中共建政初期，鑒於國家建設人才的需求，曾致力於高考招生制度的改革。然而，在極「左」思潮的主導下，「反右運動」進化為「文化大革命」，剛起步的高考制度遂宣告中斷。十年「文革」不僅是毛澤東維繫政權的戰術運用，也可說是毛澤東體現個人教育理念的實驗運動。 在「教育要革命」的口號下，高等教育成為教育戰地，學校功能近乎零。為了解決「紅衛兵運動」的爛攤子，中共中央又發起「再教育」運動，掀起另一波知識青年上山下鄉運動的熱潮，但仍然掩飾不了高等教育人才不足的窘境。於是，毛澤東提出〈七二一指示〉，大學又可以復辦招生，但接著「兩個估計」的出爐，卻又將高等教育推向另一個火坑，而在「上、管、改」的口號下，「工農兵大學」並未具備高等教育的功能。 在目睹「文革」時期諸種教育亂象後，周恩來、鄧小平力挽狂瀾，在「九一三事件」之後，試圖進行教育整頓，雖然皆因毛澤東的批鬥而流產，卻在無形之中累積民意，終於在「文革」結束之後開花結果，鄧小平並適時地扮演推波助瀾的角色，完成恢復高考的歷史任務。 After 1949, Communist Party of China tried to improve the National Tertiary Education Entrance Examination in order to recruit manpower for various constructions in contemporary China. Due to the thought of ultra-left trend pervading the then Chinese society, the Anti-Rightist Movement gradually evolved into the Cultural Revolution so that the National Higher Education Entrance Examination was nipped in bud. During the period from 1966 to 1976, the Cultural Revolution was not only Mao’s tactics to maintain his regime but also an experimental movement to embody his thought on education. Due to the slogan “Education needs revolution”, tertiary education became the battlefield of the Cultural Revolution and was therefore paralyzed. In order to restore the order of the utter chaos resulted from the Red Guards, Communist Party of China started the “Reeducation Movement” also named the “Down to the Countryside Movement”, dispatching thousands upon thousands of young intellectuals to the rural areas. Nevertheless, the needs of professional manpower are not completely met. Because the tertiary education was brought to a virtual halt, China soon lacked for qualified manpower and specific technicians. Therefore, Mao’s “721 Directives” in 1968 gave part of higher schools an opportunity to restore in the fields of science and technology. In 1971, the education conference came up with the “two appraisals”, approving the contribution of Cultural Revolution to Chinese society. In “two appraisals”, the proletariat was allowed to enroll in the colleges according to the political review and parentage, to manage colleges and to change colleges; however, the colleges of the proletariat actually didn’t have the function of higher education. Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping attempted to rectify and reform the system of tertiary education after “913 Incident”, but their efforts were thwarted due to the leftists’ criticism and Mao’s denunciation. Finally, the rectification and reformation of the tertiary education was sparked by Deng Xiaoping after the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1977.
