Central University for Nationalities
Encyclopedia
Minzu University of China is a national-level university
located in Beijing
, China
designated for ethnic minorities in China
. Minzu University is the top university in China specially for ethnic minorities and aims to be one of the best universities of its kind in the world. With the strong support of Chinese government, it has developed rapidly these years. The university campus has been renovated and several teaching buildings have been completed. Now it becomes one of the most respected institute for higher learning in China. It is colloquially known as Míndà in Putonghua. It was formerly known in English
as the Central University for Nationalities (CUN).
and Russian
language Marxist
texts. On 20 November 2008, the university changed its official English name,. apparently citing concerns that "central" might imply a location in the geographical centre of China (as it does in South-Central University for Nationalities), and the old name did not sound good. The name change of Renmin University has been cited as a precedent. The new name obscures the university's ethnic character, although student opinion has focused more on the fact that it makes obsolete the university's nickname, "the village". The Chinese word for village has a Hanyu pinyin spelling similar to the English abbreviation "CUN". In mainland Chinese culture, villages
have homely connotations.
programmes and 25 doctoral
programmes. While young people from the majority Han
group are the largest single ethnicity amongst the fifteen thousand students, 60% of the students and more than one third of the academic staff are from other nationalities.
By far the strongest research areas are anthropology
and ethnology
, which are the mainstays of its small publishing house and journal. In 2001, the People's Daily
described CUN as "China's top academy for ethnic studies." http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200106/15/eng20010615_72663.html Other respected departments are the dance
school and the various minority language and literature departments. Other subjects are often studied from the ethnic minorities' perspective, e.g., biology courses may focus on the flora and fauna found in ethnic minority areas of China.
Minzu University also participates actively in social sciences
research. Its social science departments are ranked twentieth in mainland China. In particular, its economics, management, law and history departments are growing into be dynamic research institutions with the help of Project 985
.
The university is the pinnacle of a national network of institutions maintained by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, although academic standards are also monitored by the State Education Commission
, which means some students end up sitting for two sets of exams.
In English-speaking countries, Minzu University's main partners are the University of East London
, United Kingdom
, and the Oregon University System
USA.
first established a Nationalities Institute in its Civil War
stronghold of Yan'an
, in central China, in October 1941. In 1950-1952, this was merged with other ethnolinguistic and sociological departments, including elements of Peking University
and Tsinghua University
. The result was the Central Institute for Nationalities, which officially opened on 11 June 1952. The Institute was assigned a large area of parkland on the outskirts of Beijing
as its campus.
Both the Yan'an and Central institutes were intended to train cadres (officials) for ethnic minority areas, as well as providing a liberal arts
education for promising students from the minorities. Their research was and is intended to support the policies of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. In its early years, the Institute was caught up in the sensitive issue of classifying China's vast population into official ethnic groups, until the Cultural Revolution
made conventional education almost impossible.
With the advent of Deng Xiaoping
's reform and opening up policy (c.1978), the Institute went through considerable changes. On the down side, it lost most of its campus to a variety of development projects and it is now in a heavily built-up area. Financial pressures in the early 21st century led to a rapid rise in student numbers, particularly of Han students.
On the up side, the Institute expanded into science subjects during the 1980s and achieved university status on 30 November 1993. In 1999 it was granted "key university" status as part of "Project 211
", which was supposed to identify one hundred Chinese universities which would play leading roles in the 21st century. Since 2004 the university has been a participant in Project 985
, a major national programme to raise 39 universities to world-class status. The campus has been almost completely reconstructed as part of this programme.
Meanwhile, Haidian has continued to develop as Beijing
's main university district. CUN is now adjacent to the National Library of China
and Zhongguancun
, which local media refer to as "China's silicon valley"http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/30837.htm. In 2006 a large site was acquired in Beijing's Fengtai district, and it is likely that a second campus will be constructed there.
and Beijing Institute of Technology
. It has restaurants from a wide variety of ethnic minorities. According to Minzu University anthropology professor Zhuang Kongshao, the area has been the Uyghur
ghetto in Beijing since the Yuan Dynasty
, when it was known as Weiwucun ("Uyghur village", presumably ) and was a local shopping area. The Qing scholar Qiao Songnian claimed in 1834 that the Uyghurs had been brought there by Yuan Taizu. The name Weigongcun is first recorded only in 1915, and removes any reference to Uyghurs.
