Nankai University

Nankai University (南开大学) grew out of the private Nankai School founded by the educators Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling in 1904 and was established as a university in 1919 with three divisions of arts, science and commerce. On 29 July 1937 Japanese aircraft bombed Tianjin and the Nankai campus, destroying Xiushan Hall and the Zhiqin Building; the next day the army looted and burned the campus and the Muzhai Library. Before the war it had three colleges and twelve departments but only 429 students and 110 staff, a small school praised for strict teaching. Its alumni and faculty include Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People's Republic, and the Nobel laureates Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee.