Mao Was My Neighbour - Yao Zhongda and the “Opening” of Chinese Adult Education - Not a Prophet in His Own Land

Oct 15, 2026

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After Deng Xiaoping’s 1978 reform and opening, adult education in China became visible to foreigners, who encountered Yao Zhongda, chief of the Bureau of Workers’ and Peasants Education. The paper documents his biography from 1921 onward as a crucial corollary of Communist revolution and explains how international adult-education networks engaged his responses. It also analyzes why Beijing scholars and institutions showed limited interest, reframing Yao’s role within globalization, modernization, and 21st-century adult education.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction and purpose

Yao Zhongda’s biography and foreign encounters

Neglect by university scholars and social-system disjunction

Adult education’s shift toward learning society and lifelong learning

Mao was My Neighbour: Yao Zhongda and the “Opening” of Chinese Adult Education Roger Boshier University of British Columbia Abstract After Deng Xiaoping’s 1978 reform and opening, foreigners had a chance to see adult education in China. As a result, many met Yao Zhongda, Chief of the Bureau of Workers’ and Peasants Education. From 1921 onwards, adult education has been a vital corollary of Communist revolution. Although Yao’s biography was extremely relevant to what foreigners saw, few knew much about their host. Yao made enthusiastic responses to Roby Kidd’s efforts to “open” China to the Toronto-based International Council of Adult Education. By 2013, he was 88 years old. The primary purpose of this paper was to capture his biography and reflect on what it means for 21st century China. A secondary purpose was to alert Beijing scholars to the importance of this key actor in the colourful drama of globalization and adult education in China. Key words: Chinese communism; revolutionary adult education; People’s Liberation Army; biography; family; International Council for Adult Education Roger Boshier, Ph.D. is Professor of Adult Education at the University of British Columbia. He has been active in China since the 1980s. His current research interests are: helping authorities build learning villages, districts and cities, university reform, Shanghai "innovation zones" and the plight of rural-urban migrants. Email: [rboshier@mail.ubc.ca](rboshier@mail.ubc.ca) Brock Education Volume 22, No. 2, Spring 2013, pp. 11-27 R. Boshier Mao Was My Neighbour Not a Prophet in His Own Land By 2013, Yao Zhongda was 88 years old, and still an outstanding figure in 20th century Chinese adult education. For many foreigners, Yao was their first contact with China. In contrast, the current inhabitants of the Zhongnanhai leadership compound (at the Forbidden City), along with Chinese university scholars, have been slow to manifest any interest in Yao. He is the Norman Bethune of China, better known abroad than at home. Near his Fengtai apartment building, pile drivers hammer at the pillars of China’s modernization. As the old soldier-turned-cadre ambles up dusty lanes to reach his favourite fruit market, he sees neighbourhood friends and acquaintances but is ignored by university scholars. Ageism explains part of the neglect, but what else? There are three mostly incompatible social systems inside China. First, there is third world China, which depends upon family ties largely beyond official control. Third world China echoes rural life and was reinforced by communes and the hukou residence card system. Second, there is socialist China – the Maoist world built within danwei (former work units) where status depended upon rank. It exists in all cities, but particularly the Northeast. Third, there is newlyindustrializing China, obsessed with markets, exports, money, and progress through competition. Power depends on guanxi (connections) lubricated by cash (Madsen, 2003) . University scholars, particularly in Beijing, are more affiliated with the third than either of the other two social systems. Because of his Hebei childhood, Yao understands life in third world China. He also has links to the other two but no strong affiliation with any, hence, the disjunction between his position and the interest of university scholars. Chinese scholars are increasingly called upon to contribute to newly industrializing China and the quest for modernization. Most universities are being built on commercial imperatives. Although adult education has a very colourful history, it has increasingly been sidelined by training, human resource development (HRD), lifelong learning, or techno-zealotry wherein everyone learns on a computer. In addition, leading Chinese universities are playing in the global rankings game, endeavouring to become “world-class” and ruminating about how to build a learning ethos inside teacher centred pedagogy. Most

FAQs

What was Yao Zhongda’s role in Chinese adult education?

Yao Zhongda served as Chief of the Bureau of Workers’ and Peasants Education, and the paper frames him as a central figure at the apex of Chinese adult education.

How did adult education in China become known to foreigners after 1978?

Following Deng Xiaoping’s 1978 reform and opening, foreigners gained access to adult education in China, leading many to meet Yao Zhongda.

Why did Beijing university scholars show limited interest in Yao Zhongda?

The paper attributes the neglect partly to ageism, and it also connects it to a mismatch between Yao’s understanding of third-world life and the scholarly affiliations to other internal social systems.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Aldword