ABSTRACT
On 1 October 1949 the People’s Republic of China was formally proclaimed. Since then the study of history has adopted a Marxist approach. History as a school subject has been perceived as essential for education in historical materialism and patriotism. It has always been asserted by the government that education is a political tool for building a strong, socialist state for the Chinese nation. ‘Education must serve socialist construction.’ This resolution was passed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1985 regarding the reform of the educational system, and in fact has been insisted upon ever since the socialist government was established. Though the terms used for different periods have varied, the goal of education has always been to enable the younger generation to become, as Mao once suggested, ‘cultured and socialist-conscious’.
