The Former Qilu University Modern Architectural Complex

The Former Qilu University Modern Architectural Complex

The Former Qilu University Modern Architectural Complex is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

The Former Qilu University Modern Architectural Complex consists of campus buildings from Qilu University and now forms part of the Baotu Spring Campus of Shandong University. In 2013, the complex on the Baotu Spring Campus (built between 1905 and 1924), as an important modern historical site and representative architecture, was included in the seventh batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, with the designation number 7-1783-5-176.

In 1908, British missionary James Boyd purchased 74 acres of land southwest of the old city of Jinan, just outside the South Fortified Wall, under the guise of a "perpetual lease" to establish the new campus of the Protestant Christian University of Shandong (later known as Qilu University). To facilitate transportation between the school and the already established Huamei Hospital, the local government specially opened a new gate, called the “New Construction Gate,” in the South Fortified Wall. This plot of land became the foundation for the construction of the Baotu Spring Campus.

In 1909, the Protestant Christian University of Shandong was renamed Shantung Christian University.

Between 1916 and 1917, the university successively absorbed the Peking Union Medical College, the Medical Department of the University of Nanking in Nanjing, and the Medical School of Datong in Hankou. Raising over two million yuan, it constructed new campus buildings on the land forcibly purchased in 1908, located outside the South Gate of the southern fortified area.

In September 1917, Qilu University officially opened.

In September 1937, to avoid the war, Qilu University announced a suspension of classes. Except for some staff who remained, most faculty, students, and major teaching equipment were relocated to Huaxiba in Chengdu, Sichuan. After the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, the original Qilu University campus in Jinan was occupied and turned into a military hospital by the Japanese army.

On October 1, 1945, Qilu University reopened in Jinan. On the eve of the Battle of Jinan in 1948, to avoid the war, the College of Arts and Sciences of Qilu University was moved to Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and the Medical College was moved to Fuzhou, Fujian. In January 1951, the Ministry of Education under the East China Military and Political Committee took over Qilu University and relocated it back to Jinan.

During the 1952 restructuring of academic departments, Qilu University was disbanded. Only its Medical College merged with the East China Bethune Medical College to form Shandong Medical College, which remained on the original Qilu University campus.

In July 1970, Shandong Medical College merged with Shandong College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and relocated to Loude Town, Xintai County, Tai'an region, leaving a liaison office on the Jinan campus. In 1973, the main body of the college moved back to Jinan, and by 1975, the relocation was largely completed.

In 1985, the Ministry of Health decided to rename Shandong Medical College as Shandong Medical University.

In July 2000, Shandong Medical University merged with Shandong University, and the campus was named the West Campus of Shandong University.

In May 2013, the State Council (State Council Document [2013] No. 13) announced that the Former Qilu University Modern Architectural Complex was included in the seventh batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

On December 7, 2006, the architectural complex of Qilu University (including its Medical College) was designated as part of the third batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units in Shandong Province (see the list of the third batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units in Shandong Province).

On May 4, 2009, the West Campus of Shandong University was renamed the Baotu Spring Campus.

In May 2012, the Qilu Medical College of Shandong University was established.

In 2013, the Former Qilu University Modern Architectural Complex was included in the seventh batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

Further reading:

· Third Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units in Shandong Province

· Seventh Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level