Others attribute the ethnic variety solely to the presence of CUN. Most of the Uyghur district was razed around 2001. Baranovitch notes that "the Xinjiang Village of Weigongcun became according to many people a centre of criminal activity", including "drug dealing".
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
located in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
designated for ethnic minorities in China
Ethnic minorities in China
Ethnic minorities in China are the non-Han Chinese population in the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China officially recognizes 55 ethnic minority groups within China in addition to the Han majority. As of 2010, the combined population of officially recognised minority...
. Minzu University is the top university in China specially for ethnic minorities and aims to be one of the best universities of its kind in the world. With the strong support of Chinese government, it has developed rapidly these years. The university campus has been renovated and several teaching buildings have been completed. Now it becomes one of the most respected institute for higher learning in China. It is colloquially known as Míndà in Putonghua. It was formerly known in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as the Central University for Nationalities (CUN).
Name
The Chinese name has the meaning "central ethnic university", suggesting a national-level university focused on serving minority ethnic groups. The old English name translated the ethnic term as "nationalities", based on the term used in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
language Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
texts. On 20 November 2008, the university changed its official English name,. apparently citing concerns that "central" might imply a location in the geographical centre of China (as it does in South-Central University for Nationalities), and the old name did not sound good. The name change of Renmin University has been cited as a precedent. The new name obscures the university's ethnic character, although student opinion has focused more on the fact that it makes obsolete the university's nickname, "the village". The Chinese word for village has a Hanyu pinyin spelling similar to the English abbreviation "CUN". In mainland Chinese culture, villages
Villages of China
Village or Village level divisions in China serves as a fundamental organizational unit for its rural population . Basic local divisions like neighborhoods and communities are not informal like in the West, but have defined boundaries and designated heads...
have homely connotations.
Academic programmes
The university awards undergraduate-level degrees in 55 academic subjects, usually after four years of study. There are also 64 master'sMaster's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
programmes and 25 doctoral
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
programmes. While young people from the majority Han
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
group are the largest single ethnicity amongst the fifteen thousand students, 60% of the students and more than one third of the academic staff are from other nationalities.
By far the strongest research areas are anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
and ethnology
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
, which are the mainstays of its small publishing house and journal. In 2001, the People's Daily
People's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
described CUN as "China's top academy for ethnic studies." http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200106/15/eng20010615_72663.html Other respected departments are the dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
school and the various minority language and literature departments. Other subjects are often studied from the ethnic minorities' perspective, e.g., biology courses may focus on the flora and fauna found in ethnic minority areas of China.
Minzu University also participates actively in social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
research. Its social science departments are ranked twentieth in mainland China. In particular, its economics, management, law and history departments are growing into be dynamic research institutions with the help of Project 985
Project 985
Project 985 is a project first announced by CPC General secretary and Chinese President Jiang Zemin at the 100th anniversary of Peking University on May 4, 1998 to promote the development and reputation of the Chinese higher education system...
.
The university is the pinnacle of a national network of institutions maintained by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, although academic standards are also monitored by the State Education Commission
Education in the People's Republic of China
Education in the People's Republic of China is a state-run system of public education run by the Ministry of Education. All citizens must attend school for at least nine years. The government provides primary education for six years, starting at age six or seven, followed by six years of secondary...
, which means some students end up sitting for two sets of exams.
In English-speaking countries, Minzu University's main partners are the University of East London
University of East London
The University of East London is a university located in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, based at two campuses in Stratford and Docklands areas...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and the Oregon University System
Oregon University System
The Oregon University System consists of seven public, four-year universities in the State of Oregon administered by the Chancellor of the OUS, who is appointed by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education...
USA.
