Huazhong Agricultural University

Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU, 华中农业大学) is a public research university in the Hongshan District of Wuhan, Hubei, China, directly administered by the Ministry of Education and known for agriculture and life sciences.华中农业大学（HZAU）是中国湖北省武汉市洪山区的一所公立研究型大学，由教育部直属管理，以农科与生命科学为特色。

Founded in 1898 by Zhang Zhidong, the Governor-General of Huguang, as the Hubei Farming School, it is one of the oldest agricultural higher-education institutions in China and a member of the national Double First-Class programme.该校由清末湖广总督张之洞于 1898 年创办，前身为湖北农务学堂，是中国最早的农业高等学府之一，现为国家「双一流」建设高校。

In the 2027 QS World University Rankings it is placed in the 1001-1200 band, while OpenAlex records about 57,204 scholarly works and 6,645,757 citations associated with the university, making it a leading agricultural research centre.在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中，该校位列第 1001-1200 位；据 OpenAlex 统计，其累计学术成果约 57,204 篇、被引约 6,645,757 次，是农业领域的重要科研重镇。

History

• In 1898 the Governor-General of Huguang, Zhang Zhidong, petitioned the Guangxu Emperor for a school of agriculture and crafts in Hubei, and the Hubei Farming School opened on 2 October 1898 inside the public hall at Bao'an Gate in Wuchang, only months after the Hundred Days' Reform.1898 年，湖广总督张之洞上疏光绪皇帝，奏请在湖北兴办农务学堂；学堂于 1898 年 10 月 2 日在武昌保安门内公所正式开学，时值百日维新失败后不久，办学未受影响。
• In 1903 the school bought one hundred mu of land at Baoji'an outside Wusheng Gate and requisitioned three hundred mu of lake wasteland, erecting a campus modelled on the new-style schools of Japan with classrooms, laboratories, farms, forests and mulberry gardens.1903 年，学堂在武昌武胜门外宝积庵购地一百亩，并征收三百亩湖荒地，仿照日本新学形式兴建新校舍，内设课堂、试验室与农场、林场、桑园等。
• In 1904 the school moved to the Baoji'an site and was renamed the Hubei Higher Agricultural School, and Zhang Zhidong attended its opening ceremony, urging students to combine hand and brain and later inscribing a couplet about agriculture.1904 年，学堂迁往宝积庵并更名为湖北高等农业学堂，张之洞亲临开学典礼，勉励师生手脑并用、知行合一，并题字「凡民俊秀皆入学，天下大利必归农」。
• In 1907 the returned student Cheng Yinnan joined the teaching staff, and the school engaged noted figures of the day including the philologist Wang Guowei and the official Ye Gongchuo.1907 年，留日学生程荫南归国任教，学堂除聘请外籍教师外，还延揽国学大师王国维、北洋政府交通总长叶恭绰等社会名流任教。
• In 1911 the school was closed by the Hubei education commissioner for lack of funds, and in the same year its buildings were burned down during the Xinhai Revolution.1911 年，学堂被湖北提学使司以经费不足为由停办；同年辛亥革命爆发，湖北高等农业学堂的校舍被焚毁，办学一度中断。
• In 1912 the Hubei provincial education department founded a first-class agricultural school on the old site, which was reshaped over the following decades into the first and second higher agricultural schools and the Hubei Provincial Education College in 1931.1912 年，湖北省教育司在原址创办甲种农业学校；此后学校历经第一、第二高级农业学校，并于 1931 年创办湖北省立教育学院，办学脉络延续不断。
