The university's genesis can be historically traced to the original Soochow University (東吳大學) founded by Methodists in 1900, which was later split and merged with a couple of institutions.
The original Soochow University (simplified Chinese: 东吴大学; traditional Chinese: 東吳大學; pinyin: Dōngwú Dàxué; Wade–Giles: tung-wu ta hsüeh) was founded by Methodists in Suzhou in 1900 as a merger of three existing institutions: the Po-hsi Academy, the Kung-hsiang Academy, and the Chung-hsi Academy by David Lawrence Anderson who became its first president.[3] Originally known as the Central University of China, it was renamed the Soochow University in the Republic of China period.[4] The word Soochow in its English name is the old spelling of the city's Chinese name according to the early postal romanisation. The original Chinese name 東吳 (Tung-wu) refers to one of the Three Kingdoms in the ancient time, of which the region of Suzhou was an important part.
The university was split in 1949 as a result of the Chinese Civil War, and merged with the Southern Jiangsu College of Culture and Education and the Department of Mathematics and Physics at Jiangnan University to form the Jiangsu Teacher's College in 1952. The English name Soochow University was revived in 1982; however, the original Chinese name 東吳 (Tung-wu) was not adopted, and the institution was given the Chinese name 蘇州 (Soochow). The Suzhou College of Sericulture, Suzhou Institute of Silk Textile Technology and Suzhou Medical College were each merged into the university in 1995, 1997 and 2000 successively.[5]
Members of the Soochow Alumni Association who fled to Taiwan after 1949 established the Soochow UniversityinTaipei, starting with its College of Law in 1951 and becoming a full-fledged university with five schools in 1971.[6]
The university is part of the national "211 Project" and is a "2011 Plan" university. It is also one of the Jiangsu provincial key comprehensive universities. Soochow University currently has 26 post-doctoral programs, 24 main discipline doctoral programs, including 167 doctoral programs with different areas of emphasis, one professional doctoral program, 47 main discipline master's programs, including 244 master's degrees with different areas of emphasis, 21 professional master's programs, and 124 undergraduate programs. Today, Soochow University has developed into a comprehensive university with 12 major disciplines: philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management science, and art.
Soochow University is one of the top 5% research universities (overall ranking 28 within 704 Chinese universities in 2017),[7] and a member of the "2011 plan" - the latest program launched in 2011 by the Chinese Ministry of Education to develop into world class top universities.[8]
Soochow University is a member of SAP University Alliances.[9]
The U.S. News & World Report 2023 ranked Soochow University 331st in the world, 56th in Asia and 30 in China.[21] The Times Higher Education Word University Rankings ranked Soochow University 17th in China, and 501–600 in the world.[22] CWUR World University Ranking 2023 ranked Soochow University 233rd worldwide and 27th nationwide.[23]
The university consists of 6 campuses covering an area of 135 hectares and with 940,000 square meters of building area. The main and most beautiful campus is located at No.1 Shizi Street. The total enrollment is more than 39,000 students, including more than 28,000 graduates/undergraduates and more than 11,000 adult students of formal education.
The campus grounds have been described as among China's most beautiful, in part based on the incorporation of "typical features of the classical gardens in Suzhou".[24]
The university has established several joint programs with foreign universities:
Soochow University and Athabasca UniversityinCanada offer a joint degree program for Chinese undergraduate students, who study in Suzhou and are awarded a Bachelor of Management degree (from Athabasca) and a Bachelor of Administration degree (from Soochow) upon completing four years of coursework.[27] All courses are delivered in English.
Daejin University, a South Korean private university, operates one of its two China campuses on the Soochow University grounds, with the other campus located at Harbin Normal University.[28] Daejin maintains its own building with accommodation and classrooms.[29]
Zhengyu Ni, Judge of International Court of Justice(1985-1994), received his bachelor degree in law from Soochow University in 1928.
The following people attended Soochow University after 1900, or one of the institutions that later merged with the university:[31]
Yang Jiang (Yang Chiang, 楊絳) - playwright, author and translator.
Tan Jiazhen (Tan Chia-Chen, 談家楨) - geneticist, founder of modern Chinese genetics; member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of United States.
Zhao Puchu (趙樸初) - religious and public leader, president of the Buddhist Association of China, renowned Chinese calligrapher.
Lu Zhiwei (Lu Chih-wei, 陸志韋) - psychologist and linguist, influential figure in Chinese modern poetry.
