Fu Jen Catholic University

Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or) is a private Catholic university in Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and re-established in Taiwan in 1961 at the request of Pope John XXIII, its name means "assistance" and "benevolence". Fu Jen has since grown to comprise twelve colleges and schools, among which are several Taiwan's first or only academic units, such as Italian language, info-management, museology, religious studies, philosophy as well as hosts the earliest A&HCI journal in the whole country. The campus is served by Fu Jen University Station, Taiwan's first metro station named after a university.

Fu Jen is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit-affiliated institution of higher education in the Sinophone world, under the direct authority of the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See. It is also a non-state actor of Track II diplomacy in the Holy See–Taiwan relations. Therefore, Fu Jen has special importance internationally and is known for its strong ties with the Roman Curia. In the past nearly one hundred years of history, the Benedictine, the Verbites, and the Jesuits from all over the world have participated in the management of the university.

The university has been ranked as top 3 catholic university in Asia, top 300 by Times Higher Education Impact Ranking, top 100 in theology and top 500 in humanities and medicine by QS World University Rankings, it has the nation's first business school there with AACSB accreditation and also the medical college was the earliest to promote PBL as pedagogy for medical education, furthermore, the transnational joint master's program "MGEM" was ranked 19th globally by Financial Times in 2020. Fu Jen is Taiwan's 4th most popular university, 5th most impact university, and 5th best ranked business school. Fu Jen alumni include the Premier Lin Chuan, former First Lady of China Wang Guangmei, a number of politicians represented in the Legislative Yuan and professors at various world-class institutions.

Fu Jen is home to the University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific, also a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the ACUCA, the AWS Educate & AWS Academy, and the IFCU. Fu Jen founded the Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities together with the UTokyo, Waseda, Peking and others. The university has many collaborative institutions and exchange programs with top universities in G8 countries, such as Stanford, Oxford, and Angelicum. In addition, Fu Jen has established sister-school relationships with more than 435 universities worldwide that including UC Berkeley, Tohoku, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and C9 League universities.

History

Early history

The institution was originally established in Beijing in 1925 by the Benedictines of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, at the request of the Holy See, with archabbot Aurelius Stehle serving as chancellor. Fu Jen, then commonly known as the Catholic University of Peking, was itself a successor to the Fu Jen Academy , which was created through the efforts of Catholic scholars Ma Xiangbo and Ying Lianzhi. The university's first president (1925–1927) was the American missionary George Barry O'Toole, OSB. He was succeeded by Chen Yuan, a Chinese Protestant and renowned historian, who remained university president until the school's forced closure by the Chinese Communist government in 1952.

In 1933 the Benedictines in the United States, in the midst of the Great Depression, were no longer able to sustain Fu Jen's mission. Administration of the university passed to the Society of the Divine Word in Germany. Its affiliation with Germany, an ally of Imperial Japan, helped protect university personnel from extreme brutality inflicted elsewhere by occupying Imperial Japanese soldiers during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).

After World War II

In August 1945, China repelled the Imperial Japan and won the World War II. The Nationalist Government made an exception to ratify Fu Jen students' status during the occupation of Beijing. Since the development of the university has not been interrupted by the war, its scientific strength has become China's top. Well-known scientists such as Chien Shih-Liang taught at Fu Jen, and graduates such as Lee C. Teng and Wang Guangmei will become world celebrities in the future. On December 24 of the same year, Thomas Tien Ken-sin, the university chairman, was created cardinal. The following year, the School of Agriculture was added and preparations for the School of Medicine began. The university bought a freighter to travel between Tianjin, Shanghai and Keelung to increase revenue. Also in the same year, the first Taiwan Alumni Association of Fu Jen was established in Dadu, Taichung, Taiwan.

