How Did University Schools of Marxism Become "Schools of Deer"?
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Chen Junjie · September 30, 2026 · Source: yuyouzhixiang
Starting from the institutional background and operating logic of today's Schools of Marxism, this article proposes practical reform paths covering faculty admission, teaching reform, research evaluation, and governance. It aims to offer theoretical reference and a practical plan for helping university Schools of Marxism in the new era return to their core identity: "a School of Marxism must be Marxist, and speak as Marxists." The core of "de-deerification" is a systemic reform that moves these schools from formal compliance to genuine education. Reform must go hand in hand with reassigning staff and building institutional capacity, so that responsibilities handed down are not dropped.
"School of Deer" (鹿院) is a mocking online nickname for some university Schools of Marxism (马院).[note 1] It rests on a pun on the idiom "pointing at a deer and calling it a horse" (指鹿为马), and it satirizes the distortions that have appeared in a minority of these schools during their rapid expansion: theory cut off from reality, rampant formalism, and warped evaluation systems. It is not an objective verdict on all Schools of Marxism.
A "Great Leap Forward" Expansion Fueled by Policy Dividends[note 2]
Over the past decade, the number of Schools of Marxism nationwide has grown fourteenfold, and the number of ideological and political theory teachers has increased by 74,000. Once marginal departments, these schools have become some of the most aggressive recruiters on campus. Hiring driven by "filling the numbers to meet the quota" has sharply lowered the bar for entry. Many universities have filled posts through irregular means such as administrative transfers and loosened subject requirements. Administrative staff and student counselors can move into teaching and research posts after a simplified assessment, and the requirement for relevant academic training has been badly weakened. The faculty now includes many people who went "straight from the school gate to the school gate,"[note 3] with no experience of society and no fieldwork. They are simply unable to explain the real-world logic of Marxist theory.
"Survival Distortion" Under Dual Assessment
Teachers in Schools of Marxism are judged by two completely different sets of criteria. On one side are the "hard research targets" shared with every other discipline: publishing in core journals and winning national-level grants. On the other are "soft educational tasks" far heavier than in ordinary departments: teaching, public lectures on theory, and the ideological guidance of students. Under the extreme pressure of fighting on two fronts, the safest survival strategy is to give up independent thinking: recite the standard answers, use set phrases, and read from the PPT slides. Such teachers never touch the deeper contradictions of reality and never offer innovative theoretical interpretation. Over time, scholars who once had ideas have their edges worn down, and those who remain are mostly good only at "chanting scripture" in class. The critical power of Marxist theory against reality is dissolved entirely.
Evaluation That "Calls a Deer a Horse"
In some Schools of Marxism, the evaluation standards have drifted away from the core principle that "a School of Marxism must be Marxist, and speak as Marxists," with a clear tilt toward formalism. Classroom teaching competes on the polish of the slides and the showmanship of interactive segments, not on theoretical persuasiveness. Research competes on the number of articles in the "three papers and one journal,"[note 4] not on genuine power to explain real problems. Discipline building competes on the size of budgets and the number of research centers with official plaques, not on the quality of the people it trains. This "form over content" orientation has gradually turned these schools into "performance venues" that only put on a show. They are like the deer parks of ancient imperial courts, where symbolic meaning far outweighed actual output, and the value of "keeping deer" far exceeded the value of "using deer."
Mismatched Employment and Public Perception
Graduates in Marxist studies have a relatively narrow range of jobs open to them, and many can only crowd onto the track of civil service and public-sector exams. Outsiders mock the system as a machine for "mass-producing diplomas." Some students' stereotypes of ideological and political courses deepen the negative impression. In class, the teacher avoids real problems and speaks only in stock phrases, while the students look down at their phones and show up just to be counted. Both sides fall into a tacit agreement to "go through the motions," and political education is stripped entirely of its intended function of forging souls and educating people.
It must be stressed that the phenomena described above exist only in a minority of poorly run institutions. The great majority of Schools of Marxism have held firmly to the fundamental principle that "a School of Marxism must be Marxist," and they play an irreplaceable role in systematizing and theorizing the Party's new theoretical innovations and in cultivating a new generation. The "Digital, Talent, Think-Tank, and Clean" School of Marxism initiatives launched by many schools nationwide in recent years are a proactive correction of these distortions.
1. Background to the Distortion of University Schools of Marxism
Since the 2018 National Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Higher Education, the building of Schools of Marxism nationwide has entered a period of rapid development. The number of schools, the size of the faculty, and funding have all grown by leaps and bounds. Yet as this systematic build-out has sped forward, some institutions have begun to show a tendency to "favor expansion in scale over substantive development." The "Great Leap Forward" in faculty hiring has broken down professional standards. Formulaic performance has replaced theoretical reasoning in teaching. Quantitative indicators have replaced intellectual contribution in research evaluation. In the end, a few Schools of Marxism have seen their character as ideological strongholds weakened, becoming "performance-style departments" that care only about surface procedure and lack theoretical vitality. These are what netizens mockingly call "Schools of Deer." This distortion not only directly undermines the effectiveness of political education in reaching students' minds and hearts. It also betrays the core mission of the School of Marxism: "educating people for the Party and cultivating talent for the nation." Existing research mostly stresses the importance of building Schools of Marxism at the level of macro policy. It rarely breaks down the specific logic by which "deerification" arises at the level of micro operating mechanisms, and it lacks systematic reform plans that can be put directly into practice. This article addresses that gap. Following a complete chain of reasoning from "tracing the problem" to "breaking down the mechanisms" to "building the path," it proposes a concrete framework for the de-deerification of university Schools of Marxism.
2. How "Deerification" Arises
"Deerification" is not a matter of individual teachers' professional ethics alone. It is the stable equilibrium of a game played among three parties (administrators, teachers, and students) under a bureaucratic assessment system. Its logic can be broken down into three successive dimensions.
2.1 Diluted Standards at the Point of Entry
To quickly meet the Ministry of Education's mandatory student-to-teacher ratio for ideological and political courses, some universities have adopted a "fast and easy" staffing strategy. They have relaxed requirements on academic background, allowing people from outside the first-level discipline of Marxist theory to be hired directly. They have opened "green channels" for administrative transfers, moving staff from administrative and counseling posts into the School of Marxism's teaching ranks after a simplified assessment. Some have even hired first and allowed qualifications to be made up later, just to hit the numbers quickly. This "headcount expansion" has left the faculty uneven in its professional grounding. Many newly hired teachers lack systematic training in Marxist theory and are not firm believers in it themselves. Naturally, they cannot fulfill the duty of guiding students by the power of truth.
2.2 Conflicting Dual Assessment in Operation
Most teachers in Schools of Marxism today are subject to two entirely different assessment systems. One is the quantitative research assessment common to every discipline, which demands hard targets such as core-journal publications, national-level grant applications, and research funding received. The other is the educational assessment specific to political education, which demands an excessive load of hard-to-quantify soft tasks: teaching ideological and political courses, giving public lectures on theory, and guiding students' thinking. Squeezed between the two, the rational choice for a teacher is to "avoid the substantive and take the easy route." They put their energy into research, where visible results come more easily, and reduce teaching to reading slides, going through procedures, and putting on a show, fulfilling their educational duties at the lowest possible cost in time. The result is the widespread state in which teaching and research are "two separate skins."
