Beida Dahane

Peking University (PKU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. It is also a member in the C9 League.

Established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 by a royal charter from the Guangxu Emperor, it is the second oldest university in China after Tianjin University (established in 1895). In May 1912, the government of the Republic of China ordered the Imperial University of Peking to be renamed Peking University. Then Peking University merged with Yenching University during the nationwide restructuring of universities and academic departments in 1952. In April 2000, the Beijing Medical University merged with the Peking University.

Peking University has six faculties, namely Humanities, Social Sciences, Economics and Management, Science, Information Technology and Engineering, as well as Health Science. It consists of 55 schools and departments, 60 research entities, and ten affiliated hospitals. By 2017, Peking University's staff include 76 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and 25 members of the World Academy of Sciences.

History

Establishment

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 (). 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. William Alexander Parsons Martin was appointed as the first president. 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.

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 ().

Early Republic of China period (1916–1927)

The noted scholar Cai Yuanpei was appointed president on 4 January 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. A firm supporter for freedom of thought, Cai advocated for educational independence and resigned several times protesting the Republic of China (1912–1949), government's policy and interference.

On 1 May 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 4 May, 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 and Communications (Taiwan), 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 4 May, 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.During the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign of 1973 to 1976, critique groups formed at Peking University and Tsinghua University disseminated commentaries under the pseudonym of "Liang Xiao". The pseudonym sounds like a person's name but is a homophone for "two schools".

World War Two (1938–1946)

During the Second World War, Peking University staff joined Tsinghua University and Nankai University staff in establishing the National Southwestern Associated University. Based in Kunming, Yunnan, this institution saw a period of high productivity that would shape the course of Chinese intellectual history and its reconstruction post-war.

21st century (2000–present)

In October 2015, Peking University alumnus and 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.

On 20 February 2017, the university officially signed a contract with the Open University to establish the Oxford Campus of Peking University HSBC Business School, Peking University Oxford Center and Shenzhen Oxford Innovation Center.

On 29 June 2020, the Sino-Russian Mathematics Center was established. The Sino-Russian Mathematics Center is led by Peking University and Moscow State University, and jointly constructed by relevant domestic units and other Russian universities and research institutes such as Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg University, relying on the "Double First-class" construction alliance in mathematics.

On 2 April 2021, Peking University Nanchang Innovation Research Institute was inaugurated.

On 15 July 2021, Peking University School of Integrated Circuitswas inaugurated.

On 6 September 2021, the new Changping District, Changping campus of Peking University was officially opened, welcoming the first batch of teachers and students. On 30 September, Peking University Lanyuan Centre was officially launched. The first dean of Lanyuan Centre is Ke Yang, Professor of Peking University School of Clinical Oncology and a foreign academician of the American Academy of Medical Sciences. In October, Peking University officially announced the establishment of Peking University School of Computer Science, which means the computer major of Peking University was officially upgraded from a department to a school. Yang Fuqing, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, served as the honorary president.

In 2022, Peking University and The Lancet, Lancet established a commission on healthy Aging of China, aging in China. The Commission's purpose is to re-focus the debate on aging not just on the risks of China's aging population but on opportunities by "unleashing the intellectual and vocational capacities of the older population and the whole of Chinese society."

In June 2022, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) released the first series of "Healthy Campus" list. Peking University, as the only Chinese university that has obtained platinum certification from the International University Sports Federation, participated in 4 projects and became the only representative from China among 130 projects worldwide.

Campus

The university campus is on the former site of Qing dynasty imperial gardens and it retains traditional Chinese-style landscaping, including traditional houses, gardens, pagodas, and notable historical buildings and structures. American architect and art historian Talbot Hamlin designed some of the university's buildings constructed during the 1919 to 1922 period. There are several gates that lead into campus — East, West and South gates, with the West Gate being the most well known for the painted murals on its ceiling. Weiming Lake is in the north of the campus and is surrounded by walking paths and small gardens. The university hosts many museums, such as the Museum of University History and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology. Notable items in these museums include funerary objects that were excavated in Beijing and date back thousands of years from the graves of royals of the Warring States period. There are ritual pottery vessels as well as elaborate pieces of jewelry on display. There are also human bones set up in the traditional burial style of that period.

Beyond its main campus, Peking University Health Science Center (PKUHSC) is on Xueyuan Road where the country's most distinguished colleges are, and is a fitting site for academics and research.

During the Third Front (China), Third Front construction, Peking University opened a branch in Hanzhong, Shaanxi.

In 2001, Peking University's Shenzhen campus, the Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen Graduate School, opened its doors. The campus is located in the northwest part of Shenzhen City.

