Graduate education in the discipline of foreign languages and literatures at Peking University has a long history and has produced a large number of outstanding master’s and doctoral graduates, forming a core force in cultivating graduate talent in this field among Chinese higher education institutions. The School currently enrolls academic master’s and doctoral students in 12 secondary disciplines, as well as professional master’s students in English-Chinese translation (MTI), Japanese interpreting and translation (MTI). In addition to admitting students through the national entrance examination, the School also accepts recommended exemption candidates for master’s programs. The School boasts a high-caliber team of graduate supervisors and has established a rigorous system for graduate training and management. It continuously strengthens training during students’ period of study and has launched a series of activities focusing on enhancing graduate students’ academic capabilities and scholarly literacy. Each year, the School offers more than 300 master’s and doctoral courses. In recent years, it has developed a number of new courses such as “Methods of Academic Research and Readings in Orientalist Scholarship,” “Graduate Academic Writing Norms,” and “Academic Reading and Evaluation,” aiming to strengthen training in academic norms, academic ethics, and research methods, and to comprehensively improve thesis-writing skills.

The School actively explores mechanisms for graduate education and training beyond the classroom. With the theme of “Promoting the Academic Spirit and Advocating Scholarly Pursuit,” it has held 17 sessions of the Graduate Forum in Foreign Languages and Literatures. The School encourages graduate students to devote themselves to scholarship and to write high-quality academic papers. Through the establishment of the “Peking University School of Foreign Languages Hu Zhuanglin Youth Research Fund,” it supports graduate students’ participation in domestic and international academic conferences and exchanges, strengthens internationalized training, and recognizes and rewards students who achieve outstanding research results. Together with the Center for Oriental Literary Studies, the School has co-hosted 17 sessions of the National Graduate Summer School in Oriental Literature, and for many years has continuously held forums for graduate students in Arab and South Asian studies, among others, making useful explorations in building mechanisms to cultivate graduate students’ innovative capabilities and improve training quality. Holding itself to high standards and strict requirements, the School has trained a group of high-quality graduate students: four doctoral dissertations have won the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award, one dissertation received a nomination for the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation, one dissertation won the Beijing Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award, and one received a nomination for the same. The School’s graduate training has made continuous progress and development through innovation and advancement.

Program in Comparative Literature and World Literature

The Institute of World Literature at the School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, is a teaching and research entity with a well-structured academic team, solid professional foundations, and an enterprising spirit. Its faculty is primarily composed of mid-career and young scholars, all of whom hold doctoral degrees in the discipline or related fields and are active on the front lines of teaching and research. The Institute’s goal is to “span antiquity and the present, and bridge East and West.” Since 1986, the “Comparative Literature and World Literature” program has enrolled more than 20 cohorts of master’s students, with approximately 180 graduates. In 2008, the Institute began recruiting doctoral students in this program. The Institute mainly trains generalist talent in the teaching, research, and editorial fields of comparative literature and world literature. It also trains professionals for international exchange, Chinese and foreign media, cultural management, and multinational enterprises. Based on the characteristics of the program, applicants are required to have a good level of foreign language proficiency, a comprehensive grasp of the basics of world literary history, and a solid understanding of Chinese and foreign literary theory. The program places particular emphasis on students’ writing skills and comprehensive abilities. The “Comparative Literature and World Literature” program is a national key discipline.

Program in English Language and Literature

Guided by the national educational policies, the Department of English at Peking University cultivates specialists in English language and literature with strong humanistic literacy. Graduate students in this program will acquire solid and systematic professional knowledge in the field of English literature, understand academic traditions and research trends at home and abroad, and possess the basic skills required for research in the discipline and for teaching at the higher-education level. The Department of English has a long history. In 1919, Peking University established the Department of English Literature, with Hu Shi serving as chair. Since then, the humanistic tradition established by earlier generations of scholars has been passed down and continuously carried forward. The PKU Department of English was among the first in New China to be authorized to grant master’s and doctoral degrees; it is also a postdoctoral station in foreign languages and literatures and was included in the first batch of national key disciplines. In each round of national key-discipline evaluations, Peking University’s “English Language and Literature” has been selected. Over the long term, faculty members have published a substantial number of academic monographs, textbooks, and high-quality translations. The program’s research spectrum is comprehensive, and its research strength is robust, with particular advantages in literary studies and translation studies. In addition to research on English literature from Middle English through the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, studies of the literatures of other English-speaking countries have also developed. Specific research fields include English literature, Western literary theory and cultural criticism, translation studies, literary stylistics, and comparative literature. Currently, the Department has 21 faculty members, all holding doctoral degrees and primarily consisting of mid-career and young scholars. The Department promotes rigorous academic style and emphasizes the cultivation of academic ethics, expecting future students to be upright in character and solid in learning. Admissions requirements cover two aspects. In foundational knowledge, applicants to the master’s and doctoral programs must have a solid command of English. The Department has high expectations for applicants’ reading and writing abilities in English, as these are foundational to professional research. In addition, applicants should have good academic preparation in their chosen field and an appropriate understanding of professional knowledge; doctoral applicants should also have relatively clear research interests. The master’s program offers two tracks: English Literature and Translation Theory and Practice, with a standard length of study of three years.

