The discussion on the essay topics of this year's gaokao, China's national college entrance examinations, has dominated Chinese social media with more than 360 million views and comments on Tuesday, the first day of the exam. The essay topic based on the plot from the famous Chinese classical novel The Dream of the Red Chamber was considered by netizens as one of the most difficult.

The essay required gaokao takers to decide the theme on the basis of their understanding of the reading material, a plot from The Dream of the Red Chamber.

The plot is about the different names of a pavilion. One person directly quoted the words from the ancient text. Another person made up the name based on the antique prose but added his own idea. A third one created the name completely based on his understanding of the pavilion.

Netizens found the essay topic challenging because they need to first understand the meaning of the three names of the pavilion, which were all written in classical Chinese language and involved Chinese aesthetics, and then choose the theme from the reading material which gives no clear preference among the three names.

Experts agreed that using the plot of The Dream of the Red Chamber as the reading material of the essay is very creative and makes it difficult for students to find a writing approach.

Future Chinese education should encourage students to think about what they read rather than roughly knowing what it is about, said Duan Zengyong, Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of the Academy of Educational Sciences in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Wang Hongtu, professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature in Fudan University, said the reading material did not say which name is the right answer but left different choices, which can inspire students to observe and consider things from different perspectives with an open mind.