On August 3, 2025, I had the privilege of attending Zuo You’s PhD defense at the University of Nanjing, under the supervision of Prof. Liang Chen. Dr. Zuo’s thesis, titled 中国科技精英来源与变迁的量化研究(1920—2023) [A Quantitative Analysis of the Origins and Transformations of China’s Scientific and Technological Elites, 1920–2023], offers a fresh perspective on China’s century-long modernization process through a systematic analysis of the origins, education, and career trajectories of its scientific elites.
Drawing on several large-scale databases that he constructed and analyzed, the author traces the shifting geographic, social, and educational backgrounds of these elites, uncovering broader patterns of professional mobility and institutional development. Key conclusions highlight the expansion and democratization of elite origins, the dual pathways of education, and the decisive influence of state policy in shaping elite formation. The work stands out from prior studies by combining rigorous historical contextualization with innovative use of prosopography and quantitative methods. It offers significant insights into the historical dynamics of modernization, social mobility, and knowledge production in 20th- and 21st-century China.
One major originality of Zuo You’s research lies in his decision to compare Chinese university students with academicians, which enabled him to reveal these and other hidden patterns—most notably, the contrasting social and geographical backgrounds of the two groups. His empirical approach relies on big historical data that he built himself, including the Chinese Professional Occupation Dataset – Academicians and Experts (CPOD-AE), which contains more than 5,000 academicians and experts recognized by the China Association for Science and Technology, and the Chinese University Students Dataset (CUSD), constructed in collaboration with the Lee-Campbell Research Group, which includes 130,000 university students from the Republican period and more than 130,000 undergraduates and junior college students admitted to Peking University and Suzhou University after 1950. His longue durée perspective—spanning more than a century and covering major political and social transformations—stands out at a time when historical research has become increasingly specialized and chronologically narrow in scope.
Through his systematic investigation, Dr. Zuo draws at least four fundamental conclusions:
Transformation of Origins – The geographic, socioeconomic, and educational sources of scientific elites have shifted from advantaged to disadvantaged backgrounds, and from concentration to dispersion, thus broadening and optimizing the sources of outstanding Chinese scientific talent.
Dual Channels of Formation – Chinese scientific elites have emerged through two intertwined channels: overseas study and domestic education. The scale of overseas education has consistently and positively correlated with the number of elites produced. Variations in overseas destinations and the objectives of domestic education in different historical periods have led to distinct developmental paths and disciplinary orientations.
Evolving Career Trajectories – The careers of these elites have passed through several stages: initially concentrated in state-run institutions, then shifting to higher education, subsequently moving to research institutes, and ultimately reaching a more balanced distribution between teaching and research roles. These shifts have been accompanied by a steady refinement of national systems for rewarding and supporting scientific and technological elites, reflecting the broader process of China’s modernization.
Differences with University Students – Scientific elites differ notably from university students in their regional and social origins. Regions or social strata that produce a high number of university graduates do not necessarily yield an equivalent proportion of scientific elites—a pattern evident during the Republican period, after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and throughout the Reform and Opening-up era.
The author convincingly argues that the expansion of modern education, national policy orientations, social mobility demands, and their interactions across different historical periods have collectively shaped the origins and evolution of China’s scientific elites. Among these factors, the increase in modern educational resources and the narrowing of regional disparities have had a particularly significant impact on the geographic and social origins of these elites. Meanwhile, state directives and social needs have long played a deep-seated role in shaping their educational paths, careers, awards, funding, and promotions. Furthermore, China’s educational traditions and the popular belief that “knowledge changes destiny” have converged to form a powerful force for upward social mobility, profoundly affecting both the origins and evolution of the country’s scientific and technological elites. These factors are not isolated or independent; rather, they are intricately intertwined, collectively influencing the century-long trajectory of China’s scientific and technological elites in a highly complex process.
Dr. Zuo is one of the most promising Chinese historians of his generation, with solid training in both archival research and data science. The Lyon Institute of East Asian Studies is fortunate that he will join us as a postdoctoral researcher in October. Congratulations, Dr. Zuo, and welcome to Lyon!
Ancienne élève de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (2006), agrégée d'histoire (2009), docteure en histoire (2017), mes travaux portent sur la publicité, l'histoire urbaine, les migrations intellectuelles entre la Chine et les Etats-Unis et les méthodes computationnelles appliquées à la recherche historique. Mes recherches ont reçu le soutien des fondations Chiang Ching-kuo, Coca-Cola, Andrew Mellon (Program DHAsia, Stanford), de l'Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Access ERC, ENS-Lyon) et du Conseil Européen de la Recherche (projet ENP-China, Aix-Marseille).
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante : Cécile Armand (10 août 2025). Congratulations, Dr. Zuo! ADVERTISING HISTORY. Consulté le 8 novembre 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/14gym
Ancienne élève de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (2006), agrégée d'histoire (2009), docteure en histoire (2017), mes travaux portent sur la publicité, l'histoire urbaine, les migrations intellectuelles entre la Chine et les Etats-Unis et les méthodes computationnelles appliquées à la recherche historique. Mes recherches ont reçu le soutien des fondations Chiang Ching-kuo, Coca-Cola, Andrew Mellon (Program DHAsia, Stanford), de l'Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Access ERC, ENS-Lyon) et du Conseil Européen de la Recherche (projet ENP-China, Aix-Marseille).