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On June 7， Xinhua News Agency published an article on its website on how the essay topics of the gaokao， the national college entrance examination， mirror the changes in China. The following is an edited version of it：
With this year’s national college entrance exam， which took place on June 7-8， Gan Fubao has collected all 40 exam papers since the test was resumed in 1977.
The 70-year-old from Nanchang， capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province， holds a deep affection for the exam， known as the gaokao in Chinese.
The entrance exam was disrupted by the“cultural revolution” （1966-76） and its reintroduction by then leader Deng Xiaoping was a clear signal that the times had changed.
Gan started to collect the papers when he sat the exam in 1977. After passing the gaokao， he was admitted in Jiangxi University to study physics and bid farewell to his life as a factory worker. After graduation， he became an engineer.
In addition to his hobby of collecting exam papers， Gan likes pondering on the themes， especially the essay topics， which he regards as a mirror reflecting a changing China over the decades.
“Each essay topic represents the characteristics of the time，” he said.
Unforgettable memory
During the initial years after the resumption of the gaokao， the topics students were asked to write about were highly political.
Liu Xiang， editor in chief of a magazine， still remembers the essay he wrote when taking the gaokao in 1977.
“The topic was An Unforgettable Day，”he recalled. He wrote about the downfall of the “Gang of Four，” a disgraced political faction composed of four offi cials that came to prominence during the “cultural revolution.”
“If they had remained in power， I might have still been a farmer in my village with no chance to take the college entrance exam，”he said.
Liu， 59， graduated from middle school in 1975. After graduation， he worked fi rst as a trac- tor driver and then as a village teacher.
He had expected to continue on that path until October 1977， when he heard in a news broadcast that China would resume the gaokao system. Liu saw an opportunity to change his fate.
“In my essay， I elaborated on the significance of the crushing of the ‘Gang of Four’ and expressed my joy at being able to sit such an important exam，” he said.
After talking with his fellow examinees， Liu learned that most of them had either written about the same day， or the day when Chairman Mao Zedong died. In that year， the topic for Beijing students was My Revolutionary Year， while for students in northeast China’s Jilin Province， it was A Great Success： the Unforgettable October 1976. In the following year， the topic was The Problem of Speed is a Problem of Politics.
“Such topics closely reflected the era，”Li Shanfeng， Chairman of the Shandong Provincial Sociological Association， said.“Although the ‘cultural revolution’ was over， highly politicized topics did not go away overnight.”
After the beginning of the reform and opening-up program， the economy became increasingly important. That change could also be seen in the essay topics.
Ma Yanwen， a Chinese language teacher at a middle school in east China’s Shandong Province， remembers that students were asked to write a letter to the Guangming Daily to talk about pollution in 1985. In 1986， the topic was Trees， Forests and the Climate.
“While economic development was at the center of government work， people began to think about the environment，” Ma said.
Topics became increasingly diversified in the 1990s， when the old values were challenged.
Shi Jing， a teacher at an experimental middle school in Shandong， remembers that the 1994 essay topic was An Attempt， a student wrote about a romance in school. “At that time teenage romance was not allowed， so the essay was given only 25 points，” Shi said.
The article was then passed to Song Suiliang， head of the team marking the exam papers. Song liked it. “Falling in love is one of the biggest endeavors of one’s life，” he noted， giving it the full 50 points.
In the following years， greater importance was attached to students’ inner thoughts and beliefs. In 2001， the topic was Honesty. In 2002， it was The Choice of the Heart， and in 2004， students in Beijing were asked to write about Tolerance.
In recent years， the topics have become closer to life with the distinct characteristics of the times.
New media meets gaokao
In 2015， one topic was extracted from Weibo， a Twitter-like platform， where a daughter reported her father’s illegal use of a mobile phone while driving sparked controversy.
This year， one topic was to choose two to three keywords to help foreign youth understand China， such as the Belt and Road， giant pandas， Chinese cuisine， the Great Wall， shared bikes， air pollution， high-speed rail or mobile payment.
Other topics were My Gaokao or The Gaokao in My Eyes， chosen to mark the 40th anniversary of the resumption of the exam.
Xia Xuelan， a sociologist at Peking University， said the gaokao essay topics have changed from larger issues to more specifi c topics focusing on students’ daily lives and feelings.
Liu began writing about the exams 20 years ago. “The gaokao is always improving，” he said.“In spite of its imperfections， it has changed the course of our country and the fates of a myriad of people.”
