The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University (, commonly abbreviated as The Experimental High School Attached to BNU () or Experimental High () and sometimes referred to as ESBNU or SDSZ, is a beacon high school in

Xicheng District Xicheng District () is a district of Beijing. Xicheng District spans , covering the western half of the old city (largely inside the 2nd Ring Road - the eastern half is Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District), and has 706,691 inhabitant ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

established in 1917. It is composed of a junior high school, encompassing grades 7 through 9, and a senior high school, encompassing grades 10 through 12. It is an experimental base for teaching reform considered by the

Chinese Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China is a cabinet-level department under the State Council responsible for basic education, vocational education, higher education, and other educational affairs across the country. The Min ...

and

Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (BNU, ), colloquially known as Beishida (), is a public research university located in Beijing, China, with a strong emphasis on humanities and sciences. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China ...

. The school is well known for its core values and academic excellence, as well as for the torture and murder of

Bian Zhongyun Bian Zhongyun (, 1916, Wuwei County, China – 5 August 1966, Beijing) was a deputy principal at the Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University, in Beijing, China. She was attracted to the Chinese Communist Party during ...

, a deputy principal at the school and one of the first victims of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

History

In March 1917, the Girls' Middle School Attached to Beijing Girls' Normal School () was established. In July 1924, the Girls' Middle School became subordinated to the newly established Girls' Normal University (). In July 1931, Girls' Normal University and Beijing Normal University integrated. At the time of this joining, the School's name changed to Girls' Middle School Attached to Beijing Normal University (). The Party branch and general Party branch were successively founded in Girls' Middle School Attached to Beijing Normal University in July 1945 and August 1946. In 1949 and 1952, Girl Student's Section of North China YuCai Middle School (), Private Wen Hua Girls Middle School () and North China Middle School () were successively integrated into the school. The school was then moved to No.14, Erlong Road, Xicheng District. In September 1955, the name of the school was changed to Beijing Experimental High School () by the Ministry of Education. The event was commemorated by

Guo Moruo Guo Moruo (; November 16, 1892 – June 12, 1978), courtesy name Dingtang (), was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official. Biography Family history Guo Moruo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November ...

, a famous writer, who wrote the new name of the school in calligraphy. In 1956, the school was classified as a key school of Beijing. In March 1957, Chairman

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

made remarks on the diary of "working back in the countryside" written by Wang Guiqin (), a student from the school. In April 1960,

Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and C ...

wrote a few words of encouragement for a class called "Studying for Revolution", which was offered to second-year students. In 1961, the school pioneered teaching reform of five-year middle school (three years for junior middle school and two years for senior middle school) nationwide under the leadership of Central Publicity Department and Ministry of Education. In August 1964, the school returned to the administration of Beijing Normal University and resumed the former name the Girls' Middle School Attached to Beijing Normal University. On August 5, 1966,

, the school's deputy principal, was tortured and beaten to death by her students, led by

Song Binbin Song Binbin (; born 1949), also known as Song Yaowu (), was a senior leader in the Chinese Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. She is known for allegedly beating her deputy principal Bian Zhongyun to death with wooden sticks, along with o ...

. She was the first fatality of the

. Witnesses said she was tortured all day, while her students shaved her head, poured ink on her head, jabbed her head with scissors, beat her until her eyes rolled into her head, and laughed as she foamed at the mouth. In 2007 the school published a picture book of famous alumni featuring Bian and Song on opposing pages. The publication led to widespread anger and scorn among victims of Mao-era violence. In 1968, male students were permitted admission, marking an end to the 50-year history of female-only admission. In 1972, the school was renamed Beijing No.150 Middle School (), under the administration of the Xicheng District of Beijing. In 1978, the school became subordinated to Beijing Normal University with the present name the Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University, and regained the title of Beijing municipal top school, with students enrolled citywide on the basis of competitive selection. In 1980, the school initiated a selective course dealing with computer science nationwide. In 1982, during the 65th anniversary celebration, the school received various encouraging inscriptions from the central government leader

Chen Yun Chen Yun (, pronounced ; 13 June 1905 – 10 April 1995) was one of the most influential leaders of the People's Republic of China during the 1980s and 1990s and one of the major architects and important policy makers for the Reform and op ...

, Beijing municipal government leaders as well as other well-known celebrities, such as

Zhou Peiyuan Zhou Peiyuan (; August 28, 1902 – November 24, 1993) was a Chinese theoretical physicist and politician. He served as president of Peking University, and was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Born in Yixing, Jiangsu, C ...

Ye Shengtao Ye Shengtao (28 October 1894 – 16 February 1988) was a Chinese writer, journalist, educator, publisher and politician. He was a founder of the Association for Literary Studies (), the first literature association during the May Fourth Movement ...

Hua Luogeng Hua Luogeng or Hua Loo-Keng (; 12 November 1910 – 12 June 1985) was a Chinese mathematician and politician famous for his important contributions to number theory and for his role as the leader of mathematics research and education in the Peop ...