2.3 Self-Reinforcing Formalism in Evaluation
In the evaluation of political education work at some universities, a "leave a paper trail first" orientation has come to dominate. Classroom evaluation does not look at what students actually gain in their thinking. It looks only at whether the teaching video is complete, whether the interactive segments meet the target, and whether the slides are beautifully made. Discipline-building evaluation does not look at whether theoretical research can explain reality. It looks only at the number of research centers with plaques, the total budget, and the thickness of the stack of award certificates. This orientation creates a powerful perverse incentive. Teachers who seriously study theory and respond to students' real confusion find it hard to score well, while teachers who are good at window dressing and spectacle-style projects more easily attract resources. Over time a selection mechanism forms in which bad money drives out good. Teachers with a genuine passion for theory are pushed to the margins, and the culture of the whole school keeps drifting toward "performance first."
3. "Lukesi University" Leads by Example
"Lukesi University" (鹿克思大学) is not a real university. It is a joking online nickname for Renmin University of China.
3.1 Where the Nickname Comes From
Evolution of the abbreviation: The English abbreviation of Renmin University of China is RUC. In speech it is often shortened to "Lu Da" (鹿大, "Deer U"), since lu (鹿) sounds close to the "R" in "RUC."
Satirical meaning: Adding "-kesi" (克思, the second half of "Marx" in Chinese, 马克思) produces "Lukesi University," a name with a mocking, critical edge. It mainly targets the university's heavy emphasis on ideological and political education, along with some students' dissatisfaction with the school's administration and teaching arrangements.
Online circulation: The name is common in online communities such as Zhihu. It is a slang nickname among students and netizens, not an official name.
3.2 Which University Is It Really?
The institution: It refers to Renmin University of China in Beijing, a research university with considerable influence in the humanities and social sciences.
Academic strengths: The university has deep foundations in Party history, political economy, Marxist philosophy, and Qing history, and its related schools and institutes are highly regarded in China.
A note on usage: In formal settings, admissions inquiries, and official documents, the name "Renmin University of China" should be used, not online nicknames such as "Lukesi University."
3.3 Why Do Some People Dislike "Deer U"?
Administrative controversy: Some students believe the university suffers from bureaucracy and impetuousness in its administration and course arrangements.
Disciplinary orientation: The university focuses on the humanities and social sciences, with relatively limited resources in science and engineering, which leaves some students feeling pressure in employment and research.
Mode of expression: Using "Lukesi University" to complain is a relatively veiled form of expression in the online context, and it does not represent an overall assessment of the university.
4. Concrete Reform Paths for De-Deerification
In response to the three distortion mechanisms described above, de-deerification cannot stop at general campaigns to rectify work style. It must rebuild the operating rules at their institutional source, with a systematic reform plan covering the entire chain of admission, teaching, research, and governance.
4.1 Faculty Admission Reform: A Triple Threshold of "Belief + Expertise + Practice"
The old hiring logic of "numbers above all" should be abandoned completely in favor of a three-part admission assessment that cannot be bypassed.
The first threshold is an assessment of political belief. Through in-depth interviews on the candidate's thinking and the analysis of theoretical positions, it verifies how genuinely the candidate identifies with Marxist theory, firmly preventing "people who do not believe in Marxism from teaching Marxism."
The second threshold is an assessment of professional competence. Candidates must have completed systematic training in the first-level discipline of Marxist theory, or pass a rigorous comprehensive subject test, and must show a solid ability to interpret the original texts and reason theoretically.
The third threshold is an assessment of practical experience. Newly hired teachers must have at least six months of grassroots social research or industry experience and be familiar with how Chinese society actually works, so that purely bookish teachers who went "from the school gate to the school gate" do not enter the classroom.
In addition, all staff who entered the School of Marxism through irregular channels and lack basic teaching ability should be removed, building a firm line of defense for the faculty's professional grounding at the point of entry.
4.2 Teaching Reform: Replacing "Performance Teaching" with the "Problem-Oriented Classroom"
The entrenched pattern of one-way output from teacher to student in ideological and political courses should be broken, and problem-oriented teaching reform built around students' real intellectual confusion should be introduced across the board.
Build a mechanism for collecting a "student question bank." At the start of each semester, use anonymous questionnaires and open classroom discussions to gather the real-world confusions students meet in their theoretical studies. Make these genuine questions the central thread of classroom teaching design, and bid a final farewell to empty preaching detached from reality.
Introduce a two-track model of "close reading of the classics plus real-world cases." Every course should devote at least 30 percent of class hours to guiding students through close reading of the original Marxist classics, combined with discussion of current social issues and cases from industry. In this way, students can truly grasp the explanatory power of Marxism by holding theory up against reality.
Abolish all assessment indicators for "performance classrooms." The number of interactions, the polish of the slides, and the length of teaching videos should no longer be the core standards of classroom evaluation. The core basis should instead be how much students' capacity for theoretical reasoning improves and how far their intellectual confusions are resolved.
Alongside this, practical teaching reform under the "Big Political Education Course" initiative[note 5] should be advanced, coordinating resources such as red-education bases and industry and enterprise research, so that students can feel the living reality of theory in a "classroom on the move."
4.3 Research Evaluation Reform: Rebuilding an Outcome Orientation of "Persuading by Reason"
The shackles of quantitative evaluation based solely on CSSCI publications[note 6] and the number of grants should be broken completely, and a distinctive research evaluation system suited to the nature of Marxist theory as a discipline should be established.
Adjust the standards for recognizing research outcomes. The number of papers published in particular journals should no longer be the core assessment indicator. The focus should instead be on how well the work explains major real-world problems, and how much it contributes to systematizing and theorizing the Party's new theoretical innovations.
Establish a "special program for research on real-world problems." Encourage teachers to step out of their studies and carry out long-term fieldwork on real problems in the process of Chinese-style modernization, producing research genuinely rooted in Chinese soil. Such work should receive special weighting in promotion reviews and awards.
Remove unnecessary research assessment tasks. For frontline teachers who carry heavy loads of ideological and political teaching, introduce a "teaching-focused" post track that exempts them, during their contract period, from mandatory requirements for national-level grants and core-journal publications. This lets teachers devote their main energy to the core work of teaching and educating, fundamentally resolving the problem of teaching and research as "two separate skins."
4.4 Governance Reform: A De-Bureaucratized Mechanism of "Shared Governance by Teachers and Students"
At the level of school governance, the excessive penetration of administrative power into academic and educational work must be broken.
Establish academic and teaching committees composed of senior scholars of Marxist theory, representatives of frontline teachers, and student representatives. All major matters involving discipline building, teaching reform, and evaluation rules must be fully discussed and approved by these committees before implementation, putting an end to administrative orders directly replacing academic judgment.
