DISCUSSIONS on the essay topics of this year’s gaokao, China’s National College Entrance Examination, have dominated Chinese social media with more than 360 million views and comments Tuesday, the first day of the exam. The essay topic based on the plot from the famous Chinese classical novel “The Dream of the Red Chamber” was considered by netizens as one of the most difficult.

The essay required gaokao takers to decide the theme based on their understanding of the reading material, a plot from “The Dream of the Red Chamber.”

The plot is about giving names to a pavilion in the newly-built Daguanyuan garden, where the visiting daughter of the Jia family — now a concubine to the emperor — would be staying. One person directly quoted the words from a famous ancient text. Another chose a name based on the antique prose but took into consideration of the environment of the pavilion. A third came up with a name that not only depicted the beautiful environment of the pavilion but also implied the joyful occasion of the Jia daughter’s visit, and he used his own words instead of quoting from classics.

Netizens found the essay topic challenging because one needs to first understand the meaning of the three names given to the pavilion, which were expressions from classical Chinese literature and involved Chinese aesthetics, and then choose the theme from the reading material, which seems to provide no further clues.

Experts agreed that using the plot of “The Dream of the Red Chamber” as the essay prompt is creative and makes it difficult for students to come up with a theme.

Wang Hongtu, professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature in Fudan University, said the reading material did not say which name was finally chosen, leaving open different possibilities, which can inspire students to observe and consider things from different perspectives with an open mind.

The students of Guangdong Province had to write an essay based on clues that compared a regular move, a creative move and a bad move in the game of Go.

Beijing, Tianjin and Zhejiang students were given different essay topics, with the Beijing test winning the most likes from netizens.

Beijing students were required to write a short paragraph based on one of three clues and then a longer essay choosing from two topics either on their understanding of continuous learning or their experiences of “living online” during the pandemic.(Global Times)