. In 1983, the school was determined by the Ministry of Education as an experimental field in implementing course outlines for Middle School Moral Education, and initiated related research and experiments nationwide. In 1984, the school pioneered nationwide curriculum reform on the basis of curricular teaching and combining curricular and extracurricular activities. In 1986, the school conducted experiments regarding the implementation of Middle School Civics Education Reform, a key research topic of the state's Seventh Five-Year Plan. In 1989, the middle school Chinese textbooks compiled by the school teachers since 1978 were approved by the Ministry of Education as experimental textbooks nationwide. In 1992, (approved by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

) these textbooks were spread nationwide as trial editions for middle schools in implementing nine-year compulsory education, and are now widely used in Beijing. In 1991, the high school Chinese textbooks, compiled by school teachers and used as trial editions school-wide, were approved by the Ministry of Education to be officially published. In 1992, Premier of State Council

Li Peng Li Peng (; 20 October 1928 – 22 July 2019) was a Chinese politician who served as the fourth Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1987 to 1998, and as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Chi ...

and Director of the Central Advisory Committee

wrote inscriptions for the 75th anniversary celebration. In 1993, the school defined its mission statement. In 1994, the school was classified by the Beijing Educational Bureau as a model school of all-around education with unique schooling characteristics. Approved by Beijing Education Commission, the school became one of the two privileged schools to organize its own exit exams for graduating seniors. In 1995, the school was classified as an advanced school in research of educational science. In 1995, the school was evaluated as a model school in promotion of public health. It was awarded the bronze medal in 1996, the silver medal in 1997 and the gold medal in 2000. In March 1997,

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

(the former vice-president of the United States of America) paid a visit to the school, and discussed the implementation of his

GLOBE Program The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program is a worldwide hands-on, science and education program focusing on the environment, now active in over 120 countries worldwide. It works to promote the teaching and l ...

with students. In the same month, the school, along with the Educational Department of Brunswick Province and the Canadian government, founded the

Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

(). In 1997, on the 80th anniversary, Chinese President and

General Secretary of the Communist Party General Secretary or First Secretary is the official title of leaders of most communist parties. When a communist party is the ruling party in a Communist-led one-party state, the General Secretary is typically the country's ''de facto'' leader—th ...

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

and Vice-premier

Li Lanqing Li Lanqing (; born 22 May 1932) is a retired Chinese politician who served as first-ranked Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China between 1998 and 2003. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ...

wrote inscriptions for the school. In 1998, the school was classified by the Ministry of Education as an experimental school in implementing modern educational technology among national primary and middle schools. In November 1999, Nane Annan, the wife of Mr. Kofi Annan, the 7th

Secretary General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

visited the school. In August 2000, Beijing Experimental Jin Hui Network Tech Company Limited (), co-run by Hong Kong Gao Yang Corporation and the school, was formally established. In December 2000, the school passed the evaluation of the first six Beijing-based model high schools, and was highly praised by education experts.

Academics

"Pursuing development, pursuing excellence" is the educational motto of the school. 100% of the graduating class go to college, 26% percent of which go to the top two Chinese Universities:

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

and

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

. The school has an International Department in its high school division for students who wish to study abroad in college. The Department offers

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

classes, as well as SAT preparation classes. In addition, students may choose from a wide range of electives, including courses about traditional Chinese medicine, "

The Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known for ...

", and multivariable calculus. In recent years, graduates of the department have been accepted to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Rice University, Swarthmore, Pomona, UC Berkeley etc. Even though most students end up studying the US, a few choose to go to other countries such as Japan, England, and Canada. All the teaching staff have met the state academic requirements. Young and middle-aged teachers occupy 63.2% of the staff. Over thirty teachers are city or district head-teachers in their subjects and some are heads of associations in their fields. In recent years, they have been involved in seven educational research projects at State or Education Ministry levels, and over a hundred research works have been published. Hundreds of these have been published in the state and city magazines. Many of these have received top awards in the district. In 2000, the school was evaluated as "the Advanced School in Research of Educational Science."

Motto

The school motto is "Honesty; Strictness; Truth-seeking; Pioneering ()".

Faculty

*Principal and Deputy Secretary of the Party: Li Xiao-hui *Secretary-general of the Party and Vice Principal: Chen Guo-Cai *Deputy Secretary of the Party and Chairman of Labour Union: Teng Shu-Ling *Vice Principal: Yang Wen-Zhi *Vice Principal: Shang Jian-Jun *Vice Principal: Liu Hai-Xia *Vice Principal: Zhang Yi-Liang *Vice Principal: Hao Zhi-Yong *Assistant Principal: Liu Xue-Dong The school employs about 300 faculty members, of which seven are national level education experts, 98 are senior teachers, and 107 are Masters or PhD graduates.

References

External links