File:Winter in Peking University Winter in 2013.jpeg, Peking University during winter. The campus is situated on a former imperial garden.
File:北大的秋天.jpg, Peking University during the autumn
File:10 Peking University.jpg, The College of Architecture and Landscape
File:北京大学，未名湖畔，博雅塔.jpg, Boya Pagoda
File:The Lee Shau Kee Humanities Buildings 1.jpg, The Humanities Buildings
File:PekingUniversitycampus1.jpg, A stone bridge inside the campus
File:Building, Peking University, 2011042204.jpg, A gymnasium building
File:Peking University West Gate.jpg, Peking University West Gate
File:PekingUniversityPic11.jpg, Peking University's Peking University Library, Main Library
File:Weiming lake peking university.jpg, Weiming Lake occupies the central part of the campus of Peking University
File:北京慈济寺遗址 2021-06-18.jpg, The old site of the Ciji Temple at the Weiming Lake
File:PKUsciencebuilding.jpg, Peking University's Science Teaching Building
File:School of International Studies, Peking University 20120715.jpg, School of International Studies
File:College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering.jpg, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering
File:北大的春天.jpg, Peking University during the spring. Flowers are blooming everywhere.
File:School of Archaeology and Museology .jpg, School of Archaeology and Museology
File:Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Peking University.JPG, Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Arts and Archaeology
File:Department of History .jpg, Department of History
File:School of Life Sciences.jpg, School of Life Sciences
File:Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research.jpg, Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research
File:Department of Chinese Language and Literature.jpg, Department of Chinese Language and Literature

Academics

Peking University consists of 30 schools and 12 departments, with 125 majors for undergraduates, 2 majors for the second bachelor's degree, 282 programs for Master's degree candidates and 258 programs for Doctorate, doctoral candidates. In addition to basic research, the university also conducts Applied science, applied research.

At present, Peking University has 216 research institutions and research centres, including 2 national engineering research centers, 81 key national disciplines, and 12 national key laboratories. With 8 million holdings, the university library is the largest of its kind in Asia.

Peking University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University jointly administer the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Over the past century, some Peking University alumni have become presidents of other major Chinese universities, including former Tsinghua University, Tsinghua President Luo Jialun, Renmin University President Yuan Baohua, Zhejiang University President Qian Sanqiang, Fudan University President Zhang Zhirang, Nankai University President Teng Weizao, Chinese University of Science and Technology President Guan Weiyan and many others.

Rankings and reputation

General rankings

Several rankings have placed Peking University among the top universities in mainland China. In 2015, the Chinese University Alumni Association in partnership with China Education Center considered it first among all List of universities in China, Chinese universities.

, Peking University was ranked the best in the Asia-Pacific and the 16th worldwide in terms of aggregate performance (Times Higher Education World University Rankings, THE+Academic Ranking of World Universities, ARWU+QS World University Rankings, QS) as reported by the ''Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities''.

The joint ''Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings, THE-QS World University Rankings'' 2005 & 2006 ranked Peking University 1st in the Asia & Oceania region and 14th in the world in 2006. In 2014, the ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Peking University 39th in the world, 2nd in the Asia-Pacific and 1st in China. Peking had topped the newly launched ''Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies'' since its inception in 2014.

The 2023 QS World University Rankings, QS Rankings ranked Peking University 12th in the world and first in Asia. , the Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked Peking University 13th in the world, with its teaching and research environment indicators placed at 9th and 7th in the world respectively. Peking University was also ranked 15th in the world and 1st in the Asia-Pacific in The Three University Missions Ranking. The Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as the "Shanghai Ranking", placed Peking University 24th in the world and 2nd in the Asia-Pacific & China. As of 2025, the ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Peking University 25th in the world, 3rd in the Asia-Pacific and 2nd in China.

In the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017, an annual ranking of university graduates' employability, Peking University was ranked 11th in the world and 2nd in Asia. In 2019, the QS World University Rankings ranked the university as one of the world's top 20 universities for academic reputation where, it ranked 16 globally, and top 10 in the world and first in the Asia-Pacific for employer reputation. Since 2017, Peking has been placed among the world's top 20 most reputable universities by the ''Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings,'' where it ranked 11 globally in 2023.

Research Performance

The 2020 CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked Peking University at 8th in the world based on their publications for the time period 2015–2018. For the high quality of research in natural science and health science, Peking University ranked 5th among the leading institutions, and 4th among the leading universities globally in the ''Nature Index 2025 Research Leaders'' by Nature Research. In 2024, it ranked 7th among the universities around the world by ''SCImago Institutions Rankings''. In November 2024, Clarivate Analytics ranked Peking University 12th in the world for the most Highly Cited Researchers program, Highly Cited Researchers.