Program in Russian Language and Literature

The Department of Russian Language and Literature (hereafter the Department of Russian) traces its origins to the Russian Section of the Tongwenguan established in 1863, later incorporated into the Imperial University of Peking (i.e., Peking University). In 1920, under the care of President Cai Yuanpei, the Department of Russian Literature was established. In 1951, under the leadership of the renowned writer, translator, and educator Professor Cao Jinghua, the faculties of Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Yenching University were combined to form the PKU Department of Russian Language and Literature, restoring a Russian curriculum that had been interrupted for a long time. The Department became a master’s degree-granting unit in 1978 and a doctoral degree-granting unit in 1990, making it one of the earliest master’s and doctoral programs in Russian language and literature in China. At present, the Department is a national first-class undergraduate program construction site, serves as the chair institution of the Russian Teaching and Research Branch of the China Association for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies, and hosts the Ministry of Education’s virtual teaching and research office for reforming Russian talent training models. The Department has long been committed to cultivating high-level, comprehensive talent. Faculty members have published a large number of monographs, translations, textbooks, collected papers, and reference works. Professors Wei Zhen (Wei Huangnu), Gong Renfang, Zang Zhonglun, Gu Yunpu, and Li Yuzhen have been awarded the title of “Senior Translator.” Professors Gu Yunpu, Li Mingbin, and Ren Guangxuan received Russia’s Gorky Medal; Professor Wu Yiyi received the “Putin Medal” conferred by Russia; Professors Wu Yiyi, Li Yuzhen, and Ren Guangxuan were awarded the Pushkin Medal by Russia; Professors Wu Yiyi, Gu Yunpu, Li Mingbin, Zuo Shaoxing, Xu Zhifang, and Qiao Zhenxu received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Chinese Russian Language Education; Professor Ning Qi was selected into a national major talent support program and received the Beijing Teaching Master Award, the “Friendship and Cooperation” honorary medal from the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States (Rossotrudnichestvo), and the Russian Federation’s “Order of Friendship.” The three-volume History of Russian and Soviet Literature, edited by Cao Jinghua with faculty from the Department as the principal contributors, is China’s first complete general history of Russian and Soviet literature. It won the First Outstanding Monograph Award of the National Association for the Teaching and Research of Foreign Literatures and the “Top 100 Fine Achievements in Humanities and Social Sciences at Peking University in Thirty Years of Reform and Opening-Up,” with Volume I receiving the National Special Prize for Excellent Textbooks. The Russian-Chinese Dictionary of Literary Translation edited by Professor Gong Renfang won the Second Prize for Dictionaries from the General Administration of Press and Publication. In recent years, with the guidance and support of senior scholars, the Department’s mid-career and young faculty have formed two strong research teams in Russian literature and Russian linguistics, becoming the backbone of teaching and research in Russian language and literature in China.

Program in French Language and Literature

The master’s program in French at Peking University was established in 1956, the doctoral program in 1987, followed by a postdoctoral station. Over the long term, the program has trained a large number of high-level French specialists for the country. The discipline currently covers the following main research directions: “French Language and Linguistics” (history of French, linguistics, semiotics, stylistics, narratology, Canadian French studies); “French Literature and Francophone Literature” (French fiction, French poetry, Canadian Francophone literature, French literary theory and criticism, French intellectual currents); and “Literary Translation and Translation Studies” (translation theory, translation criticism, comparative studies of translated texts, translation history). In recent years, at the master’s level, the program has also added the “French Civilization” track (French culture and arts, French film criticism). At the doctoral level, the “French Civilization” track was added last year, and the “French Autobiographical Literature” track was added this year. The program currently has a first-rate national faculty with a solid three-tier structure of senior, mid-career, and young scholars, including renowned scholars with profound learning and outstanding young backbone faculty; all teachers hold doctoral degrees. The program maintains long-term and stable cooperative relations with many universities in France, Switzerland, and Canada. Forms of cooperation include long-term teaching appointments, short-term lectures, faculty and student exchanges, and joint doctoral training. Some doctoral students enrolled in this program may be included in joint doctoral training programs with universities in France and Switzerland. Graduate students who perform exceptionally well may, upon selection by the University and sponsorship by the Ministry of Education, receive Chinese and French government scholarships to pursue further study in France.

