Editor’s note: The year 2022 marks 70 years since the inception of International Education at Peking University in New China. The history can be traced back to 1952 when 14 international students came to PKU through the “Special Chinese Language Course for Exchange Students in Eastern Europe”.  Up till today, PKU has been continuously enhancing its professional impact and expanding its global reach, promoting internationalization in China’s tertiary education. More than 1.1 million international students have hailed from 195 countries to study on the Yanyuan campus, enrolling in a wide range of programs. By promoting cultural diplomacy, exchanges between students of different nationalities facilitate cross-cultural interactions with hopes of building a Community of Shared Future for Mankind .

To mark this special occasion, the Office of International Relations and PKU News jointly publish the special column “70^th Anniversary of International Student Education” to put the spotlight on the history and achievements of International Education at PKU, and to craft a shared future for China and the world.

Peking University, July 11, 2022: Yuan Ming, honorary dean of Yenching Academy of PKU and professor at the PKU School of International Studies, has made great contributions to strengthening the relationship between China and the rest of the world for more than 60 years as a scholar and educator. Her publications include A History of International Relations (1648-1989)  and Cross Century Assignment: the International Relations Studies in China . She is also the co-editor of Sino-American Relations (1945-1955 ). Her class The History of Modern International Relations was listed by the PRC Ministry of Education as an Outstanding National Course in 2004. She shares with us her experience as an international student in the west back in the 1980s, as well as being an educator at Yenching Academy and welcoming international students to study in China.


Yesterday’s world

In 1961, when Yuan Ming still sat in the classroom as a high school student, she would bring a People’s Daily newspaper, which would attract the attention of her classmates. Back in those days, newspapers like People’s Daily were a rare commodity, and the only window for high-school students like them to see the turbulent and ever-evolving world. Unlike her other classmates, Yuan Ming was familiar with international politics, which could be attributed to her grandfather, who studied in Berlin before World War I. In her childhood, Yuan Ming was fascinated by the legendary stories of this venerable man—he would spread open a world map, telling her tales of how he arrived in Germany on the Siberian railway, and how he worked and studied in Berlin. These stories broadened the horizon of young Yuan Ming, letting her know that there was a much greater world that existed beyond her imagination.

In the summer of 1962, Yuan Ming was admitted to the PKU Department of Western Language and Literature. At that time, among less than 30 students admitted that year, only 7 of them were foreigners – 3 from Albania and 4 from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). There were also many interesting stories about the campus life back then. Most notably, Kang Sok-ju, former Deputy Foreign Minister of the DPRK, used to be the dormmate of Li Zhaoxing, former Foreign Minister of China at PKU. Kang Sok-ju once expressed his respect to China and PKU for the spirit of internationalism: “Even in those days of hardship, China still managed to provide better living conditions to their foreign students.”

From 1952 to 1966, 1875 foreign students hailed from over 10 socialist countries including Vietnam, the DPRK, the Soviet Union, Cuba, Albania, and Mongolia to study at PKU. This offered Yuan Ming a chance to learn what “one polar” of the world was like. Li Zhaoxing once recalled in an interview that “an anguished freshman girl claimed that she would change her major to Spanish to support the anti-imperialist movements of the Cuban people. I told her languages including English is a tool to comprehend and change the world. Decades later, she became a renowned scholar in the field of American issues.” The protagonist of this story was Yuan Ming. Yuan also immersed herself in the study of Chinese language and literature, finding herself deeply impressed by the beauty of classical Chinese literature in the class of Mr. Yuan Xingpei, who taught the class History of Chinese Literature. At that time, the young lady had no idea of her occupation in the future, but perhaps, her mastery of both English and Chinese hinted to her calling – to link China and the world.


Going Faraway

In the first 10 years after she graduated from PKU, Yuan Ming along with other youths was sent to rural areas of China to learn from the workers and farmers as part of the Down to the Countryside Movement . In 1979, when the Reform and Opening-up policies were implemented, Yuan Ming returned to PKU and received a master’s degree in International Law. During the reforms, people were inspired to work and study outside China. In 1983, Yuan Ming went to the United States as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

During this period, Yuan became set on becoming the bridge that links China and PKU to the world. “We ventured out with a mission to revitalize our motherland.” In the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most buzzling areas in the U.S., Chinese scholars devoted themselves to academia. Yuan recalled her classmate, Wang Yangyuan , who is a current member of the Chinese Academy of Science, used to carry out research work in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory . Wang was extremely committed to his study, and often pulled all-nighters for good results. Yuan was deeply inspired by the dedication of Wang and other Chinese scholars, who worked tirelessly in foreign universities to master the advanced technologies to bring them to China.


However, the wide gap between China and the western world could not be simply narrowed by the Chinese scholars’ one-sided endeavors to study in the west. Yuan was disappointed that due to limited interactions between both worlds, many American scholars have a deep misunderstanding of China. This spurred Yuan Ming to think “how we can promote mutual understanding between these two countries.” In Berkeley, Yuan discussed many topics ranging from the history of China and the U.S. to the Korean War with the American scholars, aiming to build a bridge through dialogues. In 1986, after returning to PKU, Yuan initiated the “Sino-American Relations 1945-1955 Symposium”. “It was made possible with great difficulty, and PKU managed to invite many young and middle-aged scholars, who still played an active role in the bilateral relations between China and the U.S.,” said Yuan.


Building the bridge

In 2016, Professor Yuan Ming was appointed as the Dean of Yenching Academy of PKU, which she regarded as a “pure coincidence”. In early 2016, when Lin Jianhua, former president of PKU, visited her and invited her to lead the Academy, Yuan accepted it without hesitation. “I said, alright, I will have a try, and I will do my best to shape inter-cultural communication, to put the focus on China while embracing the world.”

The foreign students admitted by Yenching Academy were drastically different from a few decades ago. They were more privileged in the sense that they have a more well-rounded understanding of China and the world, and were well-positioned to draw a blueprint for a shared future for all humankind. “Firstly, they have received modern academic education; secondly, they grow up in an era of the Internet, which broadens their understanding of public issues and international current affairs; thirdly, they have rich cross-cultural experiences; and fourthly, many of them are multi-lingual who can navigate cross-cultural communication easily, and most importantly, they are keenly interested in China.”


The Yenching Academy has nurtured 748 students from over 300 universities in 82 countries and regions. The students have different skin colors, mother tongues and cultural backgrounds. This means that only well-defined curricula and teaching methods can realize the full potential of international exchanges. “In my opinion, high-quality research of China must be underpinned by a deep understanding of the Chinese culture. To realize this, we must empower our students to contextualize their knowledge learnt in classrooms to real-life settings in different areas in China.” That was how the compulsory course of Yenching Academy – China in Transition  – was crafted. To accommodate the interests of the students, Yuan Ming conversed with many students to better understand their preferences, and constantly redesigned the curriculum to cater to their needs. The Yenching Global Symposium held in spring every year is also one of their flagship events. It provides a platform for youth around the globe to share their research experiences in China. Every year, hundreds of young scholars would participate in the symposium, sharing their research findings and views on the development of China in all aspects.



“How can we build mutual understanding?” This was the question Yuan Ming has pondered ever since she ventured out of China to pursue her education in a foreign country. In the ever-evolving state of international affairs, the bridge linking China and the world beyond is even more imperative. Students would graduate from Yenching Academy with compassion for world affairs and bicultural exchanges, which is the fruition of Yuan Ming’s devotion to nurturing a new generation of students with both Eastern and Western perspectives.


Written by: Bai Qingwen
Edited by: Shi Xinyao, Hu Rong
Source: PKU News (Chinese)