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Nanjing University (Chinese: 南京大学/南京大學; Pinyin: Nánjīng Dàxué; colloquially 南大, Pinyin: Nándà) is located in Nanjing, an ancient capital of China. It can date back to the first year of Yong'an reign (AD 258), making it one of the oldest higher learning institutions in the world. It was transformed to be a college under new educational system in 1902 and became the first modern Chinese university in the early 1920s. Its name has been changed time after time and it was renamed 南京大學 (Nanjing Daxue) in 1949.
History Nanjing University was originally founded as the Imperial Central College (南京太學, Nanjing Taixue) at Nanjing in the first year of Yong'an reign (AD 258) under the Kingdom of Wu by the emperor Sun Xiu. The first president was Wei Zhao. In the 15th century during the Ming Dynasty, the Nanjing Imperial Central College 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. Nanjing Imperial Central College was changed to Nanjing College in 1650 during the Qing Dynasty. The Sanjiang Normal College under new educational system was established to replace the traditional Chinese school Nanjing College in 1902. The name was changed to Liangjiang Normal College in 1906, and established the first Faculty of Art in China. In 1915 it became Nanjing Higher Normal Institute (南京高等師範學校), and also established the first Faculty of Gymnastics. The "Chinese Science Society" (中國科學社) 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" (中央研究院), later known as the Chinese Academy of Sciences in mainland China, 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 in journals such as Science and Nature 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 (《規定女子旁聽法案》) 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 (國立東南大學). 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. The "China Economic Society" was founded in 1923 mainly by the faculty members of the university. In October 1921, "Hsuehheng Society" (學衡社) 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, 學衡 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 ideologist Bertrand Russell, German philosopher Hans Driesch and the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. The "Chinese Association of Natural Science" (中華自然科學社) was founded at the university in 1927. In August 1928 the school became National Central University (國立中央大學). 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" (中國科學工作者協會) 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 Nanjing, mainland China, to Taipei, Taiwan, and the National Central University was renamed National Nanjing University (國立南京大學). In 1952, a famous Christian university, University of Nanking (金陵大學), was merged with Nanjing University (南京大學). 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
Campus Nanjing University consists of two campuses: Gulou Campus and Pukou 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. The newly added 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. International Exchanges Notable alumni Graduates Faculties Alumni of the University of Nanking (merged in 1952) Alumni of Attached/Affiliated Schools/Institutions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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