Peking University

Peking University is the maiden modern national university of China. Established on July 3, 1898, the site of Peking University is a heritage site. Included in the prestigious C9 League, it was earlier known as the ‘Imperial University of Peking’. The league is an association of the top distinguished Chinese universities. The other members of the C9 group (in an alphabetical order) are the Fudan University, the Harbin Institute of Technology, the Nanjing University, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Tsinghua University, the University of Science and Technology of China, the Xi’an Jiao Tong University and the Zhejiang University. The league grooms three per cent of China’s researchers, produces 30% of the total citations and 20% of the publications required for academic purposes. It enjoys 10% of the Chinese Government’s research funds.

RANKING: The Chinese University Alumni Association and the China Education Center jointly declared Peking University as the first among national universities in 2010. The China University Ranking deemed it second behind the Tsinghua University.

While the independent regional QS Asian University Rankings (2013) ranked Peking University in the fifth position; the QS World University Rankings (2013/14) gave it the 46th rank. On the other hand, ARWU (2013) placed it at among 151st-200th globally and 1st-5th in China. The Times World Reputation Rankings and its Higher Education World University Rankings placed Peking University at 45th in the world in their latest league tables.

ACADEMICS: Peking University has 173 specialties for research scholars, 199 for Master’s Degree students, two fro second Bachelor’s degree, and 93 for undergraduates in its 30 colleges and 12 departments. A national key university, Peking University has a reputation in both basic and applied sciences research and teaching. It has 12 national key laboratories, 81 key national disciplines, and 216 research centers and research institutions including two national engineering research centers.

The university library with 4.5 million assets is the largest in Asia. The university has dovetailed its research on fundamental scientific issues with high degree of specialized knowledge wedded to professional training of personnel to man the country’s growing demand for developmental activities.

The universities departments are as diverse as social sciences and humanities, and sciences of management and education, besides pure & applied sciences.

HISTORY: The Peking University replaced the Guozijian in 1898. The Guozijian was the Imperial College or the Imperial Academy during the regimes of the three dynasties of the Yuan, the Ming, and the Qing. It was the main national higher seat of learning in the traditional Chinese style. The Chinese Emperors used to read the Confucian works to hundreds of students studying there. The Beijing Guozijian was the last such traditional college in China.

The major numbers of the Beijing Guozijian buildings were constructed during the Ming reign. These structures are a vital component of the rich Chinese heritage. The Quing Dynasty disbanded the Guozijian in 1898 during the Hundred Days’ Reform. In its place was set up the Imperial Capital University, which is often also called the Imperial University of Peking. Subsequently, it was christened as the Peking University. Within a span about two decades, the university became the epicenter of progressive thoughts. Today Peking University is not only one of the best academic hubs but also a cultural epicenter and known for its traditional heritage buildings. Peking University was the birthplace of several socio-political and cultural movements of China like the New Culture Movement, May Fourth Movement, and the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989 among others.

Among its alumni and guest speakers are several eminent Chinese thinkers. Mention may be made of (in an alphabetical order) Chen Duxiu, Gu Hongming, Hu Shih, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, and Mao Zedong. Over the past century, at least 400 of its alumni have become presidents of other prominent national universities. Mention can be made of Chinese University of Science and Technology President Guan Weiyan, Nankai University President Teng Weizao, Fudan University President Zhang Zhirang, Zhejiang University President Qian Sanqiang, Renmin University President Yuan Baohua, and former Tsinghua President Luo Jialun among others.

The Faculty of Education was taken away from the Imperial University to create the country’s finest teacher training college – the Beijing Normal University – in 1902. After a decade in 1912, the university was rechristened National Peking University. This was fallout of the Xinhai Revolution. Eminent academician Cai Yuanpei adorned the chair of president of the institution on 4 January 1917. Under his able guidance, the organization matured into the largest seat of higher learning in the country. Its 14 departments had a total enrollment of 2,000 students then. Influenced greatly by the German model of freedom in academics, Cai included among his faculty members innovative, and free thinking scholars like Chen Duxiu, Hu Shih, and Lu Xun. Cai tendered his resignation in 1919 when the Beiyang Government took the extreme step of trying to seal off the campus to halt the protesters of the May Fourth Movement the majority of whom were students of the university.

In 1920, Peking University admitted female students and thus became the second university after Nanjing University to take such a step.

