A flourishing spring of scholarly development began after the fall of the “Gang of Four” in October of 1976. In January of 1978, Professor Deng Guang-ming and his colleagues set forth the idea of an organization to research the Tang and Song era (618-1279). After three years of deliberations, five professors (Deng Guang-ming, Zhou Yi-liang, Tian Yu-qing, Su Bai, and Wang Yong-xing) jointly proposed establishing an organizational structure and working regulations for a center for research on the middle period of Chinese history. The then Assistant Premier of the State Council Yao Yi-lin and the Minister of Education Jiang Nan-xiang sent handwritten letters expressing enthusiastic support. In October of 1982, the Ministry of Education formally authorized the establishment of Peking University’s Center for Research on the Middle Period of Chinese History as a research institute with rank equivalent to a department. The first director was Professor Deng Guang-ming; the second was Professor He Fang-chuan; the third was Professor Wang Tian-you; the forth was Professor Zhang Xi-qing; and the present Director is Professor Yan Bu-ke and Deputy Director is Associate Professor Ruo Xing. In December of 1999, the name was changed to the Research Center for Ancient Chinese History. In October of 2000, the Ministry of Education designated it as a National Higher Education Key Research Unit for the Humanities. In February of 2001, the Research Center’s academic category of ancient Chinese history was again declared by the Ministry of Education to be a key national discipline.

Presently the Center has 13 fulltime researchers, including 10 professors, 2 associate professors and 1 lecturer ; there are also 8 affiliated researchers.

Contact person: 荣新江 (Rong Xinjiang) rxj@pku.edu.cn