Gaokao reforms could leave Chinese public vulnerable to pseudo-history, top academic warns

China’s secondary school students are dropping history as an exam subject, a trend that could leave the public more vulnerable to distorted narratives in the future, an academic at a top university has warned.

The note of caution comes as Beijing steps up efforts to counter “historical nihilism” – the official term for narratives that contradict or undermine the state’s official historical line – as well as pseudo-history, such as claims that Ancient Greece did not exist.

“History education in secondary schools is an important means of preserving historical, cultural, ethnic and national identity,” said Liu Linhai, dean of the school of history at Beijing Normal University, in a commentary in the state-backed China Teacher Paper.

“Its current weakening and even marginalisation should be a matter of urgent concern for policymakers, who should take coordinated and effective measures to address the structural problems affecting the subject,” Liu wrote.

Authorities in China have become increasingly alert to challenges to the orthodox view of the country’s history.

On Thursday, a newspaper published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ran two front-page pieces framing pseudo-history as a “new variant” of historical nihilism.