Xizang Minzu University

Xizang Minzu University (Chinese: 西藏民族大学; Tibetan: བོད་ལྗོངས་མི་རིགས་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཆེན་མོ་།), also known as Tibet University for Nationalities, is a Chinese university established to educate ethnic minorities, specifically Tibetans. It is under the jurisdiction of Tibet Autonomous Region, but is physically located in the city of Xianyang in Shaanxi province, near the provincial capital Xi'an.^[1]

Xizang Minzu University

西藏民族大学 བོད་ལྗོངས་མི་རིགས་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཆེན་མོ་།
Former names	Tibet Public School
Type	Public
Established	1958; 66 years ago (1958)
Academic staff	1,105
Students	9,400
Location	Xianyang , Shaanxi , China
Website	www.xzmu.edu.cn

History

With the annexation of Tibet in 1951, there was an urgent need for a large number of ethnic minority cadres with a certain cultural foundation. According to the instruction of Premier Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping presided over a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, and decided to set up Tibetan schools. In June 1957, the Tibet Work Committee began to prepare for the establishment of the Tibet Public School. However, the repeated obstruction of the Kashag class in Tibet did not agree to open a public school in Tibet. The Kashag government claimed that even after graduation, students would continue to be serfs or slaves. Considering the urgent need for a safe place for students' development, the Tibetan Work Committee decided to run the school in Xianyang, Shaanxi, which has trains to Beijing and Xining, and was convenient for students to return to Tibet to work after graduation. ^[2]

In October 1957, the Central Committee approved the allocation of the site of the former Northwestern Polytechnical College in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, to the new Tibet Public School.^[3] The opening ceremony of the Tibet Public Schools was held ceremonially on September 15, 1958, marking the beginning of a new stage in the historical development of Tibet's national education. The central government formally appointed Zhang Guohua, deputy secretary of the Tibet Work Committee and commander of the Tibet Military Region, as headmaster of the Tibet Public School. In October 1963, the school set up a professional department, and the direction of running the school gradually developed into a professional education and a comprehensive institution. on July l, 1965, the State Council approved the change of its name to the Xizang Minzu College.^[1][4]

In 1972, the college set up seven specialties and preparatory courses, such as politics, electromechanics, Tibetan language, finance and accounting, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, and health. In May 1972, the Linzhi Banch was established in Linzhi, Tibet, with departments of agriculture, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, finance and accounting, and electromechanics. In 1978, approved by the State Council, the Linzhi Branch was renamed the Tibetan College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry. In 1983, the Tibetan language department of Xizang Minzu College was relocated to the Tibet Normal College.^[5] In 1995, the number of majors in the College increased, with the addition of administrative science, secretarial science, archival science, jurisprudence, taxation and preventive medicine.^[6]

On April 28, 2015, Xizang Minzu College was renamed Xizang Minzu University with the approval of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China.^[7]

Overview

The university has over 9,400 full-time students, more than half of whom are members of ethnic minorities including Tibetans. It has 1,105 faculty members. The university offers 42 undergraduate majors and 20 master's programs.^[1]

Notable alumni

• Basang, former Vice-Chairwoman of Tibet Autonomous Region^[8]
• Losang Jamcan, Chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region^[9]
• Tashi Tsering, educator
• Wu Yingjie, Communist Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region

References

1. "About the university" (in Chinese). Tibet Minzu University. Archived from the original on 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
2. 伊斯雷尔·爱泼斯坦著；高全孝，郭彧斌，郑敏芳译 (2015). 西藏的变迁 Tibet transformed. 北京: 新星出版社. p. 349-350. ISBN 978-7-5133-2010-8.
3. 李彗生 (2003). 中国大学图典 四川、重庆、云南、贵州、西藏卷：云南、贵州、西藏分册. 成都: 成都时代出版社. p. 124. ISBN 7-80548-895-9.
4. 中共咸阳市秦都区委党史研究室编 (2021). 中国共产党咸阳市秦都区历史 第2卷 1949.10-1978.12. 西安: 陕西人民出版社. p. 49. ISBN 978-7-224-13921-1.
5. 张健主编；《中国教育年鉴》编辑部编 (1988). 中国教育年鉴 1985-1986. 长沙: 湖南教育出版社. p. 658. ISBN 7-5355-0620-8.
6. 《中国教育年鉴》编辑部编 (1997). 中国教育年鉴 1996. 北京: 人民教育出版社. p. 799. ISBN 7-107-11862-5.
7. "西藏民族大学启用校名字体、校徽、英文名称及学校域名的公告---西藏民族大学". www.xzmu.edu.cn. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
8. "Basang" (in Chinese). National Chengchi University. 2015-06-05. Archived from the original on 2016-04-27.
9. "洛桑江村简历" [Biography of Losang Jamcan] (in Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2013-05-08.

34°20′48″N 108°43′57″E