School of Foreign Languages (SFL), Peking University, was established in June 1999. The origin of SFL, however, dates back to the establishment of Jing Shi Tong Wen Guan (Capital School of Foreign Languages) in 1862, when the government of the Qing Dynasty, under the pressure of the time, began to launch modern industries and establish modern schools and colleges. The school was later (in 1902) incorporated into Jing Shi Da Xue Tang (Capital University), founded in 1898, as a component of the latter's Department of Foreign Languages. In 1919, Peking University abolished the School of Liberal Arts, School of Science, and School of Law, and began to "replace schools with departments". Departments such as English Literature, French Literature, German Literature, and Russian Literature were established. Peking University's foreign language discipline has gradually become an important subject of modern universities. Over the past 160 years, Peking University's foreign language discipline has shouldered the burden of history, and strived to open up new frontiers in academic research, thus forming its excellent tradition and distinctive features. In 1999, Peking University's foreign language departments were integrated into the School of Foreign Languages, which opened a new chapter in the development of foreign language discipline.

SFL is home to all the foreign language programs of the university. It houses a wide range of departments and institutes, including the departments of Arabic Languageand Cultures, Korean Language and Culture, German Language and Literature, Southeast Asian Studies, Russian Language and Literature, French Language and Literature, South Asian Studies, Japanese Language and Culture, Spanish Languages and Literatures, European Languages and Literatures, West Asian Languagesand Cultures, Asian-African Languages and Literatures, English Language and Literature, the Institute of World Literature, the Institute of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, and the Language Center. In total, SFL comprises thirteen departments, two institutes, and one center. In 2017, SFL launched the Program of International and Regional Studies (PIRS). There are altogether twenty-one languages in which undergraduates may major, including English, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, Mongolian, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Indonesian, Filipino, Hindi, Sanskrit and Pali, Urdu, Persian, Hebrew, and Italian. In addition, SFL has also offered courses in about forty other ancient and modern foreign languages to assist in teaching and research. Modern languages include Malay, Cambodian, Lao, Javanese, Bengali, Turkish, Hausa, Swahili, Igbo, Amharic, Yoruba, Ukrainian, Armenian, Georgian, Azerbaijani, and Kurdish. Ancient languages include Latin, Ancient Greek, Old Icelandic, Akkadian, Aramaic, Ancient Syriac, Pahlavi, Sumerian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Lycian, Cuneiform script, Luwian, Hieroglyph, Tocharian, Khotanese, Old Russian, among others. Languages of ethnic groups include Tibetan, Mongolian and Manchu. The numbers of languages in teaching and research are both on a steady rise.

The history of SFL is adorned with the names of a large number of renowned scholars. From the beginning of the 20th century to the founding of the People's Republic of China, SFL was home to such well-known scholars and writers as Chen Hengzhe, Chen Kui, Chen Qinren, Chen Yuan, Gu Hongming, Gu Mengyu, Hu Shi, Kuai Shuping, Liang Shiqiu, Liang Zongdai, Lin Yutang, Luo Chang, Luo Niansheng, Sun Dayu, Wang Wenxian, Wen Yuanning, Xu Zhimo, Xu Zuzheng, William Empson, Yang Yinqing, Yang Zhenwen, Yang Zonghan, Ye Gongchao, Yu Dafu, Zhang Xinhai, among others. During the era of the Southwest United University, Chen Jia, Liu Wuji, Qian Zhongshu and Wu Mi joined the faculty. After 1949, the program continued to be distinguished by the emergence of a new generation of scholars, such as Bian Zhilin, Cao Jinghua, Chen Zhanyuan, Feng Zhi, Ji Xianlin, Jin Kemu, Li Funing, Ma Jian, Pan Jiaxun, Tian Dewang, Wen Jiasi, Wu Dayuan, Yang Yezhi, Yang Zhouhan, Yu Dayin, Zhao Luorui, Zhao Zhaoxiong, Zhu Guangqian, among others.