Deng Xiaoping's changes were not only about money. After 1977 his government also changed how young people were educated, how many children families could have, and how people lived and dressed. This lesson looks at those three areas. The economic reforms are covered in the lesson on Deng's economic reforms.
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Unlock This CourseDuring the Cultural Revolution, universities were shut for years and entrance exams were scrapped. When universities reopened in the early 1970s, places went to people chosen for their politics. Teachers and intellectuals had been attacked as enemies.
Deng wanted the skilled scientists and engineers that the Four Modernisations (the plan to modernise farming, industry, defence, and science and technology) needed, so he turned this around. In 1977 the national university entrance exams returned. Places now went to those who did best in the exam, not to those with the right politics. Millions of people sat the first exams, including many older adults who had lost their chance to study during the Cultural Revolution. Only a small share won places, but the exams were seen as fair and gave hope to many young people. Teachers and scholars were treated with respect again, and the slogan was to respect knowledge and respect talent.
From 1978 the government sent students to study in countries such as the United States and Japan. A first small group went to the United States at the end of 1978. They were to learn science, technology and business, and bring the skills home.
Under Mao, China had been cut off from most Western countries. Sending students abroad showed that Deng was willing to learn from the West, though the students were chosen and paid for by the state.
China's population was growing fast, and by the early 1980s it passed one billion. Leaders feared there would not be enough food, housing, schools and jobs, and that the new economic plans would fail. So from 1979 the government set out the one-child policy.
The policy mainly applied to towns and cities. It was enforced in several ways:
There were exceptions. Rules were looser in the countryside, where many families were allowed a second child if the first was a girl, and for some minority groups.
The policy slowed population growth. But it caused great hardship. Many families wanted a son, especially in the countryside, where sons were expected to farm and look after elderly parents. Some girls were abandoned, and many couples were forced to accept abortions. In the long term, China had fewer young people and a growing number of old people to support. The policy was relaxed in 2015.
As China opened its door to the world, westernisation followed. In the late 1970s and 1980s:
People began to buy televisions, fridges and washing machines. Foreign brands appeared, and Coca-Cola went on sale again in 1979.
Many young people swapped plain blue Mao suits for jeans, flared trousers and bright colours. Some wore sunglasses and had their hair permed.
Pop songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as those of the singer Teresa Teng, were played on cassette tapes. Young people also started to dance to Western-style music.
The Party was uneasy. Deng wanted Western money and technology but not Western political ideas, such as multi-party democracy. Some older leaders feared that Western culture would weaken Communist beliefs and the Party's control. In 1983 the Party launched a campaign against spiritual pollution, which attacked Western-style fashion, pop music and writings it called unhealthy. Many people ignored it, and it faded within months, because it threatened to scare off the foreign firms China wanted. Later lessons look at the political protests that followed.
Change: under Mao, universities were closed or controlled by politics, the state first encouraged big families and only from the early 1970s urged couples to marry later and have fewer children, and Western goods and culture were attacked. Under Deng, exams chose students, from 1979 the state set a strict limit on family size, and Western goods and styles spread.
Continuity: the Party still controlled education, kept steering how many children people had, and tried to limit ideas it disliked. Deng changed what people could do in daily life, not who held power.
Explain TWO ways in which entry to Chinese universities after 1977 was different from entry in the years 1966-76. [6 marks]
One way is how students were chosen. In 1966-76 the entrance exams were scrapped, and when universities reopened in the early 1970s, places went to people chosen for their politics. By contrast, from 1977 the national entrance exams returned, so places went to those who did best in the exam.
A second way is how teachers and learning were treated. In the Cultural Revolution, teachers and intellectuals were attacked as enemies and universities were shut for years. Whereas under Deng knowledge was respected again, with the slogan to respect knowledge and respect talent, and universities trained the scientists and engineers needed for the Four Modernisations.
What lifts this to the top level: each way compares both periods directly and gives specific facts about each.
In a similarity or difference question, use words such as “whereas” or “by contrast” and give a fact about both periods in each paragraph. Facts about one period alone cannot score full marks.