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Nanjing University

Nanjing University (colloquially 南大, Nándà) is a national comprehensive university located in Nanjing, an ancient capital of China. It is regarded as one of the best and most selective universities in China. Its history dates back to the first year of Yong'an reign (258 CE), making it one of the oldest higher learning institutions in the world. It became the first modern Chinese university in the early 1920s.

History

Nanjing University was refounded in 1915 with the name Nanjing Higher Normal Institute (南京高等师范学校) on the site of former Nanking Imperial University. Imperial Nanking University, the predecessor of Nanjing University, was originally founded in the first year of Yong'an reign (CE 258) under the Kingdom of Wu by the emperor Sun Xiu, and the first president was Wei Zhao. The Imperial University in Nanking (南京太学, Nanking Taixue) was reestablished by Jin Dynasty's emperor Sima Rui in 317 and 155 new rooms were built in the campus. Like its original forerunner Shang Hsiang (上庠) founded by Yu (禹, 21st century BCE) in Zhongyuan, the earliest recorded imperial higher school, it was the Kingdom's central university, with the role of educating literate and virtuous citizens and educating leaders to govern and serve the kingdom. In 470 during the Song Dynasty, the Imperial Nanking University became a comprehensive institution combining higher education and research and consisted of five divisions: Literature, History, Confucianism, Xuan Study and Yin Yang Study, and it was the first research educational institution in history. In the period the faculty members included such scholars and scientists as Zu Chongzhi, Ge Hong, Wang Xizhi.

In the 15th century during the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Central University in Nanking was the world's largest higher education institution, with about 10 thousand students, many of whom came from a number of other countries. Wu Cheng'en, Zheng He and Zheng Chenggong studied there around the time. Each time when Nanking became a non-capital city, the Nanking Imperial University was changed to be Nanking Academy. The Nanking Imperial Central University (南京国子监, Nanking Guozijian) was changed to Nanking Academy (江宁府学, Jiangning Fuxue) in 1650 after Qing Dynasty replaced Ming Dynasty. The Sanjiang Normal College under new educational system was established to replace the traditional Chinese school Nanking Academy in 1902. The name was changed to Liangjiang Normal College in 1906, and established the first Faculty of modern Art in China. In 1915 after the Republic of China replaced Qing Dynasty, the Nanking Higher Normal School was founded to replace Liangjiang Higher Normal School, and the school established the first Faculty of modern Gymnastics (Physical Education) in 1916.

The "Chinese Science Society" (中国科学社), the earliest comprehensive science society in China, and mainly by whose members the "Academia Sinica" (中央研究院) which was later moved to Taiwan and known as the "Chinese Academy of Sciences" (中国科学院) in mainland China was established, settled in the university in 1918. Numerous Chinese modern science pioneers converged there to found many sciences in China. It became the Chinese cradle of modern science. Hereafter, many graduates achieved pioneering works in many fields for Chinese scientific enterprise. For instance, among 81 academicians of "Academia Sinica" elected for the first time in 1948, 5 entered or graduated from the university in the year 1920. More than half of the leading Chinese scientists whose works were published on internationally renowned scientific journals in the early period of Chinese modern science were graduates or academics of Nanjing University.

Guo Bingwen was an extremely influential university president, appointed in 1919. He insisted on the university’s independence and academic freedom. Liu Boming advocated liberty education, scholar spirit and pure learning ethos. Tao Xingzhi changed the traditional Instruction Approach to the Approach of Unity of Teaching and Learning, and adopted the Discipline-elective and Cause-credit-elective system. Tao Xingzhi, is famous for proposing The Audit Law for Women Students (《规定女子旁听法案》) on December 7th, 1919. He also proposed that the university to recruit female students. He was supported by Guo Bingwen, Liu Boming and famous professors such as Lu Zhiwei and Yang Xingfo. Finally, the meeting passed the law and decided to recruit women students next year. Nanjing Higher Normal Institute became the first in China to recruit coeducational students and enrolled eight women students in 1920. In 1921 the school became National Southeastern University (国立东南大学). The earliest modern scientific research laboratories and groups in China were established at the university. It integrated teaching and research, and was regarded as the earliest modern Chinese university. The Faculty of Business established in 1917 was moved to Shanghai to establish the first business school in China.

