Huang Ying

An investigation showed that Chinese youngsters are short of knowledge in Chinese history. The investigation was made among 14-28 year old residents in the four cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan by paying a direct visit to their families.

The average score of 1065 valid questionnaires on Chinese history is 27.69 points if the full mark is 100 points. And only 1.5 percent of all respondents won scores above 60 points.

In this investigation, the average score of respondents who received education in junior colleges or above is only 5.77 points higher than the general average, a sharp contrast from their rich knowledge in modern science and technology and English.

The investigation shows that the school education is still the main channel for Chinese youngsters to learn Chinese history for about 86.9 percent respondents get their history knowledge in classrooms. While the scores show that the 25-28 year old youngsters know less about history than those of the 17-24 age group. It's a strange phenomenon because the former left colleges only a few years ago and they have received higher education than the latter. This should be attributed to the drawbacks entailed from the examination education system.

The investigation also shows that the Chinese youngsters take a great interest in and pay attention to history knowledge but know only a little. Over 70 percent of the respondents expressed their strong interest in history, over 90 percent thought it necessary to learn about the Chinese civilization in history and only about 20 percent considered that they had a good knowledge in Chinese history whereas about 64.3 percent said they should strengthen their knowledge in Chinese history.