Program in German Language and Literature

The Department of German Language and Literature at Peking University has a first-rate national faculty. All teachers hold doctorates in German language and literature from renowned universities at home and abroad, forming an excellent team engaged in research, teaching, and translation in German language and literature. Literary teaching and research are the hallmark, foundation, and tradition of PKU’s German program. Through the efforts of several generations of teachers and students, the Department has achieved fruitful results in teaching and research. Faculty accomplishments are notable in the translation and study of major authors and canonical works—from the Nibelungenlied to The Tale of Hsi-mu the Simpleton (Chi’er Ximu zhuan), from Goethe and Schiller to Heine and Keller, and from Thomas Mann, Hesse, Döblin, and Musil to Martin Walser and Thomas Bernhard—as well as in the writing of literary histories and specialized studies. The Department has a rich international academic atmosphere, providing students with unique conditions to engage with the academic frontier and to experience the cultures of German-speaking countries. The Department consistently invites high-level cultural experts from German-speaking countries as visiting lecturers, and world-class Germanists come every year to teach and conduct academic exchanges. PKU’s plentiful intercollegiate exchange programs offer students opportunities to study at elite universities in German-speaking countries. The Department is committed both to systematically developing students’ German language abilities and to enhancing their comprehensive humanistic knowledge and academic cultivation, with the aim of training broadly educated individuals versed in German culture who can serve as high-level German-language specialists, cultural ambassadors of German-speaking countries, and experts on German affairs, contributing to world civilization and the country’s development.

Program in Japanese Language and Literature

Japanese studies at Peking University have a long history, traceable to the Tongwenguan period. In 1946, Peking University established the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures; the Japanese program began enrolling undergraduates in 1949, and graduate education had already begun before the Cultural Revolution. In 1981, it became one of the first master’s programs in Japanese language and literature in China, and in 1986 it established the first doctoral program in this field in the country. In 1987, the Institute of Japanese Culture was established, and in 1997 the program added the Japanese Culture track, making it the first Japanese program among Chinese universities to integrate three directions—language, literature, and culture—and to have degree-granting authority at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. In 1999, with the establishment of the PKU School of Foreign Languages, the program was elevated to the Department of Japanese Language and Culture. In 2011, the translation track was approved, and a Japanese Translation Teaching and Research Office was established. In the course of the Department’s construction and development, many distinguished teachers—including Chen Xinde, Liu Zhenying, Xu Zuzheng, Wei Fuxun, Sun Zongguang, Xu Changhua, Pan Jinsheng, and Gu Haigen—taught here, devoting themselves to cultivating outstanding talent and making exceptional contributions to PKU’s Japanese studies, to Japanese language education in China, and to Japan studies. Since the beginning of reform and opening up, the Department has adhered to PKU’s outstanding humanistic traditions and a philosophy that values both teaching and research. It has achieved excellent results in discipline construction, teaching practice, academic research, textbook development, talent training, external exchanges, and international cooperation. The Department has undertaken and completed more than 30 research projects funded by national, provincial, and domestic and international academic institutions; hosted more than 80 large-scale international academic conferences; published more than 30 monographs, over 80 textbooks and edited volumes, and 70 translations; and produced over 800 academic papers—achievements that have garnered attention in domestic and international academia. Many research outcomes have filled gaps in relevant fields and have won more than 20 important awards at home and abroad. The Department’s academic journal, Studies in Japanese Language and Culture, has published 12 issues. Over the decades, PKU has trained many outstanding Japanese-language professionals for the nation; Tang Jiaxuan, China’s first foreign minister and state councilor with a background in Japanese, former ambassador to Japan Xu Dunxin, and Wang Xiaoxian, vice president of the China-Japan Friendship Association, are all graduates of PKU’s Japanese program. The Department currently has four teaching and research offices in language, literature, culture, and translation; all faculty hold doctoral degrees. The Department enrolls approximately 60 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students in total, cultivating high-level, research-oriented and innovative talent across the four directions of language, literature, culture, and translation. In recent years, it has established a postdoctoral station to attract outstanding talent from China and abroad to carry out frontier research topics. The Department maintains close cooperative relations with many renowned Japanese universities and research institutions, inviting dozens of Japanese scholars and experts each year to lecture and conduct academic exchanges—among them the distinguished scholars Kindaichi Haruhiko, Kato Shuichi, and Oe Kenzaburo have all given lectures here. Since 2010, the Department has engaged in international cooperation with Meiji University, hosting two series of “Advanced Lectures on Japanese Animation” each year and inviting leading figures from Japan’s animation industry to teach and exchange ideas. Peking University has intercollegiate exchange agreements with the University of Tokyo, Waseda University, Keio University, Meiji University, Hosei University, Kyushu University, Nihon University, Kansai University, Soka University, Tohoku University, the University of Tsukuba, and others. Under these agreements, the Department selects faculty or students to go to Japan for academic exchanges or study. The Department also has special exchange agreements with Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Bunkyo University, and Kyorin University. In addition, it maintains good collaborative relationships with many universities in Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other regions.

