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.[16] Fu Jen, then commonly known as the Catholic University of Peking, was itself a successor to the Fu Jen Academy (Chinese: 輔仁社), 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.
Since the university's operation had not been interrupted by the war, it quickly became one of China's top science programs. Well-known scientists such as Chien Shih-Liang taught at Fu Jen, and graduates such as Lee C. Teng and Wang Guangmei became famous alumni. On December 24, 1945, Thomas Tien Ken-sin, the university chairman, was made a cardinal. The following year, the School of Agriculture was added and preparations for the School of Medicine began. Also in the same year, the first Taiwan Alumni Association of Fu Jen was established in Dadu, Taichung, Taiwan.[17]
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.[18] 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.[19] Until the Holy See formally ordered the university's re-establishment in Taiwan, the history of Fu Jen was interrupted for about ten years.
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."[20][21]
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.[22][23][24]
Modern era
In 1997, the Nobel Prize winner 14th Dalai Lama came to Fu Jen to hold a Dharma promotion conference (lecture) and held talks with Taiwan Governor James Soong (Taiwan's second most powerful person) in the university president’s office.[25]
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.[26]
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.[27]
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.[28][29]
The appointment and removal of the post of Fu Jen university president is a matter of inquiry by the Secretary of State of the Holy See, and has been compared with the membership of the United Nations of the Republic of China (Taiwan).[33] The issue of the internal reorganization of Fu Jen has also widely affected the intervention of the Ministry of Education of the two countries and the papal nuncio to Taiwan.[34]
The chairman or the president of the university has always accompanied the president of Taiwan to visit the Holy See. In 2005, under the intervention of Fu Jen, the seat of the Taiwanese president was placed in the first row of heads of state, ahead of the US Vice President Dick Cheney and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.[35] In 2013, the university further designated the products of the Fu Jen alumni's enterprise Franz-porcelains as the official national gift, which were presented to Pope Francis and the retired Pope Benedict XVI respectively.[36]
Master Program of Global Entrepreneurial Management
Master of Global Entrepreneurial Management (MGEM – FJU, IQS, and USF)
MBA Program in International Management (imMBA)
Master's Program in Social Enterprise
Bachelor's Program of Business Management
Teaching
Fu Jen University established Taiwan's first graduate-level program in conference interpreting, the Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpreting Studies (GITIS). Also Fu Jen has annexed a Mandarin Language Center, established in 1964[38] to address the need for foreign missionaries to learn Chinese teaching hundreds of students each semester from countries worldwide[39]Taiwanese,[40] and every semester offers cultural classes such as Chinese Poetry, Chinese calligraphy, and Taijiquan.[41][42]
The School of Medicine is one of the medical schools in Taiwan to adopt the pedagogy, "problem-based learning (PBL)", first developed at McMaster University Medical School in Canada, so that students can acquire medical knowledge from small group discussions and case studies. The implementation of PBL has won applause from the Taiwan Medical Accreditation Council and brought a wave of reform in medical education in Taiwan. In order to successfully practice PBL, the School has recruited basic scientists with specialties in various areas as well as more than one hundred clinicians as a strong backbone for teaching. Fu Jen's is the only medical school in Taiwan which uses PBL as a pedagogy for the third and fourth year curriculum.
Research
Fu Jen Catholic University has a long history of publishing journals. The main journals are as follows:
Universitas: Monthly Review of Philosophy and CultureA&HCI
Fu Jen Studies
Fu Jen Law Review
Fu Jen Journal of Chinese Literature
Journal of the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties
Journal of The Graduate Institute Chinese Literature Department of Fu Jen Catholic University
Fu-Jen Journal of Medicine
Fu Jen Management Review
Fu Jen Journal of Foreign Languages
Fu Jen Historical Journal
Fu Jen Religious Studies
Journal of Physical Education Fu Jen Catholic University
Social Analysis
Fu Jen Academia Catholica was inaugurated on August 1, 2008, to enable interdisciplinary pursuits in Catholic studies. The Academia consists of five Fu Jen academic institutes or centers: the Institute of Scholastic Philosophy, Institutum Historiae Ecclesiae, Center for the Study of Science and Religion, Monumenta Serica Sinological Research Center, and John Paul II Institute for Research into Dialogue for Peace.