Introduce a "burden-reduction list" system. Clear away all unnecessary record-keeping and form-filling, perfunctory meetings, and repetitive inspections, freeing teachers from heavy administrative chores so that more than 80 percent of their working time is left for theoretical research and classroom teaching.
Establish a routine mechanism for correcting work style. Regularly collect feedback from teachers and students on how the school is run, halt and rectify any signs of formalism as soon as they appear, and build a healthy governance culture that purifies itself.
5. Conclusions and Discussion
The de-deerification of university Schools of Marxism is, in essence, an institutional reshaping that returns to the original mission. It does not require abandoning the existing framework and starting over. Through precise adjustments in four key areas (admission standards, teaching models, research evaluation, and governance), it can dissolve at the institutional root the distorted incentives of "form over content," and put Schools of Marxism back on the right track of "persuading by reason and educating through culture." When every ideological and political teacher can calmly answer students' real confusion in class, and every research result can truly explain China's real problems, the School of Marxism will naturally shed the mocking "School of Deer" label for good. It will become a strong stronghold for the teaching, research, dissemination, and cultivation of talent in Marxist theory.
How can the principle of "letting those who have faith teach faith" be put into practice? The key is how to identify ideological and political teachers who lack faith. The path offered in the public literature does not rely on any single "lie-detector" style of screening. Instead, it runs three lines in parallel: institutional constraint, behavioral observation, and self-cultivation. It also openly acknowledges that "the intentions behind words are often hidden and obscured," so screening must rest on objective, workable standards.
Institutional constraint: entry and exit mechanisms. This is the most direct and practical means of screening. The literature states clearly the need to "strengthen institutional constraints so that those without faith cannot teach faith." This involves two measures. The first is a strict entry system that treats political qualities and the state of one's faith as the gateway. For example, one university's admission rules for ideological and political teachers explicitly require that teachers be members of the Communist Party of China (including probationary members) and "possess high political quality and firm ideals and convictions." The second is an exit mechanism. Teachers who "violate professional ethics, adopt a 'Buddha-like' detached attitude,[note 7] or lack a positive, upbeat drive" should be promptly removed from the ranks. Those who "lack firm Marxist faith" or "speak of the Party and the country with sarcasm" are explicitly judged to be "by no means qualified ideological and political teachers."
Behavioral observation: practice and action as the objective measure of faith. Faith is internal and cannot be seen directly, but "action springs from the heart," so it can be grasped through outward behavior. The measurement of faith should attend to four dimensions. Professional conduct: whether the teacher teaches ideological and political courses with conviction and puts great effort into teaching. Values: whether, in and out of class, the teacher dares to take a stand on major questions of right and wrong and stays politically clear-headed. Personal standards: whether the teacher is consistent in and out of class, online and offline, and avoids being "two-faced." Expression of belief: whether the teacher gives students correct guidance in values, rather than undermining them with sarcasm. Of particular note, the literature points out that among ideological and political teachers "there are relatively few firm believers in Marxism, and belief attitudes are not fully consistent with belief behavior." Such teachers "display a typical 'two-faced' character in their words and conduct," which easily leads to the phenomenon of "crude red and sophisticated black."[note 8] So one should listen to their words but watch their deeds even more, focusing on whether they remain consistent outside the classroom and under the pressure of complex social currents of thought.
Self-cultivation and organizational development: the deeper support for screening. Faith is not fixed. The literature stresses that "the establishment of ideals and convictions is not done once and for all"; they must be nurtured and tested through continuous theoretical study and organizational life. Theoretical study: make reading the classics and understanding the principles a habit of life, and test the teacher's genuine mastery of and identification with Marxist theory through studying the original works, reading the original texts, and grasping the principles. Organizational life: a teacher's participation and performance in organizational life is the core measure of faith; through collective lesson preparation and organized study, "leading study, promoting study, and conscious identification" are both achieved and tested. It should be noted that the public literature does not offer a quantifiable "screening checklist" or "assessment scale," and existing discussions are mostly statements of principle. In practice, whether faith is "true or false" must still be judged comprehensively through long-term teaching practice, the test of major events, and feedback from teachers and students. There is no one-time "demon-revealing mirror."[note 9]
The heart of identifying ideological and political teachers without faith is to turn abstract "faith" into concrete behavioral indicators that are workable, observable, and traceable. These form a closed loop from gatekeeping at entry, through verification in the process, to reverse checks, avoiding the trap of "subjective guesswork."
At entry: rigid admission screening. From the hiring stage, the "faith threshold" becomes a hard constraint that filters out at the root those who "take the post just for the job security." The hard identity threshold: strictly enforce the rule that "newly hired ideological and political teachers must be members of the Communist Party of China (including probationary members)"; non-Party members should in principle not enter full-time ideological and political teaching posts. Restrictions on academic background: hire only graduates in the first-level discipline of Marxist theory and in related fields such as philosophy, political science, and law, ensuring through their disciplinary training that they have a systematic foundation in Marxist theory and avoiding "laymen teaching faith." In-depth political vetting: beyond the routine political review, add an "extended investigation" that interviews the candidate's graduate advisors and classmates to verify their real positions during major ideological events, and screens out "two-faced" risks.
In theory: verifying genuine study and genuine belief. Use quantifiable learning behavior to tell "passive compliance" apart from "real understanding and real belief." Closed-book tests on the classics: each semester, give ideological and political teachers a closed-book exam on the classic works of Marxism, focusing on their grasp of the core ideas of key texts such as The Communist Manifesto and Capital. Those who "cannot recite the principles or explain the logic" are judged as failing. Tracing the record of study: examine teachers' theoretical study notes, annotations on the original works, and records of their remarks in collective lesson preparation, to spot perfunctory study that "copies documents to pad the word count." Each semester, teachers must complete assigned close readings of original works and submit original study reflections. Practical assessment of theory lectures: arrange for teachers to give public lectures on theory to students and grassroots communities, and assess on the spot whether the lecture carries real feeling and whether they can make theory thorough and vivid. Those who merely read from the text with no power to move an audience are judged as failing.
In conduct: observing words and deeds in every setting. In the end, whether faith is genuine shows in the consistency of words and deeds. "Performing teachers" can be identified through cross-checking observations from many angles. Comparing words and deeds in and out of class: check closely whether teachers are "consistent in and out of class, online and offline," and screen out "two-faced" teachers who "teach Marxism in class but mock it in private." For those who post erroneous remarks on social media or ridicule the mainstream ideology, start the exit mechanism directly. Tracking positions on major questions of right and wrong: during major social controversies and clashes of ideas, observe teachers' public statements and the direction of their classroom guidance. Those who "muddle through" on matters of principle, or even spread erroneous views, are subject to a "one-vote veto" on professional ethics. Student anonymous feedback profiles: design targeted anonymous questionnaires asking students whether "this teacher genuinely believes the theory or is just reading a script" and whether "when sensitive questions come up, the teacher dodges or answers directly." Data from student evaluations accumulated over the long term can then precisely identify teachers who are "just going through the motions."
