Peking University was founded in 1898 as the Imperial University of Peking during the late Qing Dynasty, as part of the Hundred Days' Reform to modernize education in China. It was reorganized after the 1911 Revolution and became a central institution in the May Fourth Movement of 1919, promoting new culture, science, and democracy. The university relocated several times during wartime periods, merged with Yenching University in 1952 under the national restructuring of higher education, and has since developed into a comprehensive research university while maintaining its role in Chinese intellectual and political history.
Peking University's main campus is located in Haidian District, northwest Beijing, covering approximately 303 hectares with two primary sections: the traditional Yan Yuan (Weiming Lake area) featuring historic buildings, classical Chinese gardens, Boya Pagoda, and the Weiming Lake, and the modern Changping campus for newer facilities. The Yan Yuan campus includes preserved Qing-era architecture, libraries, museums, and residential quarters integrated with green spaces and lakes. Additional sites support specific programs, with the campus connected by public transport and featuring a blend of traditional and contemporary Chinese architecture.
Peking University is governed by the University Council as the highest decision-making body responsible for major policies, strategy, and oversight, with the President serving as the chief executive and legal representative. The current President is Gong Qihuang, who has held the position since June 2022. As a public university under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, it operates with significant autonomy in academic and administrative matters, supported by national funding, an endowment, and research grants, while including a Party Committee that oversees ideological and political affairs.
Peking University is organized into faculties and schools covering humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, medicine, economics, law, education, environmental science, and others, along with numerous research institutes and national key laboratories. It offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs with emphasis on research, interdisciplinary studies, and liberal education through its Yuanpei College model. The university consistently ranks among the world's top institutions, placing 14th in the QS World University Rankings 2026, 13th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, and first or second in most domestic rankings in China, with strengths in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and emerging fields such as artificial intelligence and life sciences.
Peking University enrolls approximately fifty thousand students, including around thirty-five thousand undergraduates and fifteen thousand graduate students, with a diverse domestic and international community. Most students live in on-campus dormitories organized into residential colleges or departments, providing meals, community activities, and support services. Student life includes over four hundred student organizations covering academic societies, cultural groups, sports teams, volunteering, and arts, along with campus events, lectures by prominent figures, access to Beijing's cultural and historical sites, and participation in national traditions such as sports meets and academic festivals in a highly academic and intellectually active environment.
Professors at Peking University
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