Explainer | What does 'xiao zhen zuo ti jia' mean in Chinese?

Over the past few days, I have been talking with some colleagues in mainland China about the concept of "小鎮做題家" (xiao zhen zuo ti jia, literally meaning "small-town swot") and have gotten an idea of the meaning and development of the term. The concept of "小鎮做題家" was born from the "985 Waste Introduction Project" group on Douban (a social networking site in mainland China), which defined themselves with the symbols and labels of "young students from small towns, who studied hard and were good at taking tests, but lacked certain vision and resources". "小鎮 (small town)" is a family origin and social background that young people can't choose, "做題 (doing exercises)" is essentially a mode of competition, and "做題家 (people who are a dab hand at exams )" is inherently the self-perception of this group of "small town youth" who have both superiority and a feeling of helplessness. The deviation of social macro environment guidance, the lack of support of university education ecology, and the innate lack of individual social capital constitute the basic mechanism of the phenomenon of self-deprecation of "小鎮做題家". Most of the members of the group come from rural areas and have graduated or are studying at well-known universities. However, they think that "they can't do anything except studying hard", their knowledge and ability are limited, and they have no elders to guide them, so they will encounter obstacles everywhere after they enter the society. Once the topic was raised, it sparked a heated discussion on the online platform in a short time.

But what really caused the public outrage of 1 billion netizens was the incident of celebrities taking civil service exams in July this year. The news of the entrance of three young actors to the National Theatre has ignited public opinion. The National Theatre of China is the ideal place for numerous performing artists to pursue. People are worried not just about whether these three young actors are competent, but also about whether they are subjected to the same established norms and protocols as regular candidates in the civil service exams. Interestingly, netizens observed that the recruiting procedure did not even contain a written exam, but instead relied on interview results. Some people ask explicitly why stars with sky-high incomes are also squeezing the survival resources of ordinary citizens.

What brought this absurd drama to a climax was an article published by China Newsweek. The article claims: "What else do some netizens complain about celebrities taking civil service exams for? Perhaps it stems from a sense of deprivation. There are plenty of ordinary people who take the civil service exam, and these 'small-town swots' go to classes every day, do the exam papers, and still can't get into that establishment position that will give them a sense of security." The article argues that the "小鎮做題家" was jealous of the celebrity's career and lashed out against the three young actors. The article's overwhelming sense of superiority makes the original self-deprecating phrase "小鎮做題家" full of mockery. Self-deprecation and others' deprecation are never the same things.

Every effort should not be mocked, and they deserve to be recognized for using their own efforts to change their fate. The "小鎮做題家" has a dream to change his or her destiny through reading. In the mountains of Yunnan, Principal Zhang Guimei said, "A girl's study can change three generations"; Dr. Huang Guoping of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said, "To read on and then go out is not a life in vain". They moved the nation, either evoking the power of the value of "reading to change destiny" or showing the romantic dream of "poetry and faraway places". Behind the "小鎮做題家" is a group of Chinese people who believe in "struggle changes fate" and do not give up on themselves in the face of real difficulties. Such efforts should not be mocked.

From the passionate struggle to the helplessness of their own development limitations, the anxiety and confusion of "小鎮做題家" also reflect the educational differences between urban and rural areas, and also ask about the deep meaning of educational equity. To maintain equitable educational opportunities, the first step is to equalize educational resources. Governments and educational administrations at all levels should assume the role of the "main force" and make up for the shortcomings of educational resources through conventional means such as optimization of national decrees, reform in the field of education, accelerated school construction, and deployment of teachers.