In October 1921, "Hsuehheng Society" (学衡社) was founded in the university which was the focus of the "Hsuehheng School" included the scholars Liu Boming, Liu Yizheng, Mei Guangdi, Wu Mi and Hu Xianxiao. They tried to reinvigorate traditional Chinese culture and start to publish the monthly "Critical Review" (Xueheng, 学衡 in Chinese) in January 1922. During this period, Nanjing University was known as the foremost "Oriental Education Centre" and recognized as an academic and cultural exchange centre for east and west. Many famous scholars visited and instructed there, including the American educationist Paul Monroe, W. H. Kilpatrick, E. L. Thorndike, philosopher John Dewey, writer Pearl Buck, British philosopher Bertrand Russell, German philosopher Hans Driesch and the Indian (also Bengali) poet Rabindranath Tagore.

The "Chinese Association of Natural Science" (中华自然科学社) was founded at the university in 1927. In August 1928 the school became National Central University (国立中央大学). During the Anti-Japanese War between 1937 and 1945, the university moved to Chongqing. The "Natural Science Forum" was founded by the faculties of the university in 1939 and it founded the "China Association of Scientific Workers" (中国科学工作者协会) in 1944. In 1958 the associations were merged to be the " China Association for Science and Technology" (中国科学技术协会) in Beijing. The "Natural Science Forum" was renamed "Sept. 3rd Forum" and later again renamed "Sept. 3rd Society" in 1945. The "Sept. 3rd Society", or called "Jiusan Society", is a China organization for intellectual workers.

In 1949, the central government of the Republic of China moved from mainland China, to Taiwan, and the National Central University was renamed National Nanjing University (国立南京大学). In 1952, a famous Christian university, University of Nanking (金陵大学), was merged with Nanjing University (南京大学). National Central University was reinstated in Taiwan under the ROC in 1962.

In 1976, the faculties and students of the university launched the "Nanjing 3.29 Movement" to oppose the Cultural Revolution, spreading countrywide. In 1978, Hu Fuming, a faculty member of the Philosophy Department of Nanjing University, wrote and published the historic article entitled "Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth". It led to the nationwide "Debate on Standards for Judging the Truth" and promoted the end of the Cultural Revolution.

Faculties

Nanjing University has been at the forefront of developments in teaching and research in China. It was the first institution in the country to adopt student-centred teaching methods. It was the first co-educational Chinese university. It was the first Chinese university to provide doctoral education. It has been a pioneer in many fields in China, such as literature, art, history, philosophy, religion, sociology, biology, astronomy, physics, geoscience, computer science and business studies.

Schools and Departments

School of Humanities

Chinese, History, Philosophy, Religion

School of Foreign Studies

English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, International Business

School of Science

Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy

School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering

Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Polymer material

School of Geoscience

Earth Science, Atmosphere Science, Urban & Resources Science

School of Technology

Computer Science & Technology, Electronics Science & Engineering, Material Science & Technology

School of Business

Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Accounting, International Trading, Electronic Commerce,Marketing

School of Public Administration

Politics, Government Administration, Sociology, Information Management

School of Journalism & Communication
School of Law
School of Life Sciences
School of Medicine
School of Environment
School of Architecture
Software Institute
Department of Intensive Instruction
Education, Gymnastics, Art
Other research and education institutes in areas such as African Studies, Judaic Studies, International Affairs, Anthropology, Agriculture, Space Science, Engineering Management, etc.

Campus

Nanjing University consists of three campuses: Gulou Campus, Pukou Campus and Xianlin Campus. The main campus, Gulou Campus, as the name suggests, is located in Gulou District, center of Nanjing City. The main campus itself is divided into two sections by Hankou Road: North Garden, Bei Yuan, is where most of teaching and research take place, and South Garden, Nan Yuan, serves as the living area for both students and academic staff.

Pukou Campus rests in suburban Pukou District and became part of Nanjing University in 1993. Pukou Campus hosts undergraduate freshmen, sophomore and junior students and is connected with the main campus by both shuttle bus and public transportation.

The newly added Xianlin Campus will be put to use in September, 2008.

