城镇知识青年上山下乡从50年代中期的舆论倡导开始,到60年代初逐步转入有计划、有组织的开展,再到70年代末席卷全国的知青返城风潮结束,前后经历了整整25年,上山下乡的知识青年总计达1800万人。这是一个重大而复杂的历史问题,不论世人如何评说,在新中国青年运动史上都有其抹不掉的历史地位。我国城镇知识青年上山下乡的最初提出,是由于初等教育的比例大于高等教育的比例,城市里既不能升学,也不能就业的中小学毕业生逐年增多,成了一个需要解决的社会问题。因此,国家首先是号召家在农村的中小学毕业生要高高兴兴地返回家乡,参加农业建设;紧接着又动员城市的毕业生下乡。因为就全国来说,最能容纳人的地方是农村,容纳人最多的方面是农业。所以,从事农业被认为是安排中小学毕业生的主要方向,也是他们今后就业的主要途径。由此可见,导致城镇知识青年上山下乡的直接原因有二个:一是城镇里不能安排新 Urban knowledge Youth going to the countryside from the mid-1950s advocacy of public opinion began to gradually shift into the early 60s organized and organized, and then to the late 70s swept across the country the wave of returning educated youth, after a full 25 years The total number of knowledgeable youth going up to the countryside totaled 18 million. This is a major and complicated historical issue. No matter how people comment on the world, it has its historical status that can not be eclipsed in the history of the Chinese youth movement. The initial proposal of the urban youth in our country to go to the countryside for work is due to the fact that the proportion of primary education is greater than the proportion of higher education. The gradual increase of primary and secondary school students who can neither go to school nor work in employment has become a social problem to be solved. Therefore, the state first calls for primary and secondary school graduates from rural areas to cheerfully return home and take part in agricultural construction, followed by urban mobilization of urbanites. For the country as a whole is the one that can best accommodate people in rural areas. The area that accommodates people most is agriculture. Therefore, engaging in agriculture is regarded as the main direction for arranging primary and secondary school graduates and is also the main way for them to seek employment in the future. This shows that there are two direct reasons for the rise of urban young people to go to the countryside: First, new arrangements can not be made in cities and towns