By Antoine PEBAYLE As an exchange student at National Taiwan University (NTU), I realised that my knowledge about my host institution was largely incomplete and very limited. When I was given the chance to move to Taiwan, I knew only that NTU was the #1 university on the island, well known not only in the Chinese world but throughout all of Asia. From the very beginning of the University during the last century to its growing reputation in the international scene today, it is time to learn more about NTU through its 87-year history. Taihoku Imperial University: the precursor of NTU during the Japanese era After the defeat of Qing China by Japan, Taiwan was ceded to Japan by the Shimonoseki treaty in 1895. The victorious Japanese decided not to exploit the “beautiful island” as a conquered territory but to develop it and assimilate it as a colony and part of the Japanese empire. This choice was largely dictated by the proximity of Taiwan, which is very close to Japan’s southern shores. Moreover, the island possessed rich natural resources, rich in economic, scientific, and cultural value. Thirty-three years after the beginning of this colonization, in 1928, the Japanese government created Taihoku Imperial University. The idea was first announced by the Japanese Governor-General in Taiwan in 1922. Originally, this institution was composed of only two colleges: the Faculty of Literature and Politics and the Faculty of Science and Agriculture. The decision to open the University was not a random one. At this time, the Rising-Sun Empire needed social science experts and wanted to train political experts, diplomats, and a class of educated scholars to support Japan’s expansionist policy. In fact, among the first graduating students in 1931, four of them students studied literature, while ten of them majored in politics. The other faculty was also a response to the needs of the time. As I said, Japan intended to exploit the island and develop its agricultural resources. One part of this faculty was the influential Department of Forestry. The tropical climate of Taiwan has given the island deeply rich fauna and flora. Impressed by such diversity, the Japanese wanted to unlock its mysteries. Many naturalists were sent from Japan to list new species and to analyse them, but it appeared much easier just to educate them directly in Taiwan. Forestry was an important field because of the many species of rare trees found on the island. According to some professors in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry today, “back at that time, if the university needed money they simply went to the Department of Forestry and asked them to cut down and sell a tree in order to finance new research projects.” Among the first graduates of this faculty, six majored in science while twenty-six studied agriculture. A long path to the current NTU The road was long from the original Taihoku Imperial University and its sixty students (only five of whom were Taiwanese) to today’s National Taiwan University with its eleven faculties, fifty-four departments, and 35,000 students.
The Japanese ancestor of NTU lasted seventeen years until the defeat of Japan in 1945. During those years, the University evolved a lot, increasing its divisions to five and enrolling nearly four hundred students. The faculties included Literature and Politics, Science, Agriculture, Medicine, and Engineering. Pre-World War II Japan needed to train engineers in order to catch up to European technical advances in some fields or to keep its superiority in others. Medicine was also one of the most important fields of study at the time. Modern Japan intended to raise the living conditions of its population and with the Department of Tropical Medicine, Japan actively searched for cures for the diseases it encountered in its tropical island colonies. After World War II and with the return of Taiwan under the Republic of China leadership, Taihoku Imperial University was renamed National Taiwan University on November 15, 1945. It was deeply altered in terms of structure and operations. The university system was adjusted to the one in effect in China, which was a compulsory education system similar to the one in use in the United States. In addition to restructuring its faculties, the university also enlarged its research fields gradually. Taiwan slowly gained greater visibility among other Asian universities and even competed with American and European ones. NTU also became a research university that trained graduate students. NTU is now recognized on an international level and attracts many foreign students as well as international connections and partnerships with other universities. The number of graduate students is now almost equal to the number of undergraduates, owing to NTU’s close relationship with the Academia Sinica. Each of these changes has responded to new eras and new directions, as NTU has opened itself to the world and has become the prestigious university we know today. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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