International exchanges

Honorary professors:

Charles W. Woodworth, Professor Emeritus and founder of the Entomology Division UCB (1891-1930) was a lecturer in Entomology during his sabbatical there in 1918 and then again between 1921-4. See the C. W. Woodworth Award.

Selected recipients of honorary doctoral degree from Nanjing University:

Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch, German biologist and philosopher.
François Mitterrand, President of France
George Herbert Walker Bush, President of United States (also contributed to the establishment of Hopkins-Nanjing Center - jointly administered by Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University)
Bob Hawke, Prime Minister of Australia
Boutros Boutros Ghali, United Nations Secretary General
Johannes Rau, President of Germany (also contributed to the development of German-Chinese Institute for Legal Studies - jointly operated by University of Göttingen and Nanjing University)

Notable alumni

Graduates

Chang Chi-yun, historian, geographer, educationist, politician.
Chung-Yao Chao, physical scientist. The first scientist that captured positron through electron-positron annihilation and tested the existence of antimatter.
Chiang Yee, poet, author, painter, calligrapher. The "Silent Traveller".
Kwoh-Ting Li, economic expert, statesmen. The "Father of Taiwan's Economic Miracle".
Chien-Shiung Wu, scientist. Regarded as the "Greatest Experimental Physicist in 20th Century".
Feng Duan, physicist.
Yuan-Cheng Fung, scientist of bioengineering and biomechanics
Feng Kang, mathematician. The founder of finite element algorithm.
Liu Feipeng, Prevalent Forestry Wood Scientist
Kim Jun-Yop, historian, educationalist, social activist.
Gang Tian, mathematician.
Hu Bangji, journalist. China's war correspondent in European battlefield in World War II. She interviewed many men of the time, including Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, De Gaulle, Truman, Chamberlain and Tito. Her husband, Bi Jilong, former vice secretary general of United Nations, was her schoolmate at Nanjing University.
Chang Cheh, film director. The "Father of New Gongfu Film".
Kenneth J. Hsu, scientist and geologist
Liu Dongsheng, geologist. Tyler Environmental Prize winner.
Mochtar Riady, financial magnate in southeast Asia. Founder and CEO of Lippo Group Chairman of the Asian Bankers Association. The founder of several banks.
Nieh Hua-Ling, writer. Contributed a lot to world literature exchange.
Sha Zukang, diplomat. Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.
Tang I-Fang, industry magnate. The founder and Chairman of Board of WBL Corporation The Pioneer of Singapore Industry.
Tang Junyi, philosopher.
Wang Gungwu, historian, educator.
Wang Ling, historian, educator. Key collaborator of Joseph Needham on the monumental work Science and Civilisation in China
Vikram Seth, poet, novelist.
Y. H. Woo, physical scientist. After Wu Youxun verified Compton effect (X-ray diffraction), Nobel Prize was given to Arthur H. Compton.
Yu Chi-chung, Taiwan's media gurus, the founder of the China Times Group.
Jeff Xia, mathematician.
Jiang Zemin, President of the People's Republic of China (Studied at Nanjing Central University from 1943 to 1945).

Faculty

Chiang Kai-shek, President of the Republic of China. He was the president of the university between 1943 and 1944 when the university moved to Chongqing.
Chang Dai-chien, great Chinese artist.

Alumni of the University of Nanking (merged in 1952)

Choh Hao Li, biologist, biochemist. His achievements include isolating and synthesizing the human pituitary growth hormone and he received many honors including Lasker Award.
Choh-Ming Li, educationist, economist.
Francois Cheng, writer, poet. A "Bridge Between Eastern and Western Culture".
T.C. Tso, agriculturalist, tobacco scientist.
Te-Tzu Chang, agriculturalist. He receives Tyler World Prize for Environmental Achievement 1999.
Thome H. Fang, philosopher.
Wu Teh Yao, educationist, politics scholar.

Alumni of Attached/Affiliated Schools/Institutions

Gao Xingjian, novelist, dramatist and critic. Nobel Prize Winner in Literature in 2000. He entered Middle School Attached to University of Nanking (Now Nanjing University Experiment School -- Jinling High School) in 1952.
Yuan Longping, agriculturalist. "China's Most Famous 'Farmer'", "Father of Hybrid Rice", Wolf Award winner. He graduated from Middle School Attached to National Nanjing University (Now NSFZ) in 1949.