Origins East China Normal University traces its roots to the formation of
St. John's College (later to become St. John's University) in 1879, and its heritage has had a deep influence in the development of Chinese modern higher education. In 1879, St. John's College was founded by
William Jones Boone and
Joseph Schereschewsky,
Bishop of Shanghai, by combining two pre-existing Anglican colleges in Shanghai. In 1905, the college became St. John's University and was registered in Washington D.C. in the United States. It was the first institution to grant
bachelor's degrees in China, starting in 1907. After the
May Thirtieth Movement in 1925, some academics and students left the
St. John's University, later forming the private Kwang Hua University to support the
labor and anti-
imperialist movement during the middle period of the
Republic of China era. In 1924, after a
student protest at the
Xiamen University in Fujian some academics fled north to Shanghai, where they established what became the Great China University (also known as Daxia University).
Establishment of the university After the founding of the People's Republic of China, East China Normal University was officially formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University and the Kwang Hua University, and was joined at the same time by a number of faculty members from
Fudan University,
Tongji University,
University of Shanghai and East China PE Academy, making it the first national teacher's training university of the People's Republic of China. This was done in part due to the government's desire to pool these institutions' resources into a single, stronger entity, cultivate talents with professional knowledge, and promote the development of education in the country. In the 1950s, the Chinese government regrouped the country's higher education institutions in an attempt to build a Soviet-style system. Under this policy, most of the faculties from
Saint John's University,
Zhejiang University,
University of Shanghai,
Utopia University, and
Aurora University were incorporated into ECNU to form a comprehensive multi-disciplinary university. Some of the academics at the
Tongji University and
Jiaotong University were also transferred to ECNU. In March 1959, ECNU was authenticated as one of the first 16
National Key Universities in China, and this status was reaffirmed in 1978. From 1972 to 1980 (during the
Cultural Revolution in
mainland China), five schools including ECNU were merged to create
Shanghai Normal University, and in 1980 its original name was resumed.
1980 to present In June 1986, ECNU was one of the first 33 higher education institutions authorized, by the State Council, to establish their
graduate schools. In 1996, ECNU passed the prerequisites appraisal and became one of universities sponsored by the major national program "
Project 211". In 2006, the Ministry of Education and Shanghai Municipality signed into a partnership for co-sponsoring the development of the university, qualifying ECNU as a member of the "
Project 985". ECNU is now under the direct auspices of the Ministry of Education. The university sponsors or supervises publication of more than 20 academic journals and periodicals. The library collection exceeds 4,000,000 volumes. 25 primary or secondary schools are affiliated to the university. ==International partnerships==