After the Communists assumed power in China in 1949, religious organisations, including the Catholic Church, began to be systematically repressed. In 1952 this intensified and the government merged Fu Jen with the Beijing Normal University, Peking University, Renmin University, China University of Political Science and Law, and Central University of Finance and Economics. Under Mao Zedong's arrangement, Chen Yuan, the former principal of Fu Jen, was transferred to the Normal University as the new principal.

Cold War era

Although the Taiwan Provincial Government promised to donate land near Yuanshan Area in Taipei in 1948 to serve as the school site for Fu Jen to move to Taiwan, the Roman headquarters of the Society of the Divine Word soon ordered the suspension of all activities. The following year, the university's American representative Rev. Ralph Thyken, S.V.D. came to Tokyo, Japan, to prepare for the establishment of a new Nagoya Catholic University, which is now Nanzan University. Until the Holy See formally ordered the re-establish in Taiwan, the history of Fu Jen was interrupted for about ten years.

Fu Jen Catholic University was re-established in 1961 in Taiwan, and Paul Yu Pin, the former Ordinary of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanjing, was appointed as the new president by the Pope John XXIII. The new school opened under the auspices of the Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference, the Society of Jesus, and the Society of the Divine Word.

The new Fu Jen's academics sprouted from Western history, medieval philosophy, Christian thought, and European languages. It is the only comprehensive university in Taiwan that fully integrates Western thought, history, language, religion, and art. Since the 1960s, the university's philosophical tradition has been Scholasticism and Paul Yu Pin's "Three Kinds of Knowing" (三知論), focusing on the development of a Catholic philosophy that incorporates Confucianism and opposing the "relativism hegemony."

During the thirty years of the Cold War, many Western priests and nuns were sent to teach at the university and imported advanced scholarship into Taiwan. Many professors have been commended for this in recent years, such as Daniel Ross from the United States, Leopoldo Vicente from Spain, Marcina Stawasz from Poland, etc.

Modern era

Fu Jen has expanded rapidly since the 1990s. The number of students and social influence has long maintained the top five in the country, and the number of colleges has been closely following the National Taiwan University. So far in the 21st century, the university has since grown to comprise twelve colleges and schools and a hospital. In 2001, Fu Jen has been the first college in Taiwan that actively reduces tuition and fees.

Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital was opened in September 2017. The College of Medicine can be used as a conduit for cooperation between different academic disciplines, and assume a leading role in bringing together the colleges of biotechnology, chemistry, physics, engineering, management, and foreign languages. The establishment of a completely new curriculum and unique program will include training in hospital management and medical translation, research in laser technology and biotechnology, integration of Western and Chinese medicine, and robotic surgery.

Ideal and governance

The university motto, 真、善、美、聖 (Veritas, Bonitas, Pulchritudo, Sanctitas in Latin), expresses four ideals: truth, goodness, beauty and sanctity

The laurel wreath symbolizes honor and peace while the twelve stars signify the Virgin Mary. The cross represents the Christian faith. The two colors on the shield suggest Christ's dual nature as the rounded shape of the shield recalls the Sacred Heart. The Latin words on the banner beneath the emblem, the university motto, express the four ideals of the university while the three folds of the banner suggest the Trinity.

Based on the Christian faith, the university president clearly supports the abolition of the death penalty, opposes abortion, and opposes the utilitarianization of higher education.

Impact

Relying on the authority of the Vatican and the Society of the Divine Word, Fu Jen, then known as the Catholic University of Peking, was the only university in Beijing that was not taken over and controlled by Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the white terror period of the cold war, Fu Jen was able to prevent the Kuomintang fascist regime from interfering in school affairs and protect the students' freedom of speech under the serious concern of the Secretariat of State (Holy See).

Fu Jen Catholic University belongs to the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). After the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 came into effect in 1971, Fu Jen is the only university in Taiwan that has continuously participated in UNESCO for a long time. In the official Holy See–Taiwan relations, the university has repeatedly promoted substantial exchanges between the two countries. All the traditional Taiwanese ambassadors to the Holy See will be awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Fu Jen after leaving offic…