In reverse: checking for abnormal behavior. Target the typical traits of cynicism in political education to pinpoint the visible signs of "teachers without faith." Checking teaching status: teachers who reuse slides from years ago, never update their teaching cases, and deliberately avoid real problems in class, turning ideological and political courses into "highlight the key points and collect the credits" filler courses, are directly displaying their own lack of faith in the theory. Checking research orientation: teachers who abandon the core of teaching Marxist theory entirely and treat their post as "a springboard for grabbing research projects," who for long periods neither study political education teaching nor take part in collective lesson preparation, are typical cases of absent faith, "in Cao's camp but with a heart for Han."[note 10] Checking professional attitude: teachers who openly declare that "political courses are just a formality" or that "we only teach this stuff to get through inspections," and who feel no identification with or pride in the political education they do, are directly judged unfit for the post.
The essence of these methods is to replace "subjective guesses about motive" with "traceable behavioral evidence," ultimately forming a dynamic management mechanism in which people "can come in and can go out," and institutionally ensuring that "letting those who have faith teach faith" is actually carried out. The key to identifying teachers without faith is to break the performance-style teaching of "saying one thing in class and believing another after class," so that the system truly grows teeth instead of relying only on individual conscience.
Afterword
"School of Deer," as an online mocking term for the distortions in some university Schools of Marxism, points mainly to problems that appeared in some schools during rapid expansion: theory cut off from reality, formalized academic evaluation, and weakened educational function. What are the concrete reform paths for de-deerification?
Institutional restructuring: breaking administrative involution through "super-departments" and flattening
Consolidating institutions: Pursue "super-department" reform by merging departments with similar functions and cutting back on coordinating bodies, solving the problems of overlapping functions and multiple lines of management, and turning the School of Marxism from a "government office" into a "service-oriented" unit. Devolving power: Give full authority to departments and teachers, reduce administrative interference in academic matters, promote "professors governing scholarship," and return teaching and research to their proper place.
Teaching reform: "student-centered" in place of "indicator-driven"
Transforming the teaching model: Promote "student-centered" (SC) reform, moving from "knowledge transmission" to a threefold model of "shaping values, building abilities, and raising overall quality," and use situational and case-based teaching to strengthen value guidance. Optimizing the curriculum: Advance the integration of ideological and political courses across primary, secondary, and higher education, weaving the Party's new theoretical innovations organically into every course to avoid "empty preaching" and make teaching more engaging and relevant.
Faculty development: activating inner motivation through "separate tracks" and "reward for excellence"
Development on separate tracks: Guide teachers to choose their own tracks (teaching, research, or social service), each playing to their strengths. Avoid "one-size-fits-all" assessment, so that every teacher has a clear path of growth. Breaking the "big communal pot":[note 11] Uphold "more pay for more work, better pay for better results," including educational outcomes in performance appraisal and promotion review, while still guaranteeing baseline fairness and humane care.
Correcting evaluation: "substantive indicators" in place of "numbers-based achievements"
Classified evaluation: Build incentive mechanisms for allocating resources according to each School of Marxism's functional role and actual contribution, breaking the "Matthew effect" so that different types of universities receive support suited to them. Quality orientation: Shift from "many and strong" to "strong and excellent," focusing assessment on discipline building, teaching effectiveness, and the quality of education, rather than simply chasing numbers of projects or the size of institutions.
Starting from the institutional background and operating logic of today's Schools of Marxism, this article proposes practical reform paths covering faculty admission, teaching reform, research evaluation, and governance. It aims to offer theoretical reference and a practical plan for helping university Schools of Marxism in the new era return to their core identity: "a School of Marxism must be Marxist, and speak as Marxists." The core of "de-deerification" is a systemic reform that moves these schools from formal compliance to genuine education. Reform must go hand in hand with reassigning staff and building institutional capacity, so that responsibilities handed down are not dropped.
References
[1] Ministry of Education. Regulations on Building the Faculty of Ideological and Political Theory Courses in Higher Education Institutions in the New Era [EB/OL]. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/02/s7060/202001/t20200114_415732.html, 2020-01-14.
[2] General Office of the CPC Central Committee. Opinions on Strengthening the Building of Schools of Marxism in the New Era [EB/OL]. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-09/21/content_5638706.htm, 2021-09-21.
[3] Ministry of Education and nine other departments. Work Plan for Comprehensively Advancing the "Big Political Education Course" [EB/OL]. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A08/s7056/202208/t20220823_655369.html, 2022-08-10.
[4] Ministry of Education. Standards for Building Schools of Marxism in Regular Higher Education Institutions (2023 Edition) [EB/OL]. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A08/s7056/202304/t20230425_1007298.html, 2023-04-20.
Translator's Notes
[note 1] 马院 / 鹿院: In Chinese, 马 (mǎ) is both "horse" and the first syllable of Marx (马克思). The idiom 指鹿为马, "pointing at a deer and calling it a horse," comes from the Qin dynasty: the eunuch Zhao Gao presented a deer to the emperor as a horse to test which officials dared contradict him. It means deliberately distorting the truth. Swapping 马 for 鹿 (lù, "deer") turns the "School of Marxism" into a "School of Deer," a place where falsehood is presented as truth.
[note 2] 大跃进: the Great Leap Forward (1958–1962), Mao-era campaign of rapid, quota-driven mass mobilization. It is used here as shorthand for reckless, numbers-driven expansion.
[note 3] 从校门到校门: a common Chinese phrase for academics who went straight from being students to being teachers without ever working outside academia.
[note 4] 三报一刊: the "three papers and one journal," that is, People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Economic Daily, and the Party journal Qiushi. Publication in these outlets is a key benchmark in Chinese academic evaluation for Marxist and political studies.
[note 5] 大思政课: the "Big Political Education Course," a national initiative to extend political education beyond the classroom into society, practice, and everyday life.
[note 6] CSSCI: Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index, the main index of core social-science journals in China, widely used as a publication benchmark.
[note 7] 佛系: "Buddha-like," internet slang for a passive, indifferent, low-ambition attitude.
[note 8] 低级红、高级黑: "crude red, sophisticated black," a political term for praise so clumsy or exaggerated that it backfires ("crude red"), or criticism disguised as praise ("sophisticated black"). Either way, the effect is to discredit what is ostensibly being supported.
[note 9] 照妖镜: the "demon-revealing mirror" of Chinese folklore, which exposes a demon's true form. It stands for an infallible test of someone's real nature.
[note 10] 身在曹营心在汉: "in Cao's camp but with a heart for Han," from the Three Kingdoms story of Guan Yu, who served Cao Cao while remaining loyal to Liu Bei. It describes someone physically in one place but whose loyalty lies elsewhere.
[note 11] 大锅饭: the "big communal pot," a term for egalitarian distribution regardless of effort or performance, associated with the planned-economy era.
How Did University Schools of Marxism Become "Schools of Deer"?
