Shanxi University is one of the three earliest national universities in the history of modern Chinese education. It was co-founded in 1902 (the 28th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign in the Qing Dynasty) by a British missionary, Richard Timothy, and the then governor of Shanxi province, Cen Chunxuan. Initially, the university had two divisions, i.e. the Chinese Learning Hall and the Western Learning Hall, was called “Shanxi Grand School” and was situated in the Hou Jia Street of the city of Taiyuan (the place where Taiyuan Normal University is now located). In the early days of the Republic of China, the name of “Shanxi Grand School” was changed into “Shanxi Grand Academy”, which was replaced with another name “National Shanxi University” in 1918, and then renamed “Shanxi University” in 1931. During the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945), Shanxi University moved its location to the Southern part of Shanxi province, to Sanyuan and Qiulin in Shaanxi province and then to other places. From 1937 to 1939, Shanxi University was forced to close down for some reason. In the spring of 1949, the school of science of China University merged into Shanxi University. In the early days of the People’s Republic of China, Shanxi University possessed five schools such as the school of fine arts, the school of science, the school of medicine, the school of engineering and the school of law. Deng Chumin, a well-known progressive scholar, served as president of Shanxi University at that time. In 1953, New China conducted its first massive adjustment of educational institutions, and according to the required policies, Shanxi University was renamed Shanxi Normal College after the merger of its school of fine arts and the school of science. The original school of science and the school of medicine were given the authorization to develop independently. For the school of law, it was given a new name “School of Finance and Economy”, which was added to the People’s University of China later on. In 1954, Shanxi Normal College moved to the current premises from Hou Jia Street and then in 1959, Shanxi University was established again. Two years later, Shanxi University merged with Shanxi Normal College and was still named “Shanxi University”. In 1962, Shanxi Institute of Physical Education and Shanxi Institute of Art joined Shanxi University. In short, it is with the unremitting effort of the generations that Shanxi University has transformed from a grassy desolate land in the past into a new campus of considerable size and full of modern flavor.

　　　　　　　1902 --- 1911, Shanxi Grand School
　　　　　　　1912 --- 1931, Shanxi Grand Academy
　　　　　　　1931 --- 1937, Shanxi University,
　　　　　　　1937 --- 1939, Shanxi University was closed
　　　　　　　1939 --- 1943, Shanxi University

　　　　　　　1943 --- 1949, National Shanxi University,
　　　　　　　1949 --- 1953, Shanxi University
　　　　　　　1953 --- 1961, Shanxi Normal College (under the Ministry of Education)
　　　　　　　1959 till now, Shanxi University