"An unknown scholar working hard for 10 years becomes a celebrity the moment he passes the imperial examination" - it is a Chinese saying that can still be said to ring true today.

The imperial examination, or Keju, first adopted in the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) and lasting through the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was an exam system through which officials were tested and selected.

Now, there is still a way for students to turn famous overnight - by becoming zhuangyuan, or top scorers of the national college entrance examination that is held from June 7 to 9 every year.

A recent survey put the hundreds of zhuangyuan of the past two decades into the spotlight, by highlighting their grades and educational background.

Titled China's college entrance examination champions 1999-2007, the survey traces 653 zhuangyuan from 30 provinces and regions across the country, from both the liberal arts and sciences, providing information such as academic scores, universities enrolled in, subjects studied and even their high school records.

"The survey aims to provide examinees, parents, educators, researchers and decision-makers with education resource distribution," said Zhao Deguo, editor-in-chief of the China Alumni Association Network, the sponsor of the survey.

About 51.5 percent of the zhuangyuan of 1999 to last year were women, with a rapid increase of women top scorers from 33.8 percent in 1999 to 62.8 percent last year, the survey showed.

"We can expect women champions to dominate in the near future," Zhao said.

Advances in gender equality and the self-improvement of women physically and mentally have helped promote the rise in women zhuangyuan, said Professor Cai Yanhou from Central South University said.

"Today's champions will become the backbone of China's development in 15 to 20 years," Cai said.

However, some have argued that there are downsides to highlighting zhuangyuan, ranking and judging youngsters by their academic scores or the schools they enter.

Zhou Hongsong, a teacher from Hebei Normal University, said it is a pity these practices are still prevalent today.

"Highlighting academic grades and the top scorers of the exam will harm students' self-development and deter the progress of quality education," Zhou said.

"We should instead extol those who have made it big without having gone to the top schools or even obtaining a college diploma," Zhou said.

Li Wenxin, a professor from Wuhan University in Hubei province, said the college entrance exam should be reformed to break away from the idea that academic achievement is "the only standard to assess talent".

"This has hindered the progress of quality-oriented education that was advocated by the Ministry of Education in the late 1990s," Li said.

(China Daily June 19, 2008)