Subjects Rankings

List of schools

Library

On 24 October 2018, Peking University Library, the largest library among Asian universities, held the opening ceremony of the 120th anniversary at the Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center.

National School of Development

The National School of Development (formerly China Center for Economic Research) is ranked amongst the top five most influential think tanks in China.

In 1998, Justin Yifu Lin et al. jointly founded the Beijing International MBA at Peking University (BiMBA), which is ranked among the top six MBA programs by Quacquarelli Symonds in its TopMBA ranking of the best MBA programs in Asia Pacific for the year 2014–2015. BiMBA has also been ranked as the second most valuable full-time MBA in China by Forbes (after CEIBS) and among Asia's best business schools by Bloomberg Business.

Shenzhen Graduate School

Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School is a satellite campus of Peking University located in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It was founded in September 2001 in collaboration with the Shenzhen Municipal Government and is located in University Town of Shenzhen along with Tsinghua University, Tsinghua University Shenzhen International Graduate School and Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) campus. Dr. Wen Hai, a renowned economist in China and the vice-president of Peking University is the present chancellor of PKU Shenzhen. The graduate school houses several research schools including, Peking University HSBC Business School and Peking University School of Transnational Law.

On 29 August 2016, Peking University signed a strategic agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to further develop its Shenzhen Graduate School, the university plans build a brand new campus near the existed graduate school and open undergraduate programs.

International cooperation

Every year, there are approximately 7,000 international students studying at Peking University.

Peking University offers Double degree, dual degree programs at the Bachelor's degree, bachelor's, Master's degree, master's, and Doctorate, doctoral levels with the renowned Waseda University (早稲田大学) in Northeast Asia. It is one of the most engaged partners with Waseda, having established a strong cooperative relationship of the highest level. This partnership began with an academic agreement in 1982, enhancing dual degree programs and joint research initiatives since 2003. Under the PKU-Waseda project, each year, the university selects undergraduates to spend their third year studying at Waseda University in Japan, and then they return to Peking University for their fourth year. Simultaneously, Waseda University sends numerous students to Peking University as exchange students. Upon graduation, students receive two bachelor's degrees, one from each university. Additionally, joint master's student training programs and dual doctoral degree programs with Waseda University are also in operation. The comprehensive collaboration of offering dual degrees at all Bachelor's degree, bachelor's, Master's degree, master's, and Doctorate, doctoral levels, as seen in the Peking-Waseda partnership, is rare on a global scale.

The dormitories for international students at the main campus are located at ''Shaoyuan Garden'' (勺园) and ''Zhongguanyuan Global Village'' (中关新园). Its international students are made up of students from most countries in the world including most of Western Europe, North America, and South America, Asia, Australia and many countries in Africa. In 2005, Peking University and Cornell University signed an agreement formally establishing the China and Asia-Pacific Studies major at Cornell, which requires students to spend a semester studying at Peking University while working at internships. In 2006, PKU launched a joint undergraduate program with Yale University in which students will spend a semester overseas, living and studying together with the host institute's students. PKU's School of International Studies also launched joint degree programs with London School of Economics, Paris School of International Affairs, Seoul National University, and the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo, University of Tokyo. PKU also has a longstanding relationship with Stanford University which operates a joint research center and base for Stanford students and scholars at the Stanford Center at Peking University, located in the Lee Jung Sen Building. The Peking University HSBC Business School has joint degree programs with University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong. The university has maintained a partnership with the Freie Universität Berlin since 1981 and the Higher School of Economics since 2015, and in 2019, became a partner of Washington University in St. Louis through the McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

Global excellence strategy

On the 121st founding anniversary, Peking University unveiled the "Global Excellence Strategy", an international blueprint aiming to enhance Peking University's global presence during the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". The "Global Excellence Strategy" aims to strengthen international cooperation, overcome development barriers, gather global resources, and stimulate collegial relationships. The Global Excellence Strategy is based upon the English word "CLOUDS", representing the "cloud era" of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". Each letter stands for a corresponding word, namely creativity, leadership, openness, uniqueness, diversity and shaping.

Art research

Peking University has participated in many joint art-research projects, such as the Center for the Art of East Asia (CAEA) with the University of Chicago, and Department of Digital Art and Design with UNESCO.

Notable people

Notable alumni

Notable alumni include the current chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, CCP Politburo Standing Committee Zhao Leji. Other alumni in politics include former premier of China Li Keqiang, former vice premier of China Hu Chunhua, former minister of Education, Chen Baosheng; current Chief Executive of Macao, Sam Hou Fai; former minister of Natural resources, Wang Guanghua; current Minister of the United Front Work Department, Shi Taifeng, former Governor of the Central Bank of China, Yi Gang, former Interpol-president, Meng Hongwei, and former minister of commerce and Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing, Bo Xilai.

