In Where Did All the "Union Universities" Go? In July 1938, we mentioned that Northwest Associated University was reorganized into National Northwest University, National Northwest Institute of Technology, National Northwest Normal College, National Northwest Agricultural College and National Northwest Medical College, which developed into today's Northwest University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Northwest Normal University, Northwest A&F University and Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, respectively. Among them, the School of Medicine of Xi'an Jiaotong University has previously introduced its history in "Xi'an Jiaotong University: Originating from Beijing and Rooted in the Northwest Medical Context", and today, we will introduce another of the five universities, that is, the Northwest Normal University mentioned in the title, which is the only one of the five universities to move out of Xi'an in the subsequent development, and objectively speaking, it is also the worst developed among the five universities. Northwest Normal University is the remnant of "National Peiping Normal University" in Northwest ChinaAfter the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the "National Peking Normal University" was re-established in Beijing, and gradually developed into the highest institution of today's normal university - Beijing Normal University. In addition, in the early years, Northwest Normal University also took the independence of National Northwest Normal University in 1939 as the starting point of the school's history, and traced the history back to the Beijing Normal University Hall in 1902.
National Peiping Normal University, formerly known as the Beijing Normal University Hall, was changed to the Superior Normal Department in 1904 and the Beijing Normal School in 1908, which was the beginning of the independent establishment of China's higher normal schools. In 1912, after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, the Beijing Normal School was changed to the Beijing Senior Normal School. In 1923, Beijing Normal University was renamed "National Beijing Normal University", which was the first normal university in China.
In addition to the Beijing Normal School, the Qing Dynasty also established another source of the National Peking Normal University in 1908 - the Jingshi Women's Normal School. **After its establishment, the Beijing Normal School for Girls was renamed as Beijing Women's Higher Normal School. In 1924, following Beijing Normal University, the female high school was also renamed as "National Beijing Women's Normal University".
In 1927, the two schools were asked to participate in the establishment of the "National Peking University". In 1929, Beijing Normal University became independent again and was called National Peking Normal University. In 1931, the Women's Normal University, which had been renamed the Women's Normal College of National Peking University, was merged. In 1937, National Peiping Normal University participated in the establishment of Northwest Associated University, and National Peiping Normal University was reorganized into the School of Education of Northwest Associated University, and later changed to Normal College.
The above is the prelude to the birth of Northwest Normal University.
In 1939, the Normal College of Northwest Associated University was established independently and renamed the National Northwest Normal University, and the new National Northwest Normal College inherited the resources of the original Beiping Normal University. In 1940, the Nationalist decided to move Northwest Normal College to LanzhouThe following year, the Lanzhou branch officially opened and accepted all the new students of Northwest Normal University. In 1942, the relocation of Northwest Normal College was officially started, and the relocation ended in 1944.
In 1946, the National Peking Normal University took over the puppet Beijing Normal University in Beijing and resumed its school, so far, the two schools of Peking Normal University and Northwest Normal University coexisted.
On August 26, 1949, the Chinese People's Liberation Army liberated Lanzhou. A week later, the Lanzhou Military Control Commission officially took over the National Northwest Normal College. In 1952, the major adjustment of national faculties and departments had little impact on Northwest Normal University as a whole, mainly because the English Department was merged into Northwest University. In June 1957, the Gansu Normal College in Tianshui was abolished, and the teaching staff and all students in the second year of Chinese and mathematics were merged into Northwest Normal College.
In 1958, under the situation of the "Great Leap Forward", the Department of Physical Education of Northwest Normal University was independently established as Lanzhou Institute of Physical Education; The Department of Art was separated and partially merged with the Department of Chinese of Lanzhou University, and was independently established as Lanzhou Art College; The Chinese major and the history department of the Department of Chinese of Lanzhou University were merged into the Department of Chinese Language and the Department of History of Northwest Normal University.
For Northwest Normal University in the 50s, the overall scale and strength of the school showed a significant upward trend during this period.
In 1958, it was assigned to the leadership of Gansu Province and renamed Gansu Normal University. In 1961, the faculty and staff of the Second Department of Chinese Language and History, which had been merged from Lanzhou University to Gansu Normal University, and the relevant books were transferred back to Lanzhou University, and the previously independent Lanzhou Institute of Physical Education returned. In 1962, the two departments of Lanzhou Art Institute and Fine Arts were merged, and basically returned to 1958.
Beginning in 1967, the school as a whole was in chaos, the party organization was paralyzed, the teaching organization at the school and department levels and the rules and regulations of the school were completely destroyed, and many teachers were branded as "reactionary academic authorities", "remnants of the Kuomintang", "historical counter-revolutionary", etc., and were brutally attacked and defeated.
Since 1977, the school has set things right, and all work has begun to get back on track. In 1981, the school was renamed Northwest Normal University. In 1985, the Northwest Minority Teacher Training Center was established with the support of Northwest Normal University. In 1987, the Tibetan Teacher Training Center was established in the school. In 1988, Northwest Normal University was officially established, and it is still there today.
In 2001, the Gansu Provincial Economic Management Cadre College was merged, and the former Gansu Education College (merged into Gansu United University, where did the "United University" go?). The functions are assigned to Northwest Normal University. In 2009, it became a university jointly established by the people of Gansu Province and the Ministry of Education.
However, due to the socio-economic conditions of Gansu Province and the importance of higher education in the province, Northwest Normal University has developed slowly in the past period compared with its brother normal colleges in the central and eastern regions. In recent years, Gansu Province's attitude towards higher education has generally been upward, and Northwest Normal University should usher in a development opportunity.