Peking University shifted to Chansha in the south central part of China in 1937 to steer clear of the expansionism of Japan in east China following the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese War. The capital city of Hunan, Changsha is situated on the lower reaches of the river Xiang, a tributary of the Yangtze River. It joined hands with Nankai University and Tsinghua University to constitute the Changsha Temporary University there. In 1938, the trio shifted to Kunming to set up the National Southwestern Associated University. Peking University returned to its original moorings in Beijing after World War II in 1946. The university then had a research institute for humanities besides the following six schools with the university: Agriculture, Arts, Engineering, Law, Medicine, and Science. The number of students also rose to 3,000.

The year, 1952, brought about lots of changes in Peking University following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Peking University lost its “national” tag under the socialist pattern when all seats of learning went public. That very year, the Yenching University got merged with Peking University. The university moved from the heart of Beijing to its earlier location in Yenching. The forestry department was merged with the faculty from the Beijing Agricultural University and the Tsinghua University to form the Beijing Forestry University. For four years from 1966 after the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, there was no academic activity in the university. The spark of the revolt was lighted at the university.

The Beijing Medical University was merged with Peking University to constitute the Peking University Health Science Campus in 2000. The campus is located at that area where all the prestigious colleges and universities have a presence. It is on the Xue Yuan Road beyond the primary campus of the university. Today, Peking University has 12 teaching hospitals and eight affiliated hospitals. The university established a satellite campus in Shenzhen in 2001 while the institution’s second business school in 2004. That same year, the university opened the Shenzhen Graduate School in the northwestern portion of the Shenzhen metropolis.

INTERNATIONAL TIEUPS: Stanford University, England, is a key partner of Peking University. One of the most prestigious and popular programs for Stanford University, it encourages Stanford students to explore Chinese culture and heritage on the university campus. This Asian cultural studies course is known as the Stanford-Peking University Summer Program.

Another important inter-university international tie-up of Peking University is with the University of Chicago under the Another important inter-university of Peking University is with the University of Chicago under the Center for the Art of East Asia (CAEA). This is a joint research project with the UNESCO.

PUBLICATIONS: Peking University has brought several path-breaking books like the A History of Contemporary Chinese Literature authored by Hong Zicheng. Its publication department has made significant contribution to world and Chinese literature.

THE MUSEUMS: Among the many museums located within the campus of Peking University, the significant two are the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology and the Museum of University History. Among the treasures are the excavated funerary items from the royal graves dating back to thousands of years of the period when there were ferocious clashes among the states. Mention may be made of the elaborate jewelry pieces, ritual pottery vessels besides the burials arranged in the traditional mode with human bones.

THE CAMPUS: The picturesque Peking University complex is located beside the Old Summer Palace and the Summer Palace. Its neighbor is the Tsinghua University which too has a beautiful campus. The Weiming Lake is to the north of the campus and is surrounded by manicured mini gardens and footpaths.

The site was earlier the location of royal gardens of the Qing Dynasty. This area still retains the heritage structures with the traditional landscaping dotted with pagodas, typical Chinese houses and gardens besides several historical structures and buildings. Three gates – namely the South, East and West — make way to the campus. The painted murals on the West Gate ceiling have been attracting tourists. This area was one of the most preferred spots of the emperors for constructing gardens and other architectural marvels reflecting the Chinese culture and heritage.

The original complex of the university was actually located north of the Forbidden City at the heart of Beijing. In 1952, the university complex was shifted to the earlier campus of Yenching University. The principal campus of Peking University is in Haidian district in northwest Beijing – the site of several other prominent educational institutions including universities.

Academic & Department

• School of Chemical Engineering


• School of Petrochemical Engineering


• School of Electronic and Information Engineering


• School of Civil & Hydraulic Engineering


• School of Optoelectronic Information


• School of Management


• School of Mechanical Engineering


• School of Naval Architecture Engineering


• School of Humanities and Social Sciences


• Faculty of Vehicle Engineering and Mechanics


• School of Architecture and Fine Arts


• School of Software


• School of Environmental and Biological Science and Technology


• School of Foreign Languages


• School of Materials Science and Engineering


• School of Energy and Power Engineering


• School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology


• Department of Applied Mathematics


• Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering


• Department of Economy


• Department of Physical Education


• School of International Cultural Exchange


• School of National Defence Education


• City Institute


• School of Continuing Education


• Graduate School