Memo+28

Tsinghua University was found in 1911 with the money returned from China's Warfare Compensation (gengzi peikuan) to the US. At first it was established to select and train students who were then sent to study in the US. By the 1930's, with the return of some graduates from the US and the hiring of several top rank scholars in China, Tsinghua had been a leading university in a number of subjects in science, engineering, humanity and social science. During the World War II, Tsinghua moved to Kunming, a city in southwestern China and formed a united university with other two top universities of China. During this period the Southwestern United University (xinan lianda) educated a lot of excellent students, among whom two Nobel Prize Winner Chen-Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee.

After the World War II Tsinghua moved back to its original campus. In the early 50's, following the Soviet Union model of higher education, the new government of People's Republic of China made a policy of School Adjustment. Under this policy, most of the departments in natural science, humanity and social science at Tsinghua were moved out, which made Tsinghua an engineering-oriented university. This policy had significant influences to Tsinghua, its engineering grew rapidly thereafter while other disciplines nearly disappeared. This also made Tsinghua the number one engineering university in the nation. Since the 1980's Tsinghua gradually restored its majors in humanity and social science. Now its objective is to establish a world-class general research university.