Research on Regional Equity in China􀆳s Large-Scale Selection Examinations:A Study Centered on Imperial Examinations and the National College Entrance Examination(NCEE)

Abstract

The imperial examination and the college entrance examination both belong to China􀆳s large-scale selection and examination system, and have played important roles in different historical periods. Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, the sense of regional fairness was initially reflected in the form. of "rural election", but after the establishment of the imperial examination system, the problem of regional fairness gradually worsened and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the emergence of the split-scroll system and the system of taking scholars from different provinces. On the contrary, when the modern college entrance examination was restored, the differences in higher education enrollment opportunities were mainly due to family background and urban/rural origins, and in the early 21st century, such differences began to be reflected at the regional level, and still exist today, for reasons that include both history and reality. On this basis, we adopt a perspective integration approach to compare the similarities and differences between the imperial examination and the college entrance examination in terms of regional equity, and put forward two suggestions for the reform. of the college entrance examination, which are to set a minimum admission ratio for the disadvantaged regions in terms of external support, and to improve the quality of the higher educationresources in the disadvantaged regions in terms of internal development, in order to gradually solve the problem of regional equity in terms of higher education enrollment opportunities in our country.