The World of Higher Education Inside the Gaokao: China’s Defining Test with Ruixue Jia
6 snips
Oct 30, 2025 Ruixue Jia, professor of economics at UC San Diego and co-author of The Highest Exam, explores the Gaokao’s long history from imperial roots to its modern scale. She discusses how provincial quotas and hierarchy shape access. She compares China’s exam-driven system with US admissions and considers future pressures like demographics and AI.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Exams As A Tool Of State Building
- China’s imperial exam system was designed to recruit talent from commoner families whose loyalty would be to the emperor rather than aristocratic clans.
- Over centuries the exam content changed but the core governance mechanism of meritocratic selection endured.
Meritocracy Survived Regime Change
- After the imperial exams were abolished in 1905, China reinstated meritocratic selection because the state needed a governance mechanism to find talent.
- The exam survived as a governance institution even as its content shifted toward modern subjects.
Mao’s Personal History Shaped Policy
- Mao admired intellectuals in his youth and worked at Peking University’s library, shaping his complex view of merit and exams.
- Personal experiences of leaders influenced their later policy choices about examinations.
