Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University (sometimes abbreviated as THU) is a research university located in Beijing, China, and one of the nine members in the C9 League. The institution was originally established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua College" and had been renamed several times since then: from "Tsinghua School" which was used one year after its establishment, to "National Tsinghua University" which was adopted three years after the foundation of its university section in 1925. With its motto of Self-Discipline and Social Commitment, Tsinghua University describes itself as being dedicated to academic excellence, the well-being of Chinese society and to global development. In both domestic and international university rankings, Tsinghua University has consistently been ranked as one of the top institutions of higher learning in mainland China along with Peking University.

In the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion, American Secretary of State John Hay suggested that the US $30 million plus Boxer indemnity paid to the United States was excessive. After several negotiations, President Theodore Roosevelt obtained congressional approval in 1909 to reduce the Qing Dynasty indemnity payment by US$10.8 million, on the condition that the said fund was to be used as scholarship for Chinese students to study in the United States. Using this fund, the Tsinghua College was established in Beijing, on 29 April 1911 on the site of a former royal garden belonging to a prince.It was first a preparatory school for students later sent by the government to study in the United States. The faculty members for sciences were recruited by the YMCA from the United States and its graduates transferred directly to American schools as juniors upon graduation. In 1925, the school established its College Department and started its research institute on Chinese studies.

Tsinghua University has been constantly placed as one of the top two universities in mainland China by most domestic and international rankings, along with Peking University. Nationally, it had been continuously ranked to be the best in mainland by the Chinese university ranking from 2003 to 2010 and has become the second since then. The Net big had also regarded it to be the best in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and it was placed at 2nd by the China's Education Center in the same consecutive years.

Posted by Lidya