1902-1905 Sanjiang Normal School

Sanjiang Normal College embodied Zhang Zhidong’s idea of “Chinese culture for the essence” where self-cultivation, history, literature and other liberal arts courses were set up.

1905-1915 Liangjiang Normal School

Department of Geography and History, and Department of Chinese and Foreign Languages were set up in 1910.

1915-1923 Nanjing Higher Normal School

With Chinese Department originally established, Department of Chinese, Geography and History were set up in 1919, and liberal arts and science were established in 1920 (therein, Departments of Humanities included Chinese Department, English Department, Department of Philosophy, and Department of History).

1921-1927 National Southeast University

National Southeast University set up successively arts, and liberal arts and science (arts including Chinese Department, Department of History, Department of Foreign Languages, Department of Political Science, Department of Economics, and Department of Philosophy).

1927-1928 the Fourth Zhongshan University

Established here were the Academy of Social Sciences (under which there were the History and Geography Department, Department of Sociology, Department of Economics, as well as the Department of Political Science and Department of Law of Jiangsu University), School of Philosophy (under which the Department of Philosophy was set), and School of Liberal Arts (under which the Department of Chinese Literature, Department of Foreign Literature, and Department of Linguistics were first set up, then adjustment was conducted in 1928, and the Department of Philosophy, Department of History, and Department of Sociology were developed).

1928-1949 National Central University

National Central University set up School of Liberal Arts (first establishing the Department of Chinese Literature, Department of Foreign Languages, Department of Philosophy, Department of Sociology, and Department of History, and then respectively adding the Department of Geography and the special training courses of Russian in 1930 and 1937), School of Law (including Department of Political Science, Department of Economics, and Department of Law, with Department of Sociology developed in 1941), and School of Education (including Department of Education, and special training courses of arts, etc.).

1949-1952 National Nanjing University

Set up was the Department of Liberal Arts (including Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Department of Foreign Language and Literature, Department of History, and Department of Philosophy).

1952-1988 Nanjing Institute of Technology

During the nationwide reconstruction of Institutions of higher learning, Nanjing Institute of Technology was established on the original site of National Central University. In 1978, as the Institute developed the strategy of “combining liberal arts with science and engineering”, liberal arts were regained. In 1984, the Department of Social Sciences was set up, with the establishment of the major of Basic Theory of Marxism-Leninism. The original Dialectics of Nature Research Center was re-built as the Department of Philosophy and Science in 1985, and in May 1988, the university was renamed Southeast University.

1988-2000 Southeast University

In 1992, School of Humanities and Social Sciences was established.

2000-now Southeast University

And in April 2000, Nanjing Railway Medical College, Nanjing College of Communications and Nanjing Geological School were merged into the university. In 2002, School of Humanities and Social Sciences was renamed School of Humanities.

The history of the School of Humanities of Southeast University is culturally rich, with numerous celebrities, in which there has emerged the Xue Heng School – an academic school with profound impact on the modern and contemporary history of China.

These renowned scholars are as follows:

Wang Pijiang, great master of Sinology; Zong Baihua, who is an aesthetician; educators such as Tao Xingzhi, Guo Bingwen, and Chen Heqin; Tang Yongtong, a Buddhist historian; philosopher Fang Dongmei; Chen Hengzhe, a famous authoress; historian Liu Zhizhi; opera historian Chen Zhongfan; songwriter Wu Mei; literary historian Qian Jibo; calligrapher Xie Wuliang; Wu Mi, founder of the Chinese and Western Comparative Literature; artist Xu Beihong; American writer Pearl S. Buck; linguist Lv Shuxiang; etc.