With this year’s national college entrance exam， which took place on June 7-8， Gan Fubao has collected all 40 exam papers since the test was resumed in 1977.
The 70-year-old from Nanchang， capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province， holds a deep affection for the exam， known as the gaokao in Chinese.
The entrance exam was disrupted by the“cultural revolution” （1966-76） and its reintroduction by then leader Deng Xiaoping was a clear signal that the times had changed.
Gan started to collect the papers when he sat the exam in 1977. After passing the gaokao， he was admitted in Jiangxi University to study physics and bid farewell to his life as a factory worker. After graduation， he became an engineer.
In addition to his hobby of collecting exam papers， Gan likes pondering on the themes， especially the essay topics， which he regards as a mirror reflecting a changing China over the decades.
“Each essay topic represents the characteristics of the time，” he said.
Unforgettable memory
During the initial years after the resumption of the gaokao， the topics students were asked to write about were highly political.
Liu Xiang， editor in chief of a magazine， still remembers the essay he wrote when taking the gaokao in 1977.
“The topic was An Unforgettable Day，”he recalled. He wrote about the downfall of the “Gang of Four，” a disgraced political faction composed of four offi cials that came to prominence during the “cultural revolution.”
“If they had remained in power， I might have still been a farmer in my village with no chance to take the college entrance exam，”he said.
Liu， 59， graduated from middle school in 1975. After graduation， he worked fi rst as a trac- tor driver and then as a village teacher.
He had expected to continue on that path until October 1977， when he heard in a news broadcast that China would resume the gaokao system. Liu saw an opportunity to change his fate.
“In my essay， I elaborated on the significance of the crushing of the ‘Gang of Four’ and expressed my joy at being able to sit such an important exam，” he said.
After talking with his fellow examinees， Liu learned that most of them had either written about the same day， or the day when Chairman Mao Zedong died. In that year， the topic for Beijing students was My Revolutionary Year， while for students in northeast China’s Jilin Province， it was A Great Success： the Unforgettable October 1976. In the following year， the topic was The Problem of Speed is a Problem of Politics.
“Such topics closely reflected the era，”Li Shanfeng， Chairman of the Shandong Provincial Sociological Association， said.“Although the ‘cultural revolution’ was over， highly politicized topics did not go away overnight.”
After the beginning of the reform and opening-up program， the economy became increasingly important. That change could also be seen in the essay topics.
Ma Yanwen， a Chinese language teacher at a middle school in east China’s Shandong Province， remembers that students were asked to write a letter to the Guangming Daily to talk about pollution in 1985. In 1986， the topic was Trees， Forests and the Climate.
“While economic development was at the center of government work， people began to think about the environment，” Ma said.
Topics became increasingly diversified in the 1990s， when the old values were challenged.
Shi Jing， a teacher at an experimental middle school in Shandong， remembers that the 1994 essay topic was An Attempt， a student wrote about a romance in school. “At that time teenage romance was not allowed， so the essay was given only 25 points，” Shi said.
The article was then passed to Song Suiliang， head of the team marking the exam papers. Song liked it. “Falling in love is one of the biggest endeavors of one’s life，” he noted， giving it the full 50 points.
In the following years， greater importance was attached to students’ inner thoughts and beliefs. In 2001， the topic was Honesty. In 2002， it was The Choice of the Heart， and in 2004， students in Beijing were asked to write about Tolerance.
In recent years， the topics have become closer to life with the distinct characteristics of the times.
New media meets gaokao
In 2015， one topic was extracted from Weibo， a Twitter-like platform， where a daughter reported her father’s illegal use of a mobile phone while driving sparked controversy.
This year， one topic was to choose two to three keywords to help foreign youth understand China， such as the Belt and Road， giant pandas， Chinese cuisine， the Great Wall， shared bikes， air pollution， high-speed rail or mobile payment.
Other topics were My Gaokao or The Gaokao in My Eyes， chosen to mark the 40th anniversary of the resumption of the exam.
Xia Xuelan， a sociologist at Peking University， said the gaokao essay topics have changed from larger issues to more specifi c topics focusing on students’ daily lives and feelings.
Liu began writing about the exams 20 years ago. “The gaokao is always improving，” he said.“In spite of its imperfections， it has changed the course of our country and the fates of a myriad of people.”