page_title: Xiamen University
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Xiamen University / History
caption_attribution_description: A statue of Chen Jingrun in Xiamen University，China.
context_page_description: Xiamen University, colloquially known as Xia Da in Mandarin Chinese or Ha Tai in Xiamen dialect, is a public research university in Xiamen, Fujian, China. Established in 1921 by Tan Kah Kee, a member of the overseas Chinese diaspora, the university is perennially ranked as one of the top academic institutions in Southern China, with strengths in economics and management, fine arts, law, chemistry, journalism, communication, and mathematics.
  Today, Xiamen University hosts over 40,000 students on its four campuses. It is a Class A institution under the national Double First Class University Plan.
context_section_description: In 1919, Tan Kah Kee, an overseas Chinese businessman, donated millions of dollars to endow Amoy University in the city of Amoy (Xiamen). The university was founded in 1921. Tan transferred administration of Amoy University to the Nationalist government in 1937, and the institution became a national university.
  At the 1926 Sesquicentennial International Exposition in Philadelphia, United States, Amoy University was one of five institutions selected to participate in an exhibit on education in China, representing the country's higher education system.
  In 1938, at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the university temporarily relocated to Changting in western Fujian to escape Japanese invasion of Chinese coastal regions.
  At the end of World War II in 1946, Amoy University moved back to Xiamen and resumed normal operations. In 1952 it became a comprehensive university embracing both arts and science. In 1963, it was designated as a state key university.
  In the 1970s, the institution's English name was changed to Xiamen University referring to Xiamen, the new English name for Amoy.
  In 1995, Xiamen University was selected to participate in the 211 Project, a national government initiative to provide increased financial resources for China's most promising universities. In 2000, the university was selected for the 985 Project, a national and local government initiative to provide funding for facilities construction and faculty hiring to bolster China's top universities.
  In September 2017, Xiamen was recognized as a Class A institution in the Double First Class University Plan, a national government initiative to cultivate a group of elite Chinese universities into "world-class" institutions by 2050.
caption: Statue of notable mathematician Tan Kinglun (陈景润)
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