Entering ChinaWith the rapid increase in the popularity of higher education, it is no longer difficult for today’s teenagers to be admitted to university.
So, do you know how high school students were admitted to college during the Republic of China? Today, let’s talk about the college entrance examination system during the Republic of China.
First, the abolition of the imperial examination system by the Qing government laid the groundwork for the birth of the university entrance examination in the Republic of China.
When it comes to the entrance examination of universities in the Republic of China, we have to mention the imperial examination system. From the Sui Dynasty onwards, the imperial examination system officially appeared on the stage of history as China’s official selection system. The imperial examination system has been prosperous for more than 1,300 years through six dynasties, including the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. Until the outbreak of the Opium War, China experienced “great changes unseen in 3,000 years”, and the Qing government still did not abolish the imperial examination system.
Above_ Qing Dynasty Imperial Examination Room (Jiangnan Gongyuan)
Above_ The “No. room” of the imperial examination in the Qing Dynasty
However, the outbreak of the Opium War and a series of wars of aggression by foreign enemies forced the Qing government to “open its eyes to the world”, and the subjects of the imperial examination system were out of step with the background of the rapid development of natural and applied sciences in the 19th century. In 1898, the Qing government established the Jingshi University, the predecessor of today’s Peking University. The birth of a new type of school forced the Qing government to adopt a new form of examination. In 1905, the Qing government officially abolished the imperial examination system.
Before the Qing government could formulate a new examination system, the death knell of the Qing government was sounded. Although it is said that the Qing government did not establish a new examination system after abolishing the imperial examination system, the abolition of the imperial examination system by the Qing government laid the groundwork for the admission examination of the Republic of China University.
Above_ The scene of the college entrance examination of the Republic of China
Second, the college entrance examination system of the Republic of China is divided into different stages according to the development of the times:
1. Independent enrollment stage (1912 to 1937), in 1912, the Republic of China was officially born. The government of the Republic of China went through three periods: the Nanjing Provisional Government, the Beijing Beiyang Government and the Nationalist Government. Although the leaders of the government of the Republic of China are constantly changing, and the governing policies are also different, the enrollment of the college entrance examination in the Republic of China has always been independent enrollment for each university.
Of course, in the first stage of independent enrollment of universities in the Republic of China, the government of the Republic of China also organized some national examinations, but the examinations did not take long. After two or three years, the Republic of China resumed a national independent enrollment examination.
Above_ 1923 Peking University Entrance Examination Science and Mathematics Test Paper
Above_ 1931 Shanghai Jiaotong University admissions test questions
2. National unified enrollment during the Anti-Japanese War (1937-1941). In 1937, the Ministry of Education of the National Government established the National Unified Admissions Committee, which was responsible for the unified national college entrance examination. Under the unified leadership of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Zhejiang University and Central University began to implement the national unified examination in 1937. This is the first national joint examination for colleges and universities in China’s history, with a total of 12 examination districts for enrollment. The form of the national unified examination for arts and sciences is not much different from today’s college entrance examination.
Due to the Japanese army launched a full-scale war of aggression against China. From 1937 to 1938, the Japanese army successively occupied Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan and other important cities in the country, Fudan University, Tongji University, Aurora University, St. John’s University and Jiaotong University in Shanghai, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Central University in Nanjing, Peking University and Tsinghua University in Beijing, Nankai University in Tianjin and other universities began an extremely arduous internal relocation work, and these universities successively moved to Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces in the interior. Under the extremely difficult environment of running the school and the bombing of Japanese planes, it retained the “spark of knowledge” for China’s rejuvenation.
Above_ The old building of National Southwest Associated University, National Southwest Associated University, is a comprehensive university that was relocated to Kunming during the Anti-Japanese War
Above_ National Southwest Associated University Students in class
Due to the relocation of many colleges and universities from coastal cities to the interior, coupled with the special environment of the nationwide War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it is no longer possible for colleges and universities to organize admissions examinations independently. The national examination became the mode of enrollment of Chinese colleges and universities from the early to the middle of the Anti-Japanese War.
During the unified holding of the national college entrance examination, the Ministry of Education also adopted many flexible methods to recruit students. One of these admissions methods is called “guaranteed exemption”: excellent students are sent directly to universities. At that time, secondary schools throughout the country had the right to send students to university.
3. After 1942, the national unified examination stopped, and the Ministry of Education launched the entrusted enrollment and joint enrollment system, and the Ministry of Education divided the country into corresponding examination areas, and designated public or private colleges to use a paper, which was led by a university to implement the joint examination.
Above_ National Tsinghua University during the Republic of China
Third, the content of the college entrance examination in the Republic of China is different in different historical periods and cannot be generalized.
In 1913, Peking University came to Shanghai to enroll students, and Mao Dun, a famous writer in China, applied for Peking University, and the subjects of Peking University were Chinese (called Mandarin at that time) and English.
The examination of Peking University is the representative of liberal arts universities during the Republic of China, while Tsinghua University is the representative of the examination of science universities. In 1931, Tsinghua University enrolled students in five public subjects: Party Righteousness (equivalent to today’s ideology and politics), Chinese, English, Chinese History, and Western History, and the elective subjects were Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Ethics.
The Yenching University exam has common subjects: Chinese, Mathematics and English, and the optional subjects are Physics, Chemistry and Biology, choose one of the three.
Above_ In 1933, Tsinghua University entrance examination questions during the Republic of China
In 1940, a unified national entrance examination system was implemented, and the examination content of each university was unified nationwide. The examination subjects are divided into compulsory courses and elective courses, the compulsory courses are civics, Chinese, English and biology, and the elective courses are divided into arts and sciences according to the major candidates apply for.
For example, there are comprehensive papers in mathematics, history, geography and science for liberal arts majors, and mathematics, physics, chemistry and liberal arts for science majors.
Although the Republic of China College Entrance Examination is divided into arts and sciences, the content of the examination for arts and sciences includes both science and liberal arts, but the emphasis is different. There is a comprehensive paper in science for liberal arts, and a comprehensive paper for liberal arts in science. In this way, the college entrance examination of the Republic of China can cultivate talents with all-round development. I have to admit that this college entrance examination system is an epoch-making progress compared with the imperial examination system that only examines the four books and five classics.
Above_ Wen Yiduo (November 24, 1899 – July 15, 1946), his real name is Wen Jiahua, and his name is Yousan
Fourth, in the Republic of China examination, scores were very important admission criteria. But it is not the only criterion, if the candidate has special talents or qualities, the school will take measures to make an exception for admission.
For example, Wen Yiduo, when he was admitted to Tsinghua University, his other classes were very average, but his composition was very good, and the teachers at Tsinghua University were satisfied, so he admitted Wen Yiduo to Tsinghua University. Later, Wen Yiduo became the head of the Chinese department at Qingdao University, and in a similar way, he admitted Zang Kejia, a famous poet in modern Chinese history.
Zang Kejia did very poorly in mathematics, but he wrote a good essay, and he wrote the central idea of the essay in only three or four sentences. Wen Yiduo gave Zang Kejia a high score of 98 points in Chinese and admitted Zang Kejia to study in the Chinese Department of Qingdao University.
This is called eclectic talent!
Of course, it must be pointed out that due to the extremely low level of education as a whole, only a small number of children from official families and scholarly families in the Republic of China can afford to go to university. Until today, colleges and universities have become universal, and only the children of ordinary Chinese people, including peasants, can enter universities for further study.
