Peking University was founded in 1898, named as 'Jingshi Da Xuetang'  (i.e. the Highest College in the Capital).  Yan Fu, her first president, was also the first man to introduce the western(modern) sociology into China. In 1912, she grew out of her predecessor and was renamed as National Peking University. Cai Yuanpei assumed the University's President in 1917  and  began to carry out his famous policy  of '  Talking in Anything and  Everything'. Since then sociology could be provided conditions to develop in the University. From that time, in  1922,    Yanching University   (  later merged into Peking University )   set up the Department of Sociology and Social Service.   In  1979,  Sociology regained its legitimate status in China  (    we call this as the 'recovering' of Sociology    ),   and with the support  from various kinds of social forces and the guides  from  famous  sociologist  such  as  Fei Xiaotong and Lei Jieqiong, a new department,  the  Department  of  Sociology  of  Peking University, was formally founded in April of 1982 after the two-years preparation. So this new Department became the first sociological department  among  those  universities  and  colleges directly under the Ministry of Education( namely it is the National Commission of Education).

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