From the imperial examination to the national college entrance examination: The dynamics of political centralism in China's educational enterprise

Abstract

This paper examines the relationships between political centralism and the Imperial Examination in imperial China and the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) in the People's Republic of China. A brief history of the two systems is given. The purposes, characteristics, strengths and limits of the two systems are discussed. The relationships between the two systems and Chinese education, the relationships between the two systems and Chinese political systems, and the relationships between the two systems and the common people in different historical periods are also discussed. These discussions lead to the understanding that the two systems have served the political needs of both the ruling classes and the commoners (although it has been limited for the latter), and contributed to the continuity of political centralism. The NCEE is still indispensable but it needs reform.