Chen Junjie · September 30, 2026 · Source: yuyouzhixiang
Starting from the institutional background and operating logic of today's Schools of Marxism, this article proposes practical reform paths covering faculty admission, teaching reform, research evaluation, and governance. It aims to offer theoretical reference and a practical plan for helping university Schools of Marxism in the new era return to their core identity: "a School of Marxism must be Marxist, and speak as Marxists." The core of "de-deerification" is a systemic reform that moves these schools from formal compliance to genuine education. Reform must go hand in hand with reassigning staff and building institutional capacity, so that responsibilities handed down are not dropped.
"School of Deer" (鹿院) is a mocking online nickname for some university Schools of Marxism (马院).[note 1] It rests on a pun on the idiom "pointing at a deer and calling it a horse" (指鹿为马), and it satirizes the distortions that have appeared in a minority of these schools during their rapid expansion: theory cut off from reality, rampant formalism, and warped evaluation systems. It is not an objective verdict on all Schools of Marxism.
A "Great Leap Forward" Expansion Fueled by Policy Dividends[note 2]
Over the past decade, the number of Schools of Marxism nationwide has grown fourteenfold, and the number of ideological and political theory teachers has increased by 74,000. Once marginal departments, these schools have become some of the most aggressive recruiters on campus. Hiring driven by "filling the numbers to meet the quota" has sharply lowered the bar for entry. Many universities have filled posts through irregular means such as administrative transfers and loosened subject requirements. Administrative staff and student counselors can move into teaching and research posts after a simplified assessment, and the requirement for relevant academic training has been badly weakened. The faculty now includes many people who went "straight from the school gate to the school gate,"[note 3] with no experience of society and no fieldwork. They are simply unable to explain the real-world logic of Marxist theory.
"Survival Distortion" Under Dual Assessment
Teachers in Schools of Marxism are judged by two completely different sets of criteria. On one side are the "hard research targets" shared with every other discipline: publishing in core journals and winning national-level grants. On the other are "soft educational tasks" far heavier than in ordinary departments: teaching, public lectures on theory, and the ideological guidance of students. Under the extreme pressure of fighting on two fronts, the safest survival strategy is to give up independent thinking: recite the standard answers, use set phrases, and read from the PPT slides. Such teachers never touch the deeper contradictions of reality and never offer innovative theoretical interpretation. Over time, scholars who once had ideas have their edges worn down, and those who remain are mostly good only at "chanting scripture" in class. The critical power of Marxist theory against reality is dissolved entirely.
Evaluation That "Calls a Deer a Horse"
In some Schools of Marxism, the evaluation standards have drifted away from the core principle that "a School of Marxism must be Marxist, and speak as Marxists," with a clear tilt toward formalism. Classroom teaching competes on the polish of the slides and the showmanship of interactive segments, not on theoretical persuasiveness. Research competes on the number of articles in the "three papers and one journal,"[note 4] not on genuine power to explain real problems. Discipline building competes on the size of budgets and the number of research centers with official plaques, not on the quality of the people it trains. This "form over content" orientation has gradually turned these schools into "performance venues" that only put on a show. They are like the deer parks of ancient imperial courts, where symbolic meaning far outweighed actual output, and the value of "keeping deer" far exceeded the value of "using deer."
Mismatched Employment and Public Perception
Graduates in Marxist studies have a relatively narrow range of jobs open to them, and many can only crowd onto the track of civil service and public-sector exams. Outsiders mock the system as a machine for "mass-producing diplomas." Some students' stereotypes of ideological and political courses deepen the negative impression. In class, the teacher avoids real problems and speaks only in stock phrases, while the students look down at their phones and show up just to be counted. Both sides fall into a tacit agreement to "go through the motions," and political education is stripped entirely of its intended function of forging souls and educating people.
It must be stressed that the phenomena described above exist only in a minority of poorly run institutions. The great majority of Schools of Marxism have held firmly to the fundamental principle that "a School of Marxism must be Marxist," and they play an irreplaceable role in systematizing and theorizing the Party's new theoretical innovations and in cultivating a new generation. The "Digital, Talent, Think-Tank, and Clean" School of Marxism initiatives launched by many schools nationwide in recent years are a proactive correction of these distortions.
1. Background to the Distortion of University Schools of Marxism
Since the 2018 National Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Higher Education, the building of Schools of Marxism nationwide has entered a period of rapid development. The number of schools, the size of the faculty, and funding have all grown by leaps and bounds. Yet as this systematic build-out has sped forward, some institutions have begun to show a tendency to "favor expansion in scale over substantive development." The "Great Leap Forward" in faculty hiring has broken down professional standards. Formulaic performance has replaced theoretical reasoning in teaching. Quantitative indicators have replaced intellectual contribution in research evaluation. In the end, a few Schools of Marxism have seen their character as ideological strongholds weakened, becoming "performance-style departments" that care only about surface procedure and lack theoretical vitality. These are what netizens mockingly call "Schools of Deer." This distortion not only directly undermines the effectiveness of political education in reaching students' minds and hearts. It also betrays the core mission of the School of Marxism: "educating people for the Party and cultivating talent for the nation." Existing research mostly stresses the importance of building Schools of Marxism at the level of macro policy. It rarely breaks down the specific logic by which "deerification" arises at the level of micro operating mechanisms, and it lacks systematic reform plans that can be put directly into practice. This article addresses that gap. Following a complete chain of reasoning from "tracing the problem" to "breaking down the mechanisms" to "building the path," it proposes a concrete framework for the de-deerification of university Schools of Marxism.
2. How "Deerification" Arises
"Deerification" is not a matter of individual teachers' professional ethics alone. It is the stable equilibrium of a game played among three parties (administrators, teachers, and students) under a bureaucratic assessment system. Its logic can be broken down into three successive dimensions.
2.1 Diluted Standards at the Point of Entry
To quickly meet the Ministry of Education's mandatory student-to-teacher ratio for ideological and political courses, some universities have adopted a "fast and easy" staffing strategy. They have relaxed requirements on academic background, allowing people from outside the first-level discipline of Marxist theory to be hired directly. They have opened "green channels" for administrative transfers, moving staff from administrative and counseling posts into the School of Marxism's teaching ranks after a simplified assessment. Some have even hired first and allowed qualifications to be made up later, just to hit the numbers quickly. This "headcount expansion" has left the faculty uneven in its professional grounding. Many newly hired teachers lack systematic training in Marxist theory and are not firm believers in it themselves. Naturally, they cannot fulfill the duty of guiding students by the power of truth.
2.2 Conflicting Dual Assessment in Operation
Most teachers in Schools of Marxism today are subject to two entirely different assessment systems. One is the quantitative research assessment common to every discipline, which demands hard targets such as core-journal publications, national-level grant applications, and research funding received. The other is the educational assessment specific to political education, which demands an excessive load of hard-to-quantify soft tasks: teaching ideological and political courses, giving public lectures on theory, and guiding students' thinking. Squeezed between the two, the rational choice for a teacher is to "avoid the substantive and take the easy route." They put their energy into research, where visible results come more easily, and reduce teaching to reading slides, going through procedures, and putting on a show, fulfilling their educational duties at the lowest possible cost in time. The result is the widespread state in which teaching and research are "two separate skins."
