History of Harbin Institute of Technology

Harbin Sino-Russian School for Industry (now HIT) was planned in May 1920, and the founding ceremony was held on October 17. The first enrollment was educated in the two majors offered at the time: Railway Construction and Electric Mechanic Engineering. The 103 students were divided into three classes and were to graduate five years later. The lessons were conducted exclusively in Russian, with a credit system.

On April 2, 1922, the School was renamed Sino-Russian Industrial University. The original two majors became two departments: the Railway Construction Department and the Electric Engineering Department. Upon the approval of the Examination Committee, graduates were granted the degree of Engineer.

On February 4, 1928, the institution came under the leadership of the Northeastern Provincial Special Administrative Region of the Republic of China, and was renamed the Industrial University of the Northeastern Provincial Special Administrative Region, with the head of the Administration General Zhang Huanxiang as the director of the University Board, and the Minister of Education of the Northeastern Government Liu Zhe as the president of the University, the first Chinese president of the university. On October 20, 1928, the Law College and College of Commerce were incorporated, and the institution was officially named HIT, co-managed by China and the USSR, with General Zhang Xueliang as the president of the School Board. Postgraduate students were recruited from the spring of 1931.

With the invasion of northeast China by the Japanese imperialists, by 1935, the institution had been completely taken over by the Japanese. Classes were taught in Japanese, and only Chinese and Japanese students could be enrolled. On January 1, 1936, the name of the institution was changed to National Harbin Polytechnic. After January 1937, the education system was entirely transited to that of the Japanese. The president was the Japanese Suzuki Masao, who stayed on the post until August 1945. On January 1, 1938, the name Harbin Institute of Technology was reinstated, from which time on it has been kept until now.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War on the part of the Chinese people on September 3, 1945, HIT came under the joint management of the Chinese and Soviet governments through the China Changchun Railway Administration. In this period, the chief goal of HIT was to train engineering talents for the railway, with five-years degrees exclusively in Russian. By 1950, when the new Chinese government took over, HIT offered programs or preparatory programs of Building Construction, Electric Engineering, Engineering Economy, Mining, Chemical Engineering, and Oriental Economy. In this period, HIT not only healed the trauma induced during the war, but also saw some real development and accumulation of experiences in running the institute, laying solid foundation for the take-over, reform, and development of HIT by the New China.

From the founding of the institution in 1920 until liberation, HIT had been run in the Russian or Japanese system, and lessons were taught in Russian or Japanese. This rendered HIT since its founding the eminent feature of internationalism.

From 1920 to the graduation of the last class taught in Russian in 1938, the HIT under the Russian system altogether fostered 1267 students, with 382 Chinese and 885 Russians and Poles, who are now scattered all over the world: Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, Australia, Poland, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Brazil, and who all benefited from an early western education system and gained advanced knowledge in science and technology in contemporary Europe. Their diplomas and degrees were recognized by European countries like the former USSR. In the 30 years before liberation, HIT educated numerous famous scholars in the fields of science, technology, and education, some of whom became social activists.

In 1949, HIT started to recruit graduate students from all over China. It was one of the earliest universities in China to have a graduate program.

On June 7, 1950, the central committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) telegraphed the Northeastern chapter: 'The China Changchun Railway has decided to turn HIT over to the Chinese Government.' It went on to remark that 'HIT should enroll, as its graduate students, mainly lecturers, assistant lecturers, postgraduate students from school of science and engineering in Chinese Universities, teach them Russian, and assign them, upon their graduation after two year, to teach in universities nationwide.' This is an important sign that HIT had returned to the rule of China and entered an age of full-scale reform and growth. Later, the institute decided that its celebrate day is June 7.

As an important base for learning from the USSR and training talents for universities and factories throughout the country, HIT enjoyed the fame of the 'Cradle for Engineers'.

In 1951, Liu Shaoqi commented on the Report about the Amelioration Plan for HIT by the Party committee of the Ministry of Education: 'It is necessary to run such a university well.' The amelioration plan set forth the goal and mission of HIT, 'to foster engineers for heavy industry sectors and teachers for universities of science and technology.' From then on, HIT had been one of the two Chinese universities to learn from THE USSR. Between July 1951 and June 1956, HIT hosted five conferences on teaching methodology and science and technology and TWO national-level conferences of Electric and Mechanic Engineering, each receiving delegates from dozens of universities across the country. HIT had become the window through which Chinese higher education learned experiences from THE USSR.

In 1958, in response to Deng Xiaoping's remark that 'HIT should challenge top technology' and the call of the situation of development at the time, HIT made significant rearrangement in its departments. By 1962, HIT had basically accomplished the change from civic purposes to those of the military, becoming an all-embracing, multidisciplinary university.

In March 1954, the Ministry of Higher Education held a symposium on HIT and formulated the draft of Decisions on Several Issues about HIT. Yang Xiufeng, deputy minister of the Ministry of Higher Education, observed, 'HIT has basically been recast into a new university adopting the advanced education system of USSR, which fact should be approved of. HIT has functioned as a pioneering banner recognized by universities nationwide.' In October 1954, the Ministry of Higher Education designated, for the first time, six national key universities: HIT was the only one outside Beijing.

To meet the need of restoration and development of the national economy, new majors were added to the curriculum setup year by year. By 1957, HIT already had seven departments and 23 majors, basically taking the form of a new multidisciplinary industry university after the Russian education system.

In September 1958, the Secretary General of the CPC Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping came to HIT and instructed that 'HIT should challenge advanced technologies'. In response to his instruction and the requirement of the situation, HIT readjusted its curriculum, removing some civic disciplines. By 1962, HIT has basically accomplished its turn from civic to military service, forming an all-embracing, multidisciplinary university, whose disciplines complementing one another, serving the construction of national economy and national defense science and technology.

In 1960, in the Technology Innovation and Revolution Movement, HIT cooperated with 107 factories in Harbin and completed more than 460 projects of mechanization and automation, materializing the policy that science, technology, and education serve national economy. Ren Zhongyi, Harbin municipal party secretary, said in praise, 'As a symbolic banner, HIT cooperates with factories/ As a whole, the city praises HIT'.

In spring 1970, according to the order of the authorities, a small number of HIT personnel and most equipment moved south to Chongqing and, with Department 2 of the Harbin Military Industry University, formed Chongqing Institute of Technology. The rest of HIT, combining with Heilongjiang Institute of Technology and Harbin Institute of Electrical Technology, formed a new HIT, a local university administered by the local government. In August 1973, the State Council of China and the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee decided that Chongqing Institute of Technology should again move back north to Harbin to be restored to before the move. After all this flounder, the institute was severely weakened.

Because China was in disorder during that time, a large quantity of documents was lost. HIT keeps seeking documents from former employees and alumni these years.