Introduction to School of Chinese Language and Literature, SCNU

The School of Chinese Language and Literature was founded in 2005. In 1951, Guangdong College of Arts and Science was renamed South China Normal University and the Department of Chinese Literature was renamed Department Chinese Language and Literature. In 2000, the Department of Chinese Language and Literature and the Department of History was merged as School of Liberal Arts. In 2005, the two departments were separated when the former evolved to our school.

There are four undergraduate departments in the School of Chinese Language and Literature, namely Chinese Language and Literature (teacher training), Bi-lingual (Chinese and English) Secretary, Editing and Publishing, and Chinese Linguistics, among which Chinese Language and Literature (teacher training) is a “Brand Major” of Guangdong Province. Since 2010, the School has opened a “Xiangqin Sinology Creativity Class”. With solid subject matter foundations, our students have won many national honors of the highest caliber, such as China “Challenge Cup”, Chinese language and characters contests, and literary composition competitions.

The School of Chinese Language and Literature boasts a teachers’ team with high degrees, young age, and reasonable structure. Currently, there are 102 faculty members, of whom 91 are teachers, 27 professors and 30 associate professors. There are 17 doctoral supervisors, one Pearl River Scholar and four provincial-level cultivated members in "Thousand Hundred Ten Project "of Guangdong province universities. 58 of our teachers are holders of doctoral degrees, accounting for 64% of the total teachers. In recent years, our teachers have undertaken many national and provincial research projects. They have won many liberal arts and social sciences awards of higher education institutes granted by the Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province. In 2012, the key program of “211 Project” third phase – “Culture Ecology and Evolvement of Chinese Literature” responsible by our school has been completed with an “Excellent” rating, exerting remarkable influences in Chinese universities.

The academic foundation of the School of Chinese Language and Literature is particularly profound, making it one of the strongest faculties in the university. Since the 1950s,   many famous scholars of the last generation have laid a solid basis for the school, such as Li Jingchi, Kang Baiqing, Wu Jianqing, Wu Sanli, Liao Biguang, Liao Zidong, and Li Yuzhong. Ever since the 1990s, the school has achieved leaping development in disciplinary building. In 2011, the school’s Primary Discipline Doctoral Program was approved.  In 2012, the Chinese Language and Literature discipline of our school was approved as a key discipline of Guangdong Province. Till now, there are one Primary Discipline Doctoral Program and eight Secondary Discipline Graduate Programs, and a Post-doctoral Program in Chinese Language and Literarue in the school. The “Research Center of Lingnan Culture” of the school is a key research base of social science of Guangdong Province. Our doctoral program includes four specialized directions: Ancient Chinese Literature, Contemporary Chinese Literature, Chinese Linguistics and Philology, and Theory of Literature and Art.

With its rich rudimentary education resources and unique advantages in teacher training, the high school Chinese textbooks (Canton version) edited by our faculty are widely used all over China. The Chinese Language Monthly, created, edited, and published by our faculty has been awarded as one of the hundred key journals of the national level for two consecutive years, making it the most important journal in the field of high-school Chinese education. We have also undertaken many primary and middle-school teachers’ training programs of the national and provincial level, making significant contributions to improving rudimentary education.

At present, the School of Chinese Language and Literature aims to build a national key discipline, nurture new growth and innovation, and play a leading role in Chinese language education reform of South China. We are also striving to make our contribution in building Guangdong into a culturally strong province. The whole faculty is making concerted efforts to seek greater growth and improvement.