This study aims to portray Master Teachers' experience of teacher professional development in post-1976 China. Interview data were collected from 22 Master Teachers from Shanghai in 2019-2020. Analyses of the findings revealed that these Master Teachers experienced three historical stages of teachers' professional development in China: a pre-professional stage at the end of the Cultural Revolution, a modern professional stage following the 1978 economic reform, and a late 1980s' curriculum decentralisation reform stage in which teachers gained more autonomy. This study suggests a 'state-individual-collective group' framework for understanding Master Teachers' experience of teacher professional development in China.