Abstract: As the chief architect of reform and opening-up, Deng Xiaoping always made education an important part of the modernization of China. As an integral part of Deng Xiaoping’s theory, Deng Xiaoping’s thought on education was formed and developed in the practice of socialist education and reform with Chinese characteristics. In 1983, Deng Xiaoping proposed that education should be “oriented to modernization”“oriented to the world”“oriented to the future”. As the essence of Deng Xiaoping’s educational thought, the “Three Facets” educational thought is the inheritance and development of Marxist educational thought and Mao Zedong’s educational thought, which has guided China’s educational reform endeavors. In the past two decades, the research on Deng Xiaoping’s “Three Facets” education thought has been continuously developed and deepened, but it still needs to be summarized and reflected upon in order to promote the reform and development of China’s education in the new era.