2.3 Self-Reinforcing Formalism in Evaluation
In the evaluation of political education work at some universities, a "leave a paper trail first" orientation has come to dominate. Classroom evaluation does not look at what students actually gain in their thinking. It looks only at whether the teaching video is complete, whether the interactive segments meet the target, and whether the slides are beautifully made. Discipline-building evaluation does not look at whether theoretical research can explain reality. It looks only at the number of research centers with plaques, the total budget, and the thickness of the stack of award certificates. This orientation creates a powerful perverse incentive. Teachers who seriously study theory and respond to students' real confusion find it hard to score well, while teachers who are good at window dressing and spectacle-style projects more easily attract resources. Over time a selection mechanism forms in which bad money drives out good. Teachers with a genuine passion for theory are pushed to the margins, and the culture of the whole school keeps drifting toward "performance first."
3. "Lukesi University" Leads by Example
"Lukesi University" (鹿克思大学) is not a real university. It is a joking online nickname for Renmin University of China.
3.1 Where the Nickname Comes From
Evolution of the abbreviation: The English abbreviation of Renmin University of China is RUC. In speech it is often shortened to "Lu Da" (鹿大, "Deer U"), since lu (鹿) sounds close to the "R" in "RUC."
Satirical meaning: Adding "-kesi" (克思, the second half of "Marx" in Chinese, 马克思) produces "Lukesi University," a name with a mocking, critical edge. It mainly targets the university's heavy emphasis on ideological and political education, along with some students' dissatisfaction with the school's administration and teaching arrangements.
Online circulation: The name is common in online communities such as Zhihu. It is a slang nickname among students and netizens, not an official name.
3.2 Which University Is It Really?
The institution: It refers to Renmin University of China in Beijing, a research university with considerable influence in the humanities and social sciences.
Academic strengths: The university has deep foundations in Party history, political economy, Marxist philosophy, and Qing history, and its related schools and institutes are highly regarded in China.
A note on usage: In formal settings, admissions inquiries, and official documents, the name "Renmin University of China" should be used, not online nicknames such as "Lukesi University."
3.3 Why Do Some People Dislike "Deer U"?
Administrative controversy: Some students believe the university suffers from bureaucracy and impetuousness in its administration and course arrangements.
Disciplinary orientation: The university focuses on the humanities and social sciences, with relatively limited resources in science and engineering, which leaves some students feeling pressure in employment and research.
Mode of expression: Using "Lukesi University" to complain is a relatively veiled form of expression in the online context, and it does not represent an overall assessment of the university.
4. Concrete Reform Paths for De-Deerification
In response to the three distortion mechanisms described above, de-deerification cannot stop at general campaigns to rectify work style. It must rebuild the operating rules at their institutional source, with a systematic reform plan covering the entire chain of admission, teaching, research, and governance.
4.1 Faculty Admission Reform: A Triple Threshold of "Belief + Expertise + Practice"
The old hiring logic of "numbers above all" should be abandoned completely in favor of a three-part admission assessment that cannot be bypassed.
The first threshold is an assessment of political belief. Through in-depth interviews on the candidate's thinking and the analysis of theoretical positions, it verifies how genuinely the candidate identifies with Marxist theory, firmly preventing "people who do not believe in Marxism from teaching Marxism."
The second threshold is an assessment of professional competence. Candidates must have completed systematic training in the first-level discipline of Marxist theory, or pass a rigorous comprehensive subject test, and must show a solid ability to interpret the original texts and reason theoretically.
The third threshold is an assessment of practical experience. Newly hired teachers must have at least six months of grassroots social research or industry experience and be familiar with how Chinese society actually works, so that purely bookish teachers who went "from the school gate to the school gate" do not enter the classroom.
In addition, all staff who entered the School of Marxism through irregular channels and lack basic teaching ability should be removed, building a firm line of defense for the faculty's professional grounding at the point of entry.
4.2 Teaching Reform: Replacing "Performance Teaching" with the "Problem-Oriented Classroom"
The entrenched pattern of one-way output from teacher to student in ideological and political courses should be broken, and problem-oriented teaching reform built around students' real intellectual confusion should be introduced across the board.
Build a mechanism for collecting a "student question bank." At the start of each semester, use anonymous questionnaires and open classroom discussions to gather the real-world confusions students meet in their theoretical studies. Make these genuine questions the central thread of classroom teaching design, and bid a final farewell to empty preaching detached from reality.
Introduce a two-track model of "close reading of the classics plus real-world cases." Every course should devote at least 30 percent of class hours to guiding students through close reading of the original Marxist classics, combined with discussion of current social issues and cases from industry. In this way, students can truly grasp the explanatory power of Marxism by holding theory up against reality.
Abolish all assessment indicators for "performance classrooms." The number of interactions, the polish of the slides, and the length of teaching videos should no longer be the core standards of classroom evaluation. The core basis should instead be how much students' capacity for theoretical reasoning improves and how far their intellectual confusions are resolved.
Alongside this, practical teaching reform under the "Big Political Education Course" initiative[note 5] should be advanced, coordinating resources such as red-education bases and industry and enterprise research, so that students can feel the living reality of theory in a "classroom on the move."
4.3 Research Evaluation Reform: Rebuilding an Outcome Orientation of "Persuading by Reason"
The shackles of quantitative evaluation based solely on CSSCI publications[note 6] and the number of grants should be broken completely, and a distinctive research evaluation system suited to the nature of Marxist theory as a discipline should be established.
Adjust the standards for recognizing research outcomes. The number of papers published in particular journals should no longer be the core assessment indicator. The focus should instead be on how well the work explains major real-world problems, and how much it contributes to systematizing and theorizing the Party's new theoretical innovations.
Establish a "special program for research on real-world problems." Encourage teachers to step out of their studies and carry out long-term fieldwork on real problems in the process of Chinese-style modernization, producing research genuinely rooted in Chinese soil. Such work should receive special weighting in promotion reviews and awards.
Remove unnecessary research assessment tasks. For frontline teachers who carry heavy loads of ideological and political teaching, introduce a "teaching-focused" post track that exempts them, during their contract period, from mandatory requirements for national-level grants and core-journal publications. This lets teachers devote their main energy to the core work of teaching and educating, fundamentally resolving the problem of teaching and research as "two separate skins."
4.4 Governance Reform: A De-Bureaucratized Mechanism of "Shared Governance by Teachers and Students"
At the level of school governance, the excessive penetration of administrative power into academic and educational work must be broken.
Establish academic and teaching committees composed of senior scholars of Marxist theory, representatives of frontline teachers, and student representatives. All major matters involving discipline building, teaching reform, and evaluation rules must be fully discussed and approved by these committees before implementation, putting an end to administrative orders directly replacing academic judgment.
Introduce a "burden-reduction list" system. Clear away all unnecessary record-keeping and form-filling, perfunctory meetings, and repetitive inspections, freeing teachers from heavy administrative chores so that more than 80 percent of their working time is left for theoretical research and classroom teaching.
Establish a routine mechanism for correcting work style. Regularly collect feedback from teachers and students on how the school is run, halt and rectify any signs of formalism as soon as they appear, and build a healthy governance culture that purifies itself.