Program in Indian Languages and Literatures

Teaching and research in Indology at Peking University began in 1917, when Cai Yuanpei served as president. In 1946, Professor Ji Xianlin was appointed to Peking University, where he established the Department of Eastern Languages and Literatures, and Sanskrit and Pali became two of the earliest language offerings; Professor Ji was the first professor of Sanskrit and Pali. In 1948, Professor Jin Kemu also joined PKU, and together with Professor Ji launched modern teaching and research in Indology. In 1949, the Hindi program of the Oriental Languages Specialized School—established in 1942 and first located in Chenggong, Yunnan, later moved to Nanjing—was incorporated into Peking University, becoming part of the discipline of Indian studies. In 1954, the Department added Urdu. Thus, the current scope of PKU’s Indian Languages and Literatures program was essentially formed. In 2004, the program began offering Bengali, adding another member to the language-teaching family. In addition, as a supplement to Sanskrit and Pali studies, the program also offers Tibetan. Sanskrit and Pali are ancient Indian languages used in ancient literary and documentary texts; Hindi is India’s official language; Urdu is Pakistan’s national language, an official language, and a state-level language in India; and Bengali is the national language of Bangladesh and also a state-level language in India today. The program is one of the first announced national key disciplines and one of the earliest master’s and doctoral programs in the field; it was selected as a key discipline in 2002. It is currently the only program in this field in China with the authority to grant both master’s and doctoral degrees, leading the nation in both teaching and research and enjoying a certain advantage internationally. Graduates with master’s and doctoral degrees include students from China as well as from Europe, the United States, Korea, Japan, and other countries. The program trains comprehensive talent whose graduates are suited to work in research, education, culture, diplomacy, foreign trade, business, journalism, publishing, tourism, and other fields related to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the South Asian region. The program currently has four teaching and research offices: Sanskrit and Pali, Hindi, Urdu, and South Asian Culture/Bengali, and all faculty members hold doctoral degrees.

Program in Spanish Language and Literature

The master’s program in Spanish at Peking University was established in 1978, and the doctoral program in 1999. The discipline currently covers the following research directions: Spanish literature and Spanish American literature. The program has long-term cooperation with the University of Granada in Spain (since 2008, the Department and the University of Granada have jointly hosted a Confucius Institute). Annually, four master’s students and zero to one doctoral student are admitted. Outstanding graduate students may, upon University selection and sponsorship by the Ministry of Education, receive scholarships from China and Spain or Latin American countries (Cuba, Mexico, Chile, Colombia) to pursue further studies abroad.

Program in Arabic Language and Literature

Arabic is one of the working languages of the United Nations and is used across more than 20 countries and regions in West Asia and North Africa. In ancient times, this region produced a brilliant Arab-Islamic civilization that had a profound impact on the development of world civilization. The Arabic program at Peking University was established in 1946, making it the earliest Arabic program established at a Chinese university. Over more than 70 years, while training and sending a large number of outstanding talent for the nation, the program has also seen significant development in its disciplinary construction. It now spans three levels of instruction—undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral—and includes teaching and research directions such as Arabic language, Arabic literature, Arab-Islamic culture, and Middle East studies.

Program in Asian and African Languages and Literatures

Asian and African Languages and Literatures is one of the key disciplines at the School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, covering a variety of languages, literatures, and cultural studies, including Mongolian language and culture, Korean language and culture, Thai language and culture, Persian-Iranian language and culture, Southeast Asian culture, ancient Near Eastern civilizations (Assyriology, Hittitology), Oriental literature, Burmese language and culture, Vietnamese language and culture, Hebrew language and culture, Filipino language and culture, African literature and culture, and more. The program emphasizes area studies and interdisciplinary integration, training students to master foundational theories and specialized knowledge of relevant languages and to develop independent research capabilities. With the goal of cultivating high-level talent with an international vision and cross-cultural communication skills, the program provides systematic academic training to enable students to undertake work in research, teaching, international cultural exchange, diplomacy and foreign trade, and other fields. Students are required to attain proficiency in the target language and to study related history, literature, culture, and politics, while also being encouraged to acquire other related languages such as English, Russian, and Arabic. Research areas include linguistics, literary analysis, cultural studies, folklore, comparative literature, and more, providing solid academic support for an in-depth understanding of the diverse cultures of Asia and Africa and their exchanges with China. The program enjoys a strong reputation at home and abroad, leveraging PKU’s comprehensive academic resources and maintaining close cooperation with relevant academic institutions domestically and internationally. Through textual study, fieldwork, and theoretical analysis, and under the guidance of supervisors, students carry out systematic research, cultivating solid academic ability and innovative awareness, and supplying high-end talent for the nation and society.