ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses five major Yuwen syllabus documents and their subsequent revised versions over three decades. Two interrelated aspects of the syllabus documents, major changes in components (structure) and changes in key political and educational discourse, are analysed. The author unravels the nature of the obedience of the Yuwen syllabus, as official curriculum documents, to the Party-State's political ideology and authority. However, it is also argued that the instrumentalism proposed in the syllabus can be interpreted as a cautious resistance to the top-down political domination and intervention. The longitudinal change of the Yuwen syllabus has demonstrated a contour of evolution of the aims of the curriculum: From Mao's literate subjects to high Suzhi (quality) citizens, which is in line with China's socioeconomic shift in the post-Mao era.