• In 1937 the provincial departments of reconstruction and education jointly founded the Hubei Provincial Agricultural College at Baoji'an in Wuchang, building on the former provincial education college.1937 年，湖北省建设厅与教育厅在湖北省立教育学院的基础上联合创办湖北省立农业专科学校，校址仍在武昌宝积庵。
• From 1938 the college moved west to Enshi in western Hubei to escape the Japanese invasion, and it stayed there until the end of the war in 1945.1938 年至 1945 年，为躲避侵华战火，学校西迁至鄂西恩施办学，在艰苦环境中坚持教学，直至抗战胜利。
• In 1940 the institution was renamed the Hubei Provincial Agricultural College, strengthening its identity as the province's specialised agricultural school.1940 年，学校更名为湖北省立农学院，作为全省农科专门院校的地位进一步确立。
• In 1945 more than ten of its staff passed the Ministry of Agriculture's examination for study in the United States, the highest proportion among Chinese agricultural colleges, and the college returned to Wuhan in December of that year.1945 年春，国民政府农业部招考赴美进修人员，学院有十余人应试且全部录取，居全国农业院校之首；同年 12 月学院迁回武汉。
• In June 1949 a military control team took over the college after the Communist victory, beginning its transformation into a state-run institution.1949 年 6 月，武汉市军管会接管小组开始接管湖北省立农学院，学校由此转为国家举办。
• In October 1950 the college was renamed the Hubei Provincial Agricultural Institute as part of the early reorganisation of the country's higher education.1950 年 10 月，学校更名为湖北省农学院，成为新中国成立初期院校调整的一部分。
• In 1952, under the nationwide reorganisation of universities, the institute merged with the agricultural colleges of Wuhan, Hunan, Henan, Nanchang, Sun Yat-sen and Guangxi universities and other departments to form the Central China Agricultural College.1952 年，全国院系调整，以湖北省农学院及武汉大学、湖南农学院、河南大学、中山大学、广西大学、南昌大学、江西农学院等院校的相关系科组建成立华中农学院。
• In 1957 the college moved from Baoji'an to Shizishan by South Lake in Wuchang, where the main campus remains today.1957 年夏，学校由武昌宝积庵迁至南湖狮子山，此地此后一直是学校主校区所在。
• In 1979 the State Council approved its elevation to a national key university placed directly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.1979 年，经国务院批准，学校升格为全国重点大学，直属农业部管理，办学地位显著提升。
• In 1981 it was among the first institutions authorised by the State Council's academic degrees committee to award doctoral and master's degrees.1981 年，经国务院学位委员会批准，学校成为首批具有博士学位和硕士学位授予权的高校之一。
• In 1985 the college was renamed Huazhong Agricultural University, the name it holds today.1985 年，学校由华中农学院更名为华中农业大学，沿用至今。
• In 2000 the university was transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture to the direct administration of the Ministry of Education.2000 年，学校由农业部划转教育部直属领导，成为教育部直属高校之一。
• In 2005 it was designated a key university of the national 211 Project, and in 2017 it was selected for the Double First-Class programme building world-class disciplines.2005 年，学校被列为国家「211 工程」重点建设大学；2017 年，学校入选「双一流」建设高校名单，重点建设世界一流学科。
• In 2003 it became the country's first pilot institution for senior experts training high-degree international students, and in 2024 a dispute over alleged research misconduct involving a professor drew national attention.2003 年，学校成为「高层次专家培养高学历留学生」全国首个试点单位；2024 年，一起涉及教授的学术不端举报事件引发全国关注，学校随即成立工作组调查。

