National Taiwan Normal University - History

History

The National Taiwan Normal University opened its doors in the early 20th century during Japanese rule in Taiwan. Taiwan's Japanese governors established the school as Taiwan Provincial College. Soon after they gave it the name Taihoku College (Taihoku is "Taipei" in Japanese). The school's purpose was to nurture a native educated class qualified to assist the government in matters of administration. Many buildings on the university's main campus date from the Japanese colonial period, including the Administration Building, the Lecture Hall, Wenhui Hall and Puzi Hall. Japanese civil engineers incorporated features of the Neo-Classical, Gothic and Gothic Revival styles often encountered on European university campuses. A room in the Lecture Hall housed the traditional Japanese document that authorises and formalises campus construction.

In 1946 China's Kuomintang government assumed control of Taiwan and redefined the school as Taiwan Provincial Teachers College. Some school publications still display 1946 as the institution's founding date in reference to this regime change. A number of Taiwan's leading authors, poets, artists, educators, musicians, and researchers have passed through the university's doors as students and faculty. Puru, a famous painter and cousin to the last emperor of China, was a professor in the art department from 1950 to 1963. In 1956 the Mandarin Training Center opened its doors as an extension of the college. The school acquired its present name, National Taiwan Normal University, in 1967. By now the school had established itself as a recognized center of learning in arts, literature and the humanities; its fundamental mission, though, remained the preparation of teachers.

As Taiwanese society made its shift from authoritarian rule to democracy in the 1990s, the university saw its role transformed by passage of the 1994 Teacher Preparation Law. The law gave more schools responsibility for teacher training and set NTNU on its present course as a truly comprehensive university. New departments were created, course offerings and majors were expanded, and new faculty were hired. The university became a hub of international activity, enabling Taiwanese students to travel abroad, attracting international students to Taipei, and building exchange programs with dozens of sister institutions around the world.