Rehabilitation
After Mao's death in 1976, many of the rusticated youth remained in the countryside, some of whom had married into their villages. In 1977, university entrance exams were reinstated, inspiring the majority of rusticated youth to attempt to return to the cities. In the winter of 1978 in Yunnan, the youth implored the government to hear their plight in the form of strikes and petitions, which reinforced the pressing nature of the issue to party authorities. On March 8, 1980, Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, proposed ending rustication. On October 1 of the same year, the party essentially decided to end the movement and allow the youth to return to their families in the cities. In addition, under age and marriage restriction, one child per family of the rusticated youth were permitted to accompany their parents to their native cities.
In the late 1970s, the so-called scar literature included many vivid and realistic descriptions of their experiences, becoming the first public exploration of the cost of the Cultural Revolution.
Read more about this topic: Sent-down Youth