Academics

• HZAU is organised into colleges covering plant science and technology, animal science and veterinary medicine, resources and environment, life science and technology, horticulture and forestry, fisheries, engineering, economics and management, food science, science, humanities and law, foreign languages, and information.学校设有植物科学技术学院、动物科学技术学院与动物医学院、资源环境学院、生命科学技术学院、园艺林学学院、水产学院、工学院、经济管理学院与土地管理学院、食品科技学院、理学院、文法学院、外国语学院与信息学院等院系。
• Its plant science and technology college offers agronomy, plant protection and smart agriculture, and runs the Zhang Zhidong Class, an experimental programme for highly qualified innovative talent.植物科学技术学院开设农学、植物保护、智慧农业等专业，并设立「张之洞班」，作为高素质创新型人才培养的改革试验区。
• In the national fourth-round discipline evaluation, horticulture, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine were each rated A+, the highest grade awarded.在全国第四轮学科评估中，园艺学、畜牧学、兽医学三个学科获评 A+ 级，为最高等级。
• Biology was rated A, while food science and engineering, crop science, and agricultural and forestry economic management were rated A-.生物学获评 A 级，食品科学与工程、作物学、农林经济管理三个学科获评 A- 级，学科整体实力突出。
• Five disciplines namely biology, horticulture, animal husbandry, veterinary medicine and agricultural and forestry economic management are listed for Double First-Class construction.生物学、园艺学、畜牧学、兽医学、农林经济管理五个学科入选国家「双一流」建设学科名单。
• Its eight national key disciplines include crop genetics and breeding, pomology, microbiology, animal genetics and breeding, aquaculture, crop cultivation and farming systems, biochemistry and molecular biology, and agricultural economics and management.该校八个国家重点学科涵盖作物遗传育种、果树学、微生物学、动物遗传育种与繁殖、水产养殖、作物栽培学与耕作学、生物化学与分子生物学与农业经济管理。
• The university hosts the National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and the National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, both central to its research strength.学校建有作物遗传改良国家重点实验室与农业微生物学国家重点实验室，构成其科研实力的核心平台。
• It operates four national key laboratories and engineering research centres, 11 ministerial and provincial key laboratories, and 10 national research and development centres.学校现有国家级重点实验室与研发中心共 4 个，部省级重点实验室 11 个，国家级研发中心 10 个，科研平台体系完备。
• As of 2023 it employed 1,677 full-time teachers, including 506 professors, six academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering, one foreign member of the US National Academy of Sciences and two fellows of the World Academy of Sciences.截至 2023 年，学校有专任教师 1,677 人，其中教授 506 人，两院院士 6 人，美国国家科学院外籍院士 1 人，第三世界科学院院士 2 人。
• Its academicians include Zhang Qifa of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fu Tingdong, Chen Huanchun, Deng Xiuxin, Jin Meilin and Zhang Xianlong of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.该校院士包括中国科学院院士张启发，以及中国工程院院士傅廷栋、陈焕春、邓秀新、金梅林与张献龙。
• The university was among the first in China authorised to award doctoral degrees in biology and produced the country's first doctoral graduate in agriculture.学校是首批具有生物学一级学科博士授予权的高校，并培养了中国第一位农学博士。
• In 2008 it offered 48 undergraduate programmes, 87 master's degree points and 54 doctoral degree points, with 10 first-level doctoral programmes and seven postdoctoral research stations.截至 2008 年，学校设有本科专业 48 个、硕士学位授权点 87 个、博士学位授权点 54 个，一级学科博士点 10 个，博士后科研流动站 7 个。
• About 500 international students from 54 countries were enrolled, roughly 70 per cent of them doctoral candidates and 30 per cent master's students, with many from Egypt, Niger, Tanzania, Ethiopia and India.学校约有来自 54 个国家的 500 名留学生，其中约七成攻读博士学位、三成攻读硕士学位，不少来自埃及、尼日尔、坦桑尼亚、埃塞俄比亚与印度等国。
• The university has hosted five major international academic conferences, among them the International Rapeseed Congress and the International Citrus Congress.学校先后承办国际油菜大会、国际柑橘大会等五个重大国际性学术会议，国际学术交流活跃。
• Its library holds about 2.43 million volumes and 900,000 electronic books, and is a grade-B member library of the China Academic Library and Information System in central China.学校图书馆综合馆藏约 243 万册、电子图书 90 万册，是中国高等教育文献保障体系（CALIS）华中地区三个 B 级成员馆之一。
• The university runs an affiliated hospital, an affiliated