Today, 9.4 million students across the country are celebrating their first major exams. This is the 41st national college entrance examination since the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977.
In the past 40 years, the college entrance examination has influenced and changed the fate of several generations, and has become the most important and unforgettable memory of countless life destinies.
In December 1977, 5.7 million people from different backgrounds, from their teens to their thirties, walked into the examination hall together to take the college entrance examination, which had been interrupted for 10 years. 270,000 people went to college, their fate changed, and China quietly changed.
Today, the book reviewer jun and everyone, from the lens to know a few 1977/1978 college entrance examination students, listen to them talk about the significance of the college entrance examination.
△ 1977 college entrance examination admission ticket. (Remake)
College entrance examination 1977
"The moment I opened my acceptance letter was the happiest moment of my life."
——Meng Xiaosu
△ In 1975, Meng Xiaosu took a photo as a worker in the tool branch of the Beijing Automobile Manufacturing Plant. (Remake)
Candidate's name: Meng Xiaosu
College entrance examination time: 1977
Admission school: Peking University
△ In 1978, Meng Xiaosu took a photo in the Yuanmingyuan. (Remake)
Meng Xiaosu is a well-known scholar and entrepreneur.
In 1977, at the age of 28, Meng Xiaosu was admitted to peking university to major in journalism at the department of Chinese, becoming one of the first college students after the Cultural Revolution. With Meng Xiaosu, there are 32-year-old "big brothers" and 16-year-old fresh graduates.
Most of them have experienced the tribulations of history, and in the wave of reform in the 1980s, they have joined the country in emancipating their minds, opening their eyes to the world, and eagerly embracing new ideas and new knowledge.
△ May 5, 2017, Meng Xiaosu. Photo / Beijing News reporter Pu Feng
"The college entrance examination changes fate, and the world of life is wide."
——Liu Haifeng
△ In 1978, Liu Haifeng was photographed at the entrance of Xiamen University. (Remake)
Candidate's name: Liu Haifeng
College entrance examination time: December 16, 1977
Admission school: Xiamen University
△ Liu Haifeng's collection of two graduation commemorative books. Photo / Beijing News reporter Guo Yanbing
Liu Haifeng is the dean of the Institute of Education and research expert of xiamen University.
After graduating from high school in 1976, he went to the countryside and in 1977, one in 270,000 of the first batch of college students admitted after resuming the college entrance examination.
In the past 40 years, Liu Haifeng has gone from participating in the college entrance examination to studying the college entrance examination. He drilled into the "old paper pile" to "rehabilitate" the imperial examination system and argue with the radical faction advocating the abolition of the college entrance examination.
△ May 4, 2017, Liu Haifeng. Photo / Beijing News reporter Guo Yanbing
"The gaokao has changed the lives of me and my generation. Thank you gaokao! ”
--Tang Min
△ Tang Min's graduation group photo. (Remake)
Candidate's name: Tang Min
College entrance examination time: December 10, 1977
Admission school: Wuhan University
△ Tang Min treasures the gift book of his classmates when he graduated. (Remake)
Tang Min has many resounding titles, economist, counselor of the State Council, 50 members of The Chinese economy... Gray-haired, he sat in a café looking back on his life, still seeing 1977 as the starting point for a change of fate.
That year, as one of the first candidates to resume the college entrance examination after the "Cultural Revolution", 25-year-old Tang Min was admitted to Wuhan University as he wished.
△ April 29, 2017, Tang Min. Photo / Beijing News reporter Hou Shaoqing
"Return to civilization."
- Watson
△ In 1976, Watson (right) at the factory took a group photo with his junior high school classmates who joined the army and returned home to visit their relatives. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Candidate's name: Watson
College entrance examination time: 1978
School: Nanjing Institute of Technology (now Southeast University)
△ In 1978, Watson was about to leave the factory for the university, and he and his friends took a photo of the separation. (Remake)
Watson, a well-known economist.
Watson, 64, has almost the most complete experience of that generation: going to the mountains and going to the countryside, resuming the college entrance examination, reforming and opening up, studying abroad, returning to business, returning to education, research and reform.
Watson is grateful to the college entrance examination, which gave him the opportunity to change his destiny.
△ May 4, 2017, Watson. Photo / Beijing News reporter Wang Zicheng
"A thousand seedlings, we are fortunate to be that 'one seedling', and we must not forget the fate of most of our peers."
- Lei Yi
△ Lei Yi when he graduated from college. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Candidate's name: Lei Yi
College entrance examination time: July 20, 1978
Admission school: Jilin University
△ Class notes and reading notes during Lei Yi University. Photo / Beijing News reporter Hou Shaoqing
Lei Yi is a famous historian.
In 1978, at the age of 22, Lei Yi changed three identities: from soldier and worker to college student. He said that resuming the gaokao was like suddenly opening a small hole, allowing him to see the beam of light that suddenly shot in at the end of the collapsed tunnel.
He never forgot the exam 40 years ago, which changed his life and The present in China. Over the years, he has not forgotten the fate of most of his peers, let alone his mission as a historian.
△ May 3, 2017, Lei Yi. Photo / Beijing News reporter Hou Shaoqing
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