History
The Communist Party of ChinaCommunist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
first established a Nationalities Institute in its Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
stronghold of Yan'an
Yan'an
Yan'an , is a prefecture-level city in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, administering several counties, including Zhidan County , which served as the Chinese communist capital before the city of Yan'an proper took that role....
, in central China, in October 1941. In 1950-1952, this was merged with other ethnolinguistic and sociological departments, including elements of Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
and Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...
. The result was the Central Institute for Nationalities, which officially opened on 11 June 1952. The Institute was assigned a large area of parkland on the outskirts of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
as its campus.
Both the Yan'an and Central institutes were intended to train cadres (officials) for ethnic minority areas, as well as providing a liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
education for promising students from the minorities. Their research was and is intended to support the policies of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. In its early years, the Institute was caught up in the sensitive issue of classifying China's vast population into official ethnic groups, until the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
made conventional education almost impossible.
With the advent of Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
's reform and opening up policy (c.1978), the Institute went through considerable changes. On the down side, it lost most of its campus to a variety of development projects and it is now in a heavily built-up area. Financial pressures in the early 21st century led to a rapid rise in student numbers, particularly of Han students.
On the up side, the Institute expanded into science subjects during the 1980s and achieved university status on 30 November 1993. In 1999 it was granted "key university" status as part of "Project 211
Project 211
Project 211 is a project of National Key Universities and colleges initiated in 1995 by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, with the intent of raising the research standards of high-level universities and cultivating strategies for socio-economic development...
", which was supposed to identify one hundred Chinese universities which would play leading roles in the 21st century. Since 2004 the university has been a participant in Project 985
Project 985
Project 985 is a project first announced by CPC General secretary and Chinese President Jiang Zemin at the 100th anniversary of Peking University on May 4, 1998 to promote the development and reputation of the Chinese higher education system...
, a major national programme to raise 39 universities to world-class status. The campus has been almost completely reconstructed as part of this programme.
Meanwhile, Haidian has continued to develop as Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
's main university district. CUN is now adjacent to the National Library of China
National Library of China
The National Library of China or NLC in Beijing is the largest library in Asia, and one of the largest in the world with a collection of over 23 million volumes...
and Zhongguancun
Zhongguancun
Zhongguancun , or Zhong Guan Cun, is a technology hub in Haidian District, Beijing, China.It is geographically situated in the northwestern part of Beijing city, in a band between the northwestern Third Ring Road and the northwestern Fourth Ring Road...
, which local media refer to as "China's silicon valley"http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/30837.htm. In 2006 a large site was acquired in Beijing's Fengtai district, and it is likely that a second campus will be constructed there.
Weigongcun
Minzu University of China dominates one side of the Weigongcun area, also home to Beijing Foreign Studies UniversityBeijing Foreign Studies University
Beijing Foreign Studies University is the best foreign language and international studies university in China, often named "the cradle of diplomats" in the country.It is located in Weigongcun, Beijing, People's Republic of China...
and Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing Institute of Technology , formerly known as 北京工业学院, is a leading public, co-educational, national key university, located in Beijing, China. Established in 1940 in Yan'an , the university used to be administered by the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense...
. It has restaurants from a wide variety of ethnic minorities. According to Minzu University anthropology professor Zhuang Kongshao, the area has been the Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
ghetto in Beijing since the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
, when it was known as Weiwucun ("Uyghur village", presumably ) and was a local shopping area. The Qing scholar Qiao Songnian claimed in 1834 that the Uyghurs had been brought there by Yuan Taizu. The name Weigongcun is first recorded only in 1915, and removes any reference to Uyghurs.
Others attribute the ethnic variety solely to the presence of CUN. Most of the Uyghur district was razed around 2001. Baranovitch notes that "the Xinjiang Village of Weigongcun became according to many people a centre of criminal activity", including "drug dealing".
Notable students and faculty
- Erkin AbdullaErkin AbdullaErkin Abdulla was born in Qarghiliq. Kashgar, Xinjiang, China. He started to study guitar since childhood. In 1999, he graduated from Central University for Nationalities. Because he was very fond of music, he became a professional pop singer, and set up Erkin Music Group...
