Class debate in China over high-achieving ‘left-behind child’ who chooses to study archaeology at university
- Online critics say Zhong Fangrong should ignore her dreams and instead choose a more lucrative field to help her climb the social ladder
- Daughter of migrant workers was inspired by esteemed Chinese archaeologist Fan Jinshi who has, in turn, encouraged the young student
Zhong Fangrong, a student in central China’s Hunan province, recently made news headlines for scoring 676 out of 750 on her college entrance exam and taking fourth place in her province. She told the media she would apply for the archaeology major at Peking University, one of the top schools in the country.
Many admired her decision to follow her dreams and sign up for an unpopular major, but many also commented that she would regret choosing an uncompetitive course, instead of using this opportunity to climb higher on the social ladder.
The arts have traditionally been overlooked as a career choice because the job market in China has long favoured talents in finance, science and advanced technology to feed the country‘s rapid economic growth.
“Arts and humanities are too luxurious for someone from an average-income household,” one commenter said on social media platform Weibo.
“For the poor, they should think more about the income brackets of different industries. In this area, majors in humanities and social sciences are at such disadvantage, especially history, philosophy and literature,” another said.
Others questioned whether Zhong was ill-informed, blinded by portrayals of archaeology she had read in books or seen on television.
The comments were a reflection of the societal pressure lower-income families face to climb the social ladder instead of following their dreams.