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 (scientist), William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura; nuclear physicists and contributors to Chinese nuclear weapons program Qian Sanqiang and Deng Jiaxian, and "father of the Chinese hydrogen bomb" physicist Yu Min (physicist), Yu Min, nuclear physicist Zhu Guangya, particle physicist and discoverer of the partial conservation of the axial current, Zhou Guangzhao; mathematician and MacArthur Fellows Program, MacArthur Fellow Yitang Zhang, neurosurgeon Wang Zhongcheng, pulmonologist and recipient of the Order of the Republic (China), Medal of the Republic, Zhong Nanshan, and chief economist of the World Bank, Justin Yifu Lin.

Notable alumni in the humanities and arts include author Lu Xun, philosopher and essayist Hu Shih, polymath Lin Yutang, philosopher Liang Shuming, Qing-dynasty educator Gu Hongming, anthropologist Fei Xiaotong, translator Li Bulou, computer scientist Wang Xuan (computer scientist), Wang Xuan, and author Jin Yong. Notable international alumni include emeritus professor and linguist Michael Halliday, author Julia Ebner, and philosopher Professor Li Chenyang.

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

Other notable alumni include chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion, and Rhodes Scholarship, Rhodes Scholar Hou Yifan.
File:Gu hongming.jpg, Gu Hongming, translator and educator.
File:LuXun1930.jpg, Lu Xun, leading figure of modern Chinese literature.
File:Hu Shih 1960.jpg, Hu Shih, influential Chinese philosopher and essayist.
File:Portrait of Lin Yutang LCCN2004663768.jpg, Lin Yutang, Chinese writer, linguist, inventor, and translator.
File:Liang Shuming2.jpg, Liang Shuming, philosopher.
File:Deng Jiaxian 1949.jpg, Nuclear physicist and key contributor to the Chinese nuclear weapon program Deng Jiaxian.
File:Fei Xiaotong 01.jpg, Fei Xiaotong, sociologist and anthropologist.
File:钱三强何泽慧.jpg, Nuclear physicist and leading organizer of the Chinese nuclear weapon program, Qian Sanqiang.
File:Li Keqiang-19052015.png, Former Premier of China, Li Keqiang (LLB, PhD)
File:Tu Youyou 5056-2015.jpg, Nobel laureate Tu Youyou, pharmaceutical chemist and educator, recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
File:Robin Li at the Web 2.0 Summit 2010 (cropped).jpg, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu, billionaire Robin Li (BSc, Information Management, 1991)
File:Hou Yifan (29762728494) (cropped).jpg, Four-time Women's World Chess Champion, Hou Yifan (BA, International Relations, 2018)
File:Ding Liren 1, Candidates Tournament 2018.jpg, World Chess Champion and highest-rated Chinese chess player in history, Ding Liren (BA, Law)
File:Yitang Zhang.jpg, Mathematician and MacArthur Fellow Yitang Zhang (BA 1982, MA 1984)
File:A speaking engagement photo of Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph at University of Lagos.jpg, Philosopher, national debate champion, co-founder and CEO of Kippa (company), Kippa, Kennedy Ekezie (MA, Economics and Management)

Notable academics and staff

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 library staff at the university, as first claimed in Edward Snow's Red Star Over China. Although Mao audited classes while working at PKU, he was not a formally enrolled student and did not graduate from the university.

The university's second president was educator, politician, and revolutionary Cai Yuanpei, who was the first to bring European university concept to China after a stint at Free University of Berlin and fought for the school to be named "Beijing Daxue". Cai equally protected the freedom of expression of his staff and students, allowing a plethora of influential journals, including New Youth and New Tide. Peking University students participated heavily in the May Fourth Movement, spurned and sometimes also held back by staff from the time.

More recently, the university has been home to influential economist Michael Pettis.

See also

* 7072 Beijingdaxue – asteroid named after Peking University
* Affiliated High School of Peking University
* Beijing Guozijian
* China Family Panel Studies
* History of Beijing

Notes

References

Further reading

* Lin, Xiaoqing Diana (2005). ''Peking University: Chinese Scholarship and Intellectuals, 1898–1937''. State University of New York Press. .

External links

Official English Website
*

Peking University Alumni Association

{{Authority control

Peking University,
1898 establishments in China
Ancient universities
C9 League
Plan 111
Project 211
Project 985
Universities and colleges established in 1898
Universities and colleges in Beijing
Universities and colleges in Haidian District
Vice-ministerial universities in China