News & Analysis
Comment
chipmonk
While one admires the way China has developed since the demise of Mao in 1976 ( ...
me
I congratulate Junko and EE Times for bringing real discussions on China. It ...
Yoshida in China: Cultural rev survivors leap forward
Junko Yoshida
10/1/2012 11:55 AM EDT
China's daredevils
Against that backdrop, the first post-Cultural Revolution national college entrance exam in 1977 was a genuinely historic moment in China.
A flood of applicants eager to be educated and study at any risk emerged. ("They had no idea at that time if the college education might be banned again," according to my friend). No age limit was placed on candidates. As many as 5.7 million people reportedly sought to take the exam, among whom only 272,971 students were admitted for entrance.
This means that if you are meeting someone Chinese who entered the university in 1977/78, you are, in fact, looking at one of those elite 272,971. These are people who, literally, risked their lives for the sake of a higher education.
Dongmin Chen, a dean in Peking University’s (PKU) school of innovation and entrepreneurship, turns out to be one of these daredevils.
When I popped the question (“which year did you enter the university?”) during my recent interview with him, Chen answered: 1977.
Chen (left) was a farmer before entering the university. He subsequently, took the prestigious CUSPEA (China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application) exam, and came to the United States.
The CUSPEA, created by the Chinese-American physicist and Nobel Laureate Tsung-Dao Lee at Columbia University, offered--between 1979 and 1989--an alternative graduate school admission procedure to students from China whose higher education system was still recovering from the Cultural Revolution. Each year, CUSPEA picked about 100 students and shipped them to graduate schools in the U.S. and Canada.
Chen, after his 15 years as Senior Rowland Fellow at Harvard University and ten years of entrepreneurial experience working for three startups (chief scientist at 4DS; founder/CTO at Miradia; one-year stint at Memsic) in the United States, recently returned to China and now teaches at Peking University. Chen’s biggest passion today is to promote a new initiative called the “Open Innovation Platform” under university sponsorship.
The platform is boldly designed to break many old molds in China, and challenge traditional Chinese thinking. If the generation of Chinese who entered the university in 1977/78 are indeed the innovative thinkers and risk takers as my friend implies, Chen will be one of the leaders who eventually brings change to the high-tech and science communities in China.
Of course, a one-man initiative doesn’t become a "movement" unless the man can marshal the support of the industry and community. This is Chen’s challenge, but it’s hardly greater than the one he faced when decided he wanted to go to college.
Related stories:
Against that backdrop, the first post-Cultural Revolution national college entrance exam in 1977 was a genuinely historic moment in China.
A flood of applicants eager to be educated and study at any risk emerged. ("They had no idea at that time if the college education might be banned again," according to my friend). No age limit was placed on candidates. As many as 5.7 million people reportedly sought to take the exam, among whom only 272,971 students were admitted for entrance.
This means that if you are meeting someone Chinese who entered the university in 1977/78, you are, in fact, looking at one of those elite 272,971. These are people who, literally, risked their lives for the sake of a higher education.
Dongmin Chen, a dean in Peking University’s (PKU) school of innovation and entrepreneurship, turns out to be one of these daredevils.
When I popped the question (“which year did you enter the university?”) during my recent interview with him, Chen answered: 1977.
Chen (left) was a farmer before entering the university. He subsequently, took the prestigious CUSPEA (China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application) exam, and came to the United States.
The CUSPEA, created by the Chinese-American physicist and Nobel Laureate Tsung-Dao Lee at Columbia University, offered--between 1979 and 1989--an alternative graduate school admission procedure to students from China whose higher education system was still recovering from the Cultural Revolution. Each year, CUSPEA picked about 100 students and shipped them to graduate schools in the U.S. and Canada.
Chen, after his 15 years as Senior Rowland Fellow at Harvard University and ten years of entrepreneurial experience working for three startups (chief scientist at 4DS; founder/CTO at Miradia; one-year stint at Memsic) in the United States, recently returned to China and now teaches at Peking University. Chen’s biggest passion today is to promote a new initiative called the “Open Innovation Platform” under university sponsorship.
The platform is boldly designed to break many old molds in China, and challenge traditional Chinese thinking. If the generation of Chinese who entered the university in 1977/78 are indeed the innovative thinkers and risk takers as my friend implies, Chen will be one of the leaders who eventually brings change to the high-tech and science communities in China.
Of course, a one-man initiative doesn’t become a "movement" unless the man can marshal the support of the industry and community. This is Chen’s challenge, but it’s hardly greater than the one he faced when decided he wanted to go to college.
Related stories:
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
dylan.mcgrath
10/1/2012 5:19 PM EDT
This is a really insightful piece about something I was totally unaware of. I'll keep this question in my back pocket to use going forward.
Sign in to Reply
junko.yoshida
10/1/2012 5:45 PM EDT
Thanks, Dylan. I hadn't thought about this either... largely because we all sort of avoid talking about Cultural Revolution when we meet with Chinese executives. But if you put things in the historical context, it makes a lot of sense.
I just can't imagine any time of the history, anywhere, when one had to be not only so smart but so courageous -- to actually "think about" going to college...
Sign in to Reply
rick.merritt
10/1/2012 10:10 PM EDT
"Life and Death in Shanghai" by Nien Cheng is one of my favorite books on the Cultural Revolution.
I often think what amazing progress in technology I have seen in the U.S. in my lifetime. And I often forget what progress China has made overcoming this dark period not so long ago.
Sign in to Reply
Gil Russell
10/2/2012 3:01 AM EDT
Nice piece Junko and good guidance on histrionics...,
Sign in to Reply
nosubject
10/2/2012 10:44 AM EDT
Junko, good article.
History context is very important to understand the real reasons of some big movements. e.g. why Moses lead Israel out of Egypt, how the Great Depression lead to WWII. In fact, put into the history context, even Mao started the Cultural Revolution become reasonable.
China is not lack of innovative. To be more accurate, the infrastructure for big innovation is a little short yet.
Sign in to Reply
me
10/2/2012 12:02 PM EDT
I congratulate Junko and EE Times for bringing real discussions on China. It will be the most important market for EE's.
China is the only country where a guy gave up his kidney for an iPhone. They are a vain, unsophisticated, and rich people. It is a marketeer's paradise.
Go West, young man, go West, and don't let the ocean stop you.
Sign in to Reply
chipmonk
10/2/2012 12:06 PM EDT
While one admires the way China has developed since the demise of Mao in 1976 ( the significant event prior to the re opening of Chinese Universities that Junko should have mentioned ) it is foolish of us to ignore the fact that this has happened at the expense of American prosperity. Sure the first 15 years of China trade benefited even the lower income groups here ( Wal Mart shoppers ) but now China casts its large shadow over all other than the 1 % who have profited by outsourcng and siphoning off US technology & competitiveness to China and then used their new billions to buy hedge funds & political protection.
Sign in to Reply