5. Conclusions and Discussion
The de-deerification of university Schools of Marxism is, in essence, an institutional reshaping that returns to the original mission. It does not require abandoning the existing framework and starting over. Through precise adjustments in four key areas (admission standards, teaching models, research evaluation, and governance), it can dissolve at the institutional root the distorted incentives of "form over content," and put Schools of Marxism back on the right track of "persuading by reason and educating through culture." When every ideological and political teacher can calmly answer students' real confusion in class, and every research result can truly explain China's real problems, the School of Marxism will naturally shed the mocking "School of Deer" label for good. It will become a strong stronghold for the teaching, research, dissemination, and cultivation of talent in Marxist theory.
How can the principle of "letting those who have faith teach faith" be put into practice? The key is how to identify ideological and political teachers who lack faith. The path offered in the public literature does not rely on any single "lie-detector" style of screening. Instead, it runs three lines in parallel: institutional constraint, behavioral observation, and self-cultivation. It also openly acknowledges that "the intentions behind words are often hidden and obscured," so screening must rest on objective, workable standards.
Institutional constraint: entry and exit mechanisms. This is the most direct and practical means of screening. The literature states clearly the need to "strengthen institutional constraints so that those without faith cannot teach faith." This involves two measures. The first is a strict entry system that treats political qualities and the state of one's faith as the gateway. For example, one university's admission rules for ideological and political teachers explicitly require that teachers be members of the Communist Party of China (including probationary members) and "possess high political quality and firm ideals and convictions." The second is an exit mechanism. Teachers who "violate professional ethics, adopt a 'Buddha-like' detached attitude,[note 7] or lack a positive, upbeat drive" should be promptly removed from the ranks. Those who "lack firm Marxist faith" or "speak of the Party and the country with sarcasm" are explicitly judged to be "by no means qualified ideological and political teachers."
Behavioral observation: practice and action as the objective measure of faith. Faith is internal and cannot be seen directly, but "action springs from the heart," so it can be grasped through outward behavior. The measurement of faith should attend to four dimensions. Professional conduct: whether the teacher teaches ideological and political courses with conviction and puts great effort into teaching. Values: whether, in and out of class, the teacher dares to take a stand on major questions of right and wrong and stays politically clear-headed. Personal standards: whether the teacher is consistent in and out of class, online and offline, and avoids being "two-faced." Expression of belief: whether the teacher gives students correct guidance in values, rather than undermining them with sarcasm. Of particular note, the literature points out that among ideological and political teachers "there are relatively few firm believers in Marxism, and belief attitudes are not fully consistent with belief behavior." Such teachers "display a typical 'two-faced' character in their words and conduct," which easily leads to the phenomenon of "crude red and sophisticated black."[note 8] So one should listen to their words but watch their deeds even more, focusing on whether they remain consistent outside the classroom and under the pressure of complex social currents of thought.
Self-cultivation and organizational development: the deeper support for screening. Faith is not fixed. The literature stresses that "the establishment of ideals and convictions is not done once and for all"; they must be nurtured and tested through continuous theoretical study and organizational life. Theoretical study: make reading the classics and understanding the principles a habit of life, and test the teacher's genuine mastery of and identification with Marxist theory through studying the original works, reading the original texts, and grasping the principles. Organizational life: a teacher's participation and performance in organizational life is the core measure of faith; through collective lesson preparation and organized study, "leading study, promoting study, and conscious identification" are both achieved and tested. It should be noted that the public literature does not offer a quantifiable "screening checklist" or "assessment scale," and existing discussions are mostly statements of principle. In practice, whether faith is "true or false" must still be judged comprehensively through long-term teaching practice, the test of major events, and feedback from teachers and students. There is no one-time "demon-revealing mirror."[note 9]
The heart of identifying ideological and political teachers without faith is to turn abstract "faith" into concrete behavioral indicators that are workable, observable, and traceable. These form a closed loop from gatekeeping at entry, through verification in the process, to reverse checks, avoiding the trap of "subjective guesswork."
At entry: rigid admission screening. From the hiring stage, the "faith threshold" becomes a hard constraint that filters out at the root those who "take the post just for the job security." The hard identity threshold: strictly enforce the rule that "newly hired ideological and political teachers must be members of the Communist Party of China (including probationary members)"; non-Party members should in principle not enter full-time ideological and political teaching posts. Restrictions on academic background: hire only graduates in the first-level discipline of Marxist theory and in related fields such as philosophy, political science, and law, ensuring through their disciplinary training that they have a systematic foundation in Marxist theory and avoiding "laymen teaching faith." In-depth political vetting: beyond the routine political review, add an "extended investigation" that interviews the candidate's graduate advisors and classmates to verify their real positions during major ideological events, and screens out "two-faced" risks.
In theory: verifying genuine study and genuine belief. Use quantifiable learning behavior to tell "passive compliance" apart from "real understanding and real belief." Closed-book tests on the classics: each semester, give ideological and political teachers a closed-book exam on the classic works of Marxism, focusing on their grasp of the core ideas of key texts such as The Communist Manifesto and Capital. Those who "cannot recite the principles or explain the logic" are judged as failing. Tracing the record of study: examine teachers' theoretical study notes, annotations on the original works, and records of their remarks in collective lesson preparation, to spot perfunctory study that "copies documents to pad the word count." Each semester, teachers must complete assigned close readings of original works and submit original study reflections. Practical assessment of theory lectures: arrange for teachers to give public lectures on theory to students and grassroots communities, and assess on the spot whether the lecture carries real feeling and whether they can make theory thorough and vivid. Those who merely read from the text with no power to move an audience are judged as failing.
In conduct: observing words and deeds in every setting. In the end, whether faith is genuine shows in the consistency of words and deeds. "Performing teachers" can be identified through cross-checking observations from many angles. Comparing words and deeds in and out of class: check closely whether teachers are "consistent in and out of class, online and offline," and screen out "two-faced" teachers who "teach Marxism in class but mock it in private." For those who post erroneous remarks on social media or ridicule the mainstream ideology, start the exit mechanism directly. Tracking positions on major questions of right and wrong: during major social controversies and clashes of ideas, observe teachers' public statements and the direction of their classroom guidance. Those who "muddle through" on matters of principle, or even spread erroneous views, are subject to a "one-vote veto" on professional ethics. Student anonymous feedback profiles: design targeted anonymous questionnaires asking students whether "this teacher genuinely believes the theory or is just reading a script" and whether "when sensitive questions come up, the teacher dodges or answers directly." Data from student evaluations accumulated over the long term can then precisely identify teachers who are "just going through the motions."
