National Taiwan Normal University Special Education Professor Wu Wu-tian also states that our education of the gifted and talented derives from the importance placed on "child prodigies" in ancient times. In the Eastern Han, talented youngsters were sought to enter the Imperial Academy; in the Tang and Yuan Dynasties, special programs was established for prodigies, and in the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor himself personally recruited and tested particularly talented children.
師範大學特殊教育系教授吳武典也表示，我們的資優教育可溯自歷代對於「神童」的重視，如東漢召童子郎入太學讀書；唐朝設童子科以舉神童；元朝也設童子科以舉才；明朝的皇帝還親自召見、考試神童。