, Uyghur-language pop singer - Kahar BaratKahar BaratKahar Barat is an Uyghur-American historian, known for his work on Buddhism and Islam in Xinjiang.Kahar Barat was born in Yili in 1950.He earned his M.A. degree in Turkology from the Central University for Ethnic Minorities in Beijing; he received his Ph.D...
, Uyghur-American historian - Fei XiaotongFei XiaotongFei Xiaotong, or Fei Hsiao-Tung was a pioneering Chinese researcher and professor of sociology and anthropology; he was also noted for his studies in the study of China's ethnic groups as well as a social activist...
, sociologist and anthropologist - D. O. ChaokeD. O. ChaokeDular Osor Chaoke is a Chinese linguist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His primary area of study is on the Tungusic languages, especially his native Evenki language.-Personal life and education:...
, Evenki linguist - Han Geng, Mandopop singer and actor
- Song ZuyingSong ZuyingSong Zuying is an ethnic Miao Chinese singer.-Biography:Song was born in Guzhang county, part of a Miao autonomous prefecture in Hunan and studied at the Central Institute for Nationalities in Beijing. Her father died when she was 12, and she is the oldest daughter. In 1991, she joined the Chinese...
, an ethnic miao singer of classical Chinese and Western songs, who performed at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremonyThe 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It was directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time on August 24, 2008... - Ilham TohtiIlham TohtiIlham Tohti is an ethnic Uyghur and mainland Chinese economist. Just days after the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, he was detained in Beijing by PRC authorities because of his criticism of that government's policies toward Uyghurs in Xinjiang...
, an ethnic Uyghur professor of economics at Minzu University who was detained by police in July 2009 following riots in Ürümqi - Zhang ChengzhiZhang ChengzhiZhang Chengzhi is a contemporary Hui Chinese author. Often named as the most influential Muslim writer in China, his historical narrative History of the Soul, about the rise of the Jahriyya Sufi order , was the second-most popular book in China in 1994.-Biography:Zhang was born in Beijing in 1948...
, writer, once audited a class in KazakhKazakh languageKazakh is a Turkic language which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages, closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak.... - May ChinMay ChinStage named May Chin, Kao Chin Su-mei , born on September 21, 1965 in Heping Township, Taichung County , Taiwan as Chin Su-mei, to a Han Chinese father and a Taiwanese Aborigine mother, is a Taiwanese singer, actress and politician...
, Taiwanese AborigineTaiwanese aboriginesTaiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation myths, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han...
actress, singer and member for parliament in the Legislative YuanLegislative YuanThe Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China .The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches of government stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which follows Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People...
of the Republic of ChinaRepublic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
) for Highland Aborigines electoral district
See also
Other universities for ethnic minorities in the People's Republic of China:- Dalian University for NationalitiesDalian Nationalities UniversityDalian Nationalities University is located in Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China and directly supervised by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.-History:...
- Guangxi University for Nationalities
- Northwest University for NationalitiesNorthwest University for NationalitiesNorthwest University for Nationalities is the first minority institution of higher learning founded in China after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, directly under the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of PRC. Its precedent was the third campus of Northwest People's Revolutionary...
- Qinghai University for NationalitiesQinghai University for NationalitiesQinghai University for Nationalities is a university in Xining, Qinghai, China. It was established in December 1949 and was Qinghai's earliest university of higher education.-External links:*...
- South-Central University for Nationalities
- Southwest University for NationalitiesSouthwest University for NationalitiesSouthwest University for Nationalities often called Minzu Daxue in English, is a university located in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. Its student population is largely composed of ethnic minorities, but it has recently opened up to Han Chinese and foreigners as well...
- Yunnan University for Nationalities
- Inner Mongolia University for NationalitiesInner Mongolia University for NationalitiesInner Mongolia University for Nationalities is a university in Inner Mongolia, China under the authority of the Autonomous Region government. Located in Tongliao.-External links:* * ** ** **...
External links
- Official website: in English and Chinese
- Feature of the university from a guide to Beijing