In reverse: checking for abnormal behavior. Target the typical traits of cynicism in political education to pinpoint the visible signs of "teachers without faith." Checking teaching status: teachers who reuse slides from years ago, never update their teaching cases, and deliberately avoid real problems in class, turning ideological and political courses into "highlight the key points and collect the credits" filler courses, are directly displaying their own lack of faith in the theory. Checking research orientation: teachers who abandon the core of teaching Marxist theory entirely and treat their post as "a springboard for grabbing research projects," who for long periods neither study political education teaching nor take part in collective lesson preparation, are typical cases of absent faith, "in Cao's camp but with a heart for Han."[note 10] Checking professional attitude: teachers who openly declare that "political courses are just a formality" or that "we only teach this stuff to get through inspections," and who feel no identification with or pride in the political education they do, are directly judged unfit for the post.
The essence of these methods is to replace "subjective guesses about motive" with "traceable behavioral evidence," ultimately forming a dynamic management mechanism in which people "can come in and can go out," and institutionally ensuring that "letting those who have faith teach faith" is actually carried out. The key to identifying teachers without faith is to break the performance-style teaching of "saying one thing in class and believing another after class," so that the system truly grows teeth instead of relying only on individual conscience.
Afterword
"School of Deer," as an online mocking term for the distortions in some university Schools of Marxism, points mainly to problems that appeared in some schools during rapid expansion: theory cut off from reality, formalized academic evaluation, and weakened educational function. What are the concrete reform paths for de-deerification?
Institutional restructuring: breaking administrative involution through "super-departments" and flattening
Consolidating institutions: Pursue "super-department" reform by merging departments with similar functions and cutting back on coordinating bodies, solving the problems of overlapping functions and multiple lines of management, and turning the School of Marxism from a "government office" into a "service-oriented" unit. Devolving power: Give full authority to departments and teachers, reduce administrative interference in academic matters, promote "professors governing scholarship," and return teaching and research to their proper place.
Teaching reform: "student-centered" in place of "indicator-driven"
Transforming the teaching model: Promote "student-centered" (SC) reform, moving from "knowledge transmission" to a threefold model of "shaping values, building abilities, and raising overall quality," and use situational and case-based teaching to strengthen value guidance. Optimizing the curriculum: Advance the integration of ideological and political courses across primary, secondary, and higher education, weaving the Party's new theoretical innovations organically into every course to avoid "empty preaching" and make teaching more engaging and relevant.
Faculty development: activating inner motivation through "separate tracks" and "reward for excellence"
Development on separate tracks: Guide teachers to choose their own tracks (teaching, research, or social service), each playing to their strengths. Avoid "one-size-fits-all" assessment, so that every teacher has a clear path of growth. Breaking the "big communal pot":[note 11] Uphold "more pay for more work, better pay for better results," including educational outcomes in performance appraisal and promotion review, while still guaranteeing baseline fairness and humane care.
Correcting evaluation: "substantive indicators" in place of "numbers-based achievements"
Classified evaluation: Build incentive mechanisms for allocating resources according to each School of Marxism's functional role and actual contribution, breaking the "Matthew effect" so that different types of universities receive support suited to them. Quality orientation: Shift from "many and strong" to "strong and excellent," focusing assessment on discipline building, teaching effectiveness, and the quality of education, rather than simply chasing numbers of projects or the size of institutions.
Starting from the institutional background and operating logic of today's Schools of Marxism, this article proposes practical reform paths covering faculty admission, teaching reform, research evaluation, and governance. It aims to offer theoretical reference and a practical plan for helping university Schools of Marxism in the new era return to their core identity: "a School of Marxism must be Marxist, and speak as Marxists." The core of "de-deerification" is a systemic reform that moves these schools from formal compliance to genuine education. Reform must go hand in hand with reassigning staff and building institutional capacity, so that responsibilities handed down are not dropped.
References
[1] Ministry of Education. Regulations on Building the Faculty of Ideological and Political Theory Courses in Higher Education Institutions in the New Era [EB/OL]. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/02/s7060/202001/t20200114_415732.html, 2020-01-14.
[2] General Office of the CPC Central Committee. Opinions on Strengthening the Building of Schools of Marxism in the New Era [EB/OL]. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-09/21/content_5638706.htm, 2021-09-21.
[3] Ministry of Education and nine other departments. Work Plan for Comprehensively Advancing the "Big Political Education Course" [EB/OL]. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A08/s7056/202208/t20220823_655369.html, 2022-08-10.
[4] Ministry of Education. Standards for Building Schools of Marxism in Regular Higher Education Institutions (2023 Edition) [EB/OL]. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A08/s7056/202304/t20230425_1007298.html, 2023-04-20.
Translator's Notes
[note 1] 马院 / 鹿院: In Chinese, 马 (mǎ) is both "horse" and the first syllable of Marx (马克思). The idiom 指鹿为马, "pointing at a deer and calling it a horse," comes from the Qin dynasty: the eunuch Zhao Gao presented a deer to the emperor as a horse to test which officials dared contradict him. It means deliberately distorting the truth. Swapping 马 for 鹿 (lù, "deer") turns the "School of Marxism" into a "School of Deer," a place where falsehood is presented as truth.
[note 2] 大跃进: the Great Leap Forward (1958–1962), Mao-era campaign of rapid, quota-driven mass mobilization. It is used here as shorthand for reckless, numbers-driven expansion.
[note 3] 从校门到校门: a common Chinese phrase for academics who went straight from being students to being teachers without ever working outside academia.
[note 4] 三报一刊: the "three papers and one journal," that is, People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Economic Daily, and the Party journal Qiushi. Publication in these outlets is a key benchmark in Chinese academic evaluation for Marxist and political studies.
[note 5] 大思政课: the "Big Political Education Course," a national initiative to extend political education beyond the classroom into society, practice, and everyday life.
[note 6] CSSCI: Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index, the main index of core social-science journals in China, widely used as a publication benchmark.
[note 7] 佛系: "Buddha-like," internet slang for a passive, indifferent, low-ambition attitude.
[note 8] 低级红、高级黑: "crude red, sophisticated black," a political term for praise so clumsy or exaggerated that it backfires ("crude red"), or criticism disguised as praise ("sophisticated black"). Either way, the effect is to discredit what is ostensibly being supported.
[note 9] 照妖镜: the "demon-revealing mirror" of Chinese folklore, which exposes a demon's true form. It stands for an infallible test of someone's real nature.
[note 10] 身在曹营心在汉: "in Cao's camp but with a heart for Han," from the Three Kingdoms story of Guan Yu, who served Cao Cao while remaining loyal to Liu Bei. It describes someone physically in one place but whose loyalty lies elsewhere.
[note 11] 大锅饭: the "big communal pot," a term for egalitarian distribution regardless of effort or performance, associated with the planned-economy era.
Editorial observations for publication:
Section 3 ("Lukesi University"). This section reads differently from the rest of the article. Its tone and format look more like an answer pasted from a search engine or AI tool, with sub-headings such as "Where the Nickname Comes From" and the line "a note on usage." Its explanation of the nickname (that 鹿 sounds like the "R" in RUC) is also not very convincing. The second half of the article, especially the afterword, likewise repeats points already made. You may want to check with the author before publishing; I have translated everything faithfully as written.
Terminology. I translated 马克思主义学院 consistently as "School of Marxism" and 思政课 as "ideological and political courses." If your website uses different standard terms, a find-and-replace will make them consistent.
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