The School of Liberal Arts at Nanjing University, formerly known as the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, is one of the oldest and strongest academic departments at Nanjing University. Its history can be traced back to the Sanjiang Normal School established in 1902 and the Fowler Biblical School established by the American Christian Church in Nanjing in 1888. Although there was no formal department at the time, the first president of the Fowler Biblical School , Mr. Ferguson, was a bachelor of literature and Mr. Li Ruiqing, a late Qing dynasty jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and the supervisor (principal) of the Sanjiang Normal School, was an educator who “advocated for Chinese studies, science, and art with utmost effort”. Both schools designated Chinese language and literature, the foundation of middle school and traditional Chinese education, as the main required courses for all students. Later, Mr. Hu Xiaoshi, a famous master of traditional Chinese studies, Mr. Chen Zhongfan, a famous historian of Chinese opera, and Mr. Lv Fengzi, a famous master of Chinese painting, were all graduates of Sanjiang Normal School and taught at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Nanjing University. In 1912, the National Government promulgated and implemented the “Renzi Education System” (This educational system is similar to the French and German educational systems, with three types of education systems: general, vocational, and teacher education. Teacher education is completely public and students are free of charge). According to this system, in 1914, the Department of Chinese Language and Literature was officially established at Nanjing Higher Normal School, which was one of the earliest Chinese language departments established in modern Chinese higher education history.
In the second year of its establishment (1915), the Chinese Language and Literature Department began to enroll undergraduate (4-year) and junior college (2-year) students. It later went through several development stages, including National Southeast University (1920-1927), Fourth Sun Yat-sen University (1927-1928), Jiangsu University (1928), and National Central University (1928-1949). In August 1949, it was renamed National Nanjing University and the following year, according to a decision by the State Council, the “National” was dropped and it was directly renamed “Nanjing University”. Meanwhile, the Fowler Biblical School merged with the Union Christian College and was renamed Private University of Nanking in 1910. In the same year, the Chinese Language and Literature Department was established. The Union Christian College was formed by the merger in 1906 of the Christ College established in 1891 and the Presbyterian Academy established in 1894. In 1951, the University of Nanking and Ginling College merged to become University of Nanking. In 1952, during the national departmental adjustment, the Arts and Sciences Colleges of Nanjing University and University of Nanking merged, laying the foundation for today’s Nanjing University. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, formerly under the Ministry of Higher Education, and now under the State Education Commission. The Chinese Language and Literature Departments of the two universities merged to become the current Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Nanjing University. In 2007, it was renamed the School of Liberal Arts at Nanjing University.
For over a hundred years, a group of masters and renowned scholars of traditional Chinese culture, such as Li Ruiqing, Huang Kan, Wu Mei, Fang Guangdao, Hu Xiaoshi, Wang Bijiang, Chen Zhongfan, Pan Zhonggui, Yang Hui, Tang Guizhang, Lv Shuxiang, Luo Genze, Chen Baichen, Chen Shouzhu, Cheng Qianfan, etc., have successively taught at our school, with thousands of graduates produced at all levels.
E-mail:wxywg@nju.edu.cn
Tel:+86-25-89683393
School of Liberal Arts Nanjing University(https://chin.nju.edu.cn/)
