Peking University

Following China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, intellectuals - including Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and Yan Fu - called for reforms to the country's education system. In June 1896, Minister Li Duanfen proposed to create a university in the capital. On 11 June 1898, the Guangxu Emperor, as part of the Hundred Days' Reform, authorised the creation of the Imperial University of Peking[22] (simplified Chinese: 京师大学堂; traditional Chinese: 京師大學堂; pinyin: Jīngshī Dàxuétáng; lit. 'Capital Grand Study Hall').[23] The Imperial University was formally established on 3 July 1898 when the emperor approved the royal charter written by Liang. Minister Sun Jianai was charged with the implementation. IUP served as the country's foremost institute for higher learning, but also as its highest educational authority.[22] William Alexander Parsons Martin was the first President.[23] Most of the reforms were abolished when the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi seized power on 21 September. The university survived with altered objectives and reduced scope. It opened on 31 December with 160 students, instead of the planned 500.[22]

In 1900, the university was paralyzed by the Boxer Rebellion, later in the year, the "Eight-Power Allied Forces" (八国联军) entered Beijing and the university's operating was continually suspended. In 1902, "Jingshitongwenguan", a school established by the Qing court in 1862 for foreign language learning was incorporated into the Imperial University of Peking. In 1904, the university sent 47 students to study abroad, which marked the first time for Chinese higher education institution to send students to foreign countries.

Following the Xinhai Revolution, the Imperial University of Peking was renamed "Government University of Peking" in 1912 and then "National University of Peking" in 1919[23] (simplified Chinese: 国立北京大学; traditional Chinese: 國立北京大學; pinyin: Guólì Běijīng Dàxué).

The noted scholar Cai Yuanpei was appointed president on January 4, 1917, and helped transform Peking University into the country's largest institution of higher learning, with 14 departments and an enrollment of more than 2,000 students. President Cai, inspired by the German model of academic freedom, introduced faculty governance and democratic management to the university. Cai recruited an intellectually diverse faculty that included some of the most prominent figures in the progressive New Culture Movement, including Hu Shih, Liu Bannong, Ma Yinchu, Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Lu Xun and Liang Shuming. Meanwhile, leading conservatives Gu Hongming and Huang Kan also taught at the university.[24] A firm supporter for freedom of thought, Cai advocated for educational independence and resigned several times protesting the government's policy and interference.

The faculty of Peking University Institute for Chinese Classics in 1924

Statue of Cai Yuanpei on Peking University's campus

Peking University students protesting the Treaty of Versallies in the May Fourth Movement.

On May 1, 1919, some students of Peking University learned that the Treaty of Versailles would allow Japan to receive Germany's colonising rights in Shandong province. An assembly at Peking University that included these students and representatives from other universities in Beijing was quickly organised. On May 4, students from thirteen universities marched to Tiananmen to protest the terms of Treaty of Versailles, demanded the Beiyang government to refuse to sign the treaty. Demonstrators also demanded the immediate resignation of three officials: Cao Rulin, Minister of the Ministry of Transportation, Zhang Zongxiang, China's Ambassador to Japan and Lu Zongyu, Minister of Currency, who they believed were in cooperation with Japanese. The protest ended up with some protesters being beaten and arrested, and Cao Rulin's house burned by protesters. Following the protest on May 4, students, workers and merchants from nearly all China's major cities went on strike and boycotted Japanese goods in China. The Beiyang government eventually agreed to release the arrested students and fired the three officials under intense public pressure, China's representatives in Paris refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.[25]

These protests, now known as the May Fourth Movement, has been widely regarded as one of the most important turning points in modern China's history. In its broader sense, the May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of radical Chinese intellectuals who went on to mobilize peasants and workers into the Communist party and gain the organizational strength that would solidify the success of the Communist Revolution.

Following the May Fourth Movement, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao cofounded the Communist Party of China, and Chen served as its first general secretary. Both Chen and Li served as faculty for Peking. Li served as a head librarian, and Chen served as Peking University's dean.

In 1920, Peking University became the first Chinese university to accept female students.

After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and the resulting expansion of Japanese territorial control in east China, Peking University was relocated to the southwestern city of Changsha and formed the Changsha Temporary University along with nearby schools Tsinghua University and Nankai University. In 1938, the three schools moved again, this time further southwest to Kunming, and formed the National Southwestern Associated University.

In 1946, after the Japanese surrender in World War II, Peking University moved back to Beijing. At that time, the university comprised six schools (Arts, Science, Law, Medicine, Engineering, and Agriculture), and a research institute for humanities. The total student enrollment grew up to 3,000.

In 1949, after the People's Republic of China was established, Peking University lost its "national" appellation to reflect the fact that all universities under the new socialist state would be public. In 1952, Mao Zedong's government re-grouped the country's higher education institutions with individual institutions tending to specialize in a certain field of study after the Soviet model. As a result, some arts and science faculties of Tsinghua University and former Yenching University were merged into Peking University. At the same time, however, the university lost its Law, Medicine, Engineering and Agriculture schools. These schools and faculties were either merged into other universities or to found new colleges. During the re-grouping, Yenching University was closed up. Peking University moved from downtown Beijing to the former Yenching campus.

The Gate of National Southwestern Associated University, China, in 1938.

Peking University's West Gate, one of the symbols of the university campus

The first disturbances of the Cultural Revolution began at Peking University in 1966; education there ceased between 1966 and 1970.

On May 4, 1998, at the 100th anniversary of Peking University, Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin announced that the government would initiate a national project to promote China's higher education by funding selected universities to achieve world-class level. The project was later named “985” based on the date of its announcement.

In 2000, Beijing Medical University was merged back into Peking University and became the Peking University Health Science Campus. Beijing Medical University, which used to be Medical School of Peking University, was separated from Peking University in 1952. Peking University now has eight affiliated hospitals and 12 teaching hospitals.

In 2001, Peking University established the Yuanpei Program. It was formalized in 2007 as the Yuanpei College, named in honor of the highly respected former university president Cai Yuanpei. The college hosts an elite undergraduate liberal arts program that allows students to freely choose specialisations. In the same year, Peking University set up a satellite campus for graduate students in Shenzhen. The university's second business school, Peking University HSBC Business School was launched on the Shenzhen campus in 2004.

In 2014, Peking University established the Yenching Academy, a fully funded global fellowship program designed "to cultivate leaders who will advocate for global progress and cultural understanding."

In October 2015, Peking University alumni Professor Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin. Having saved millions of lives, artemisinin has made significant contributions to global health in regard to the fight against malaria.[26]

On February 20, 2017, Peking University officially signed a contract with The Open University to establish the Oxford Campus of Peking University's HSBC business school, marking a turning point for the development of China's higher education.[27]

Many domestic rankings have placed Peking University among the top universities in mainland China.[46] In 2015, the Chinese University Alumni Association[47] in partnership with China Education Center considered it first among all Chinese universities.[46]

Peking had topped the newly launched Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies since its inception in 2014 before it lost that top spot to Tsinghua in 2019.[48][49] In 2018, Peking University was ranked 1st in China, 2nd in Asia-Pacific, and 27th in the world according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.[50] In the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017, an annual ranking of university graduates' employability, PKU was ranked 11th in the world.[51] Peking University was among the top 20 most reputation universities in the world by the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings where, since 2017, it has ranked 17th globally.[52]

The 2020 CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked Peking University at 8th in the world based on their publications for the time period 2015–2018.[53] For the high quality of research in natural science and life science, Peking University ranked 10th among the leading institutions globally in the Nature Index 2020 Annual Tables by Nature Research.[54] In 2020, it ranked 13th among the universities around the world by SCImago Institutions Rankings.[55]

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021 ranked Peking University 23rd in the world and 2nd in China & Asia-Pacific, with its teaching and research performance indicators placed at 8th and 13th globally, which are historical strengths for the university.[56][57] The U.S. News & World Report ranked Peking University 51st in the world, 5th in Asia and 2nd in China.[58] QS World University Rankings ranked Peking University 23rd in the world and 5th in Asia.[59] Peking University was also ranked 15th in the world and 1st in Asia in the The Three University Missions Ranking.[60] Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as the "Shanghai Ranking", placed Peking University 49th in the world, 4th in Asia, and 2nd in China.[61] The Research Base of Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Center also placed Peking University 2nd in China,[62] demonstrating the academic and research prowess of the University.

The Peking University Library has always strived towards: “Open Inclusiveness, Cultural Inheritance, Innovative Services, and Harmonious Development.”[63] The Library aims to become a modern world-class library with state-of-the-art facilities, modern technology, and ample resources for the students. With these goals in mind, the library hopes to build Peking University into a world-class university.

The Library has developed through many stages over these past hundred years. The Library is constantly evolving, expanding its collections and improving the facilities and equipment. With its new historical-yet-modern exterior, the Peking University Library is one of the most representative buildings on campus. It is also widely known as one of the most significant libraries in the country.

The Peking University Library chronicles the very life of Peking University, from the dedicated staff, to the perseverance of the students. It shall record the proud achievements in its books, and also compel us to continue our dream-chasing efforts.[64]

According to CUAA's 2015 ranking of notable alumni in politics, Peking University has produced the most notable politicians among all universities in China.[90] As of 2017, 88 Peking University alumni currently serve in the government at vice-ministerial positions or higher.[91] Notable alumni include two of the seven member Standing Committee of the CPC, current premier of China Li Keqiang,[92] current vice premier of China Hu Chunhua,[93] current Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhao Leji, and former minister of commerce, Bo Xilai.[94]

Notable alumni in the sciences include Nobel laureate Tu Youyou, who for her work in discovering artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin used to treat malaria, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura;[95] nuclear physicists and contributors to Chinese nuclear weapons program Qian Sanqiang and Deng Jiaxian, and "father of the Chinese hydrogen bomb" physicist Yu Min, nuclear physicist Zhu Guangya, particle physicist and discoverer of the partial conservation of the axial current, Zhou Guangzhao; mathematician and MacArthur Fellow Yitang Zhang,[96] neurosurgeon Wang Zhongcheng, pulmonologist and recipient of the Medal of the Republic, Zhong Nanshan,[97] and chief economist of the World Bank, Justin Yifu Lin.[98]

Notable alumni in the arts include author Lu Xun, philosopher and essayist Hu Shih,[99] polymath Lin Yutang, philosopher Liang Shuming, Qing-dynasty educator Gu Hongming, anthropologist Fei Xiaotong, translator Li Bulou, computer scientist Wang Xuan, and author Jin Yong.[100] Notable international alumni include emeritus professor and linguist Michael Halliday,[101] author Julia Ebner,[102] and polymath and fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and Royal Society of Arts, Symington W. Smith.[103]

Notable alumni in business include co-founder and CEO of Baidu, billionaire Robin Li,[104] and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun.[105]

Other notable alumni include chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion, and Rhodes Scholar Hou Yifan.[106]

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  Gu Hongming, translator and educator.
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  Lu Xun, leading figure of modern Chinese literature.
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  Hu Shih, influential Chinese philosopher and essayist.
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  Lin Yutang, Chinese writer, linguist, inventor, and translator.
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  Liang Shuming, philosopher.
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  Nuclear physicist and key contributor to the Chinese nuclear weapon program Deng Jiaxian.
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  Fei Xiaotong, sociologist and anthropologist.
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  Nuclear physicist and leading organizer of the Chinese nuclear weapon program, Qian Sanqiang.
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  Current Premier of China, Li Keqiang (LLB, PhD)
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  Nobel laureate Tu Youyou, pharmaceutical chemist and educator, recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
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  Polymath and fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Society of Arts, Symington W. Smith (BA, Linguistics, 2018)
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  Co-founder and CEO of Baidu, billionaire Robin Li (BSc, Information Management, 1991)
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  Chess grandmaster and four-time Women's World Chess Champion, Hou Yifan (BA, International Relations, 2018)
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  Mathematician and MacArthur Fellow Yitang Zhang (BA 1982, MA 1984)

Peking University has benefited from the services of notable academics and staff. These include founder of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong (who worked as a librarian at the university),[107][lower-alpha 1] educator, politician, and revolutionary Cai Yuanpei[108] (served as Chancellor of Peking University), and others.