Globalization
Fu Jen - Stanford
In September 2015, Fu Jen Catholic University has signed an agreement (MOU) to cooperate with Stanford Prevention Research Center, SPRC, promoted by Stanford University. The aim is to globally research the Wellness of humans.[43]
Fu Jen - Oxford
In September 2012, Fu Jen Catholic University cooperated with the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Italy and opened a new degree in philosophy and finance. The purpose is to emphasize the importance of the integrity for future Politicians and Financiers. The program combines the professional knowledge in finance and the idea in philosophy.[44]
Fu Jen - IQS -USF
Master in Global Entrepreneurial Management (MGEM) is a joint-program offered by Fu Jen Catholic University, Ramon Llull University (IQS in Spain), and the University of San Francisco (USF in the US). It is ranked 43rd worldwide on the FT Masters in Management Rankings 2017.
Fu Jen ranks at the top of Taiwan's private universities for top-ranked fields of study and distinguished alumni.[55][56] The university has always been ranked in the QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings, which is among the top 10% in the whole country.[57][58] In addition, Fu Jen is the representative university of New Taipei City by QS Most Affordable Cities for Students Ranking.[59] The Mayor of New Taipei City once pointed out in 2021 that "Fu Jen is the core of talent, academics and medical care in New Taipei City".[60][61]
According to a survey conducted by the electronic media DailyView in 2018, Fu Jen ranks 4th among 141 universities in Taiwan, and is also ranked 1st among private universities. In fact, the university is also the third-largest university in the country with the largest number of students.[63]
World's Top Catholic Universities Ranking
According to 2021 uniRank Top Catholic Universities in the world, Fu Jen ranks 1st in Taiwan, 3rd in Asia, 54th worldwide among 610 universities.[64]
Global Entrepreneurial Management by Financial Times UK
In 2020, the cooperated Program "Master of Global Entrepreneurial Management" between Fu Jen, Instituto Químico de Sarriá Barcelona, IQS School of Management in Spain and University of San Francisco in the United States was ranked 19th globally by Financial Times, United Kingdom.[67]
APQN Internal Quality Insurance Reward
In 2012, Fu Jen became a member of Asia-Pacific Quality Network, APQN. In 2013, Fu Jen has again passed the evaluation of the APQN International Conference Assessment. It was the only University, which was awarded in Taiwan.[68]
AACSB Global Business Accreditation
In April 2005, Fu Jen obtained the most authorized certification of business school and MBA degree from AACSB. Only five universities in Taiwan obtained the certification.[14][69]
IFT International Certification
The Department of Food Science at Fu Jen Catholic University was reviewed by the Higher Education Review Board (HERB) of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and successfully obtained the IFT International Certification. It also became the first in Taiwan to obtain IFT Certified academic unit.[70]
The Ceremony of Venerating the Heavens and Ancestors (祭天敬祖大典) was held for the first time since Cardinal Paul Yu Pin in 1979, advocating gratitude to nature and thinking of ancestors. Freshmen from the Department of Chinese Literature will sing a section of Classic of Poetry in the ceremony.
Student groups
Fu Jen Catholic University currently has more than 100 student clubs, divided into 6 categories: academic, artistic, service, leisure and social, physical clubs, and musical clubs.[76]
The Cyan Rhyme Award (輔大青韻獎) was founded in 1977, it is an annual singing and song composition competition. Many well-known singers and artists have participated in the competition when they were studying at Fu Jen, such as Jolin Tsai, F.I.R. and so on.[77]
Religious tradition
Every year during the Catholic Lent, a two-week Religious Life Week is held to celebrate Catholic Holy Week and Easter.[78] In October, the university priests hold the Pray for the Country Mass in the university chapel, praying for God's protection and blessing to the country, government officials, all the people and world peace.[79]
During the martial law period, only Fu Jen and Tunghai University held College Christmas Balls in Taiwan, which is known as "the Fu Jen in the North, the Tunghai in the South (北輔大,南東海)." This makes them the representative college Christmas ball in Taiwan.
Democratic tradition
Fu Jen professors and students are first initiators and participants for many famous student movements in the history of Taiwan and China, such as the May Fourth Movement, the December 9th Movement the Consciousness Movement [zh], the Wild Lily student movement, the Reconciliation Movement of the Case of Su Chien-ho, the Losheng Sanatorium Retention Movement, and the Wild Strawberry Movement. At the end of Taiwan's martial law, the Fu Jen student once published the underground publication Reform (改造), which was the first demonstration of democratic activities on campus in Taiwan, but it was quickly banned.[citation needed]
In May of each year, Fu Jen regularly holds elections of student self-government organizations at all levels of the school (the president of the student union, members of the student council, representatives of all levels of university meetings, etc.) to implement student autonomy and democratic political education. Electronic voting was used for the first time in 2013 to enhance the convenience of student participation.[80]
Athletics
Fu Jen Catholic University has at least 31 school-level sports teams. The Fu Jen baseball team is the most famous university baseball team in Taiwan, it has created the reputation of "Taiwan's Sokei-sen".[81] The Fu Jen Dragon Boat Team is the first international university dragon boat team in Taiwan and an important role in national sports diplomacy.[82][83]
Fu Jen is also the only university in Taiwan that has a men's football team and a women's football team.[84][85] It not only participates in the University Football Association, but also has the qualifications for the Taiwan Football Premier League and the Taiwan Mulan Football League. Several students have represented Taiwan to play in the AFC Cup.[86][87]
Fu Jen has always been the cradle of East Asian professional baseball and professional basketball stars. Among other sports, Lee Fu-an (twice champion at the Asian Athletics Championships), Cheng Chao-tsun (2017 Summer Universiade Javelin gold medal, breaking Asian record), Kuo Hsing-chun (2020 Summer Olympics & 2017 Summer Universiade weightlifting gold medal), Lin Yun-Ju (2020 Summer Olympics bronze medal, Taiwan's youngest player in the World Table Tennis Championships) are all alumni or students of the university. In recent years, Fu Jen has consecutively ranked first among private schools in the National Intercollegiate Athletic Games in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
2020 Summer Olympics
Fu Jen sent 8 athletes to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and a total of 4 people won 3 medals for the Taiwanese team. Including the sixth gold medal in Taiwan's Olympic history.
Fu Jen alumni (輔大人) number near 200,000, they work in various fields. Alumni working in political fields include at least 25 congressman in Legislative Yuan, 3 Taiwanese Justices of Constitutional Court, 3 Taiwanese Premier/Vice-Premier, 2 Taiwanese Minister/Deputy-Minister of National Defense, a large number of Taiwanese diplomats, mayors and magistratea, and former Chinese first lady Wang Guangmei.
In the field of business, in addition to the famous "red capitalist" Wang Guangying, the Tsai family of the LinYuan Group, the world's top 100 richest enterprises, and the Taiwanese billionaire Wu family of Shin Kong Group, all have several people graduated from Fu Jen, such as Taishin International Bank chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮), Shinkong Insurance CEO Peter Wu (吳東賢), Cathay Real Estate Development Co. CEO Tsai Chen-hung (蔡辰鴻), COTC president Thomas Tsai (蔡辰威). There are also world-renowned companies related to Fu Jen alumni, such as Trend Micro co-founder Steve Chang (張明正), Acer Inc. co-founder Carolyn Yeh (葉紫華), Acer Inc. board member Maverick Shih (施宣輝), Motech co-founder Cheng Fu-Tien (鄭福田) and Simon Y.H. Tsuo (左元淮), Franz-porcelains founder Franz Chen (陳立恆), and the "IKEA of Taiwan" Test Rite International Co. co-founder Tony Ho (何湯雄). Among the alumni of the Fu Jen Department of Economics, Peter Lo (羅崑泉) founded the world's third largest health equipment company Johnson Health Tech, and Charles C.Y. Chen (陳致遠) is a member of the world's 11th largest shipping company- Wan Hai Lines and the chairman of Epistar Optoelectronics.
Fu Jen Catholic University has a special international status and plays a role in Taiwan's diplomatic status. The university has repeatedly awarded honorary doctorates to cardinals, national leaders and Nobel Prize winners.
Keelung Fu Jen Sacred Heart Elementary School (輔大聖心小學), Keelung City, Taiwan
Controversy
In 2016, Fu Jen University was accused of pressuring students to remain silent on sexual assault cases and for covering up an incident of rape in 2015.[88][89] Following the accusation, the university issued an apology later in 2016.[90]
^"The Ball And The Cross: The Catholic University of Peking". The Catholic World. 129 (771): 344. June 1929 – via Internet Archive. The project took definite shape when the General Chapter of Bene- dictines accepted this invitation on August 8, 1923. With the assur- ance of support, both moral and physical, of the other Benedictine Abbeys of America, the leading réle was intrusted to St. Vincent Arch- abbey. From that day the Chan- cellor of the Catholic University of Peking, the Right Rev. Aurelius Stehle, O.S.B., has worked indefati- gably for the spread of the Church in China. To his untiring efforts the University owes it speedy prog- ress and wonderful success.
^交流, No.879, p.6. A total of 5 public universities and 2 private universities were selected: NTU, NCKU, NTHU, NCTU, NCCU, Fu Jen Catholic and Soochow University.