspurringaspikeinthenumberofmajorsthatincludedan“international”element.Towardstheendofthe1980s,asthegovernmentgraduallyrelaxeditscontrolsonexports,thenumberofeconomicandtradedepartmentsinuniversitieushroomed.Bythe1990s,thepetitionforenrollmentin“internationaleconomyandtrade”courseswassointensethatonlythosewiththehighestadmissionscorescouldfindplaces.
Anotherfar-reachingchangeinpolicyoccurredin1998,whenthestatedrasticallyreducedthequotaofgraduatejobsthatitwouldallocatedirectly,rapidlyincreasingthenumberofindependentgraduatejobseekerromjustahandfultoabout70percentofthetotal.Inthesameyear,thegovernmentlaiddownthekuozhao(扩招)policy,whichsignificantlyexpandeduniversityenrollment.In1999,thepopulationofuniversityfreshmenincreasednearly50percentoverthepreviousyear,andwastorisesteadilyintheyearsimmediatelyfollowingthenewpolicy.
Whiletheincreasednumberofplaceseasedthedifficultyofbeingacceptedbyauniversity,itratchetedupthepressureintermsoffindingPhajob.Somemajorsthatappearedpromisingforfuturecareerswhenstudentirstappliedforthememergedasdisastrouschoicesbythetimetheygraduated.
Softwareengineeringwasacaseinpoint.Justbeforekuozhaowasintroduced,itwassucha“hot”majorthatone-thirdofligong(理工scienceandtechnology)studentswereenrolledinmajorsrelatedtosoftwareengineeringandIT,accordingtotheChinaUniversityStudents’CareerGuide.
WhenZhongXiaofeistartedattheengineeringdepartmentofHuazhongScienceandTechnologyUniversityin2000,hireshmanclasswasawho’swhoofstudentswiththehighestgaokaoscores.However,whenhegraduatedin2005,hefoundhimselfamemberofanever-expandingtroopof“ITpeasantworkers(IT民工m！ng4ng).”
Thetermbecameajokingformofself-referenceforthearmyofyoungprogrammersemergingfromChina’suniversities,who,whileusuallywell-paid,routinelywork12hoursadayinordertosafeguardtheirpositionromthehordesofeagergraduatesjustitchingforthechancetotaketheirplaces.
In2010,thenumberofsoftwareengineeringstudentswaourtimesthatof2004,andby2011,thereweremorethan1,000universitiesandcollegeswithsoftwareengineeringdepartments,accordingtoQiuxue,amagazinethatgivesguidanceonthegaokao.Butthoughthesizeofenrollmentsurged,thequalityofeducationfailedtokeeppace.The“MyCOSBlueBookofEmploymentin2011,”apendiumofstatisticsrelatedtoeducation,warnedstudentsoffstudyingsoftwareengineeringinacollegeforprofessionaltraining(专科学校zhu`nk8xu9xi3o),asopposedtoauniversity,astheywereverylikelytograduatewithoutemployment.Legalstudieswereanothervictimofthekuozhaopolicy.ZhouWanfanggraduatedfromthelawdepartmentofPekingUniversityin2005,andnaturallytriedtofindajobwhereshecouldmakeuseofherdegree,butafterjustafewjobssettleddownasanexecutiveassistant.
“Ifyouwanttostayinthelawbusiness,thepetitionisbrutalandyoungpeoplehetoscratchtheirwayfromtheverybottom,”Zhousays.“Alotofyounglawyersandlegalassistantsarelivingahardlife,earningaboutRMB2,000permonth,andwithnobrightprospects.Onlyahandfuloflawyerscaneventuallybeesuccesul.”ApopularsayingamongChineselawyersisthat80percentofallthewealthinthetradeisgeneratedbyjust20percentofthelawyers.
Math,once“thequeenofallsciences,”wasalsoonthewatchlist“MyCOS.”Theoldpopularsayinghasnowbeenirreverentlyrevised:“Learningmath,physicsandchemistrywellisnotasusefulashingagooddad”(学好数理化,不如有个好爸爸Xu9h2osh&l@hu3,b&r%y6ugeh2ob3ba).
Allofthiakesthechoiceacing15-year-oldWangJinwenallthemoredifficultasshepreparestoenterhighschoolthiall.Sheisalreadyworryingaboutherchoiceofmajor,andisstrugglingtodecidewhatsheshouldaimfor,asshehashadtofocussohardonextrastudies.
“Mysummervacationshealwaysbeentakenupbybuke(补课,extraclasses)―math,physics,English.I’monlygoodatmath,butIwouldn’tsayIloveit,”sheexplains.
Whiletheideaofhingyourmajorandjobchosenforyoumayseemstrange,itcertainlyallowedyoungChinesetogrowupfreeofthesoul-searchingthattormentanyWesternstudentsastheystrivetofindtheirplaceintheworld.Now,therealityoffacingthosetoughchoicesisinghometoanewgenerationofChinese,whoarelegitimatelyaskingthemselvesthesamedifficultquestionsasWang:“I’llonlybean18-year-oldwhenItakethegaokao.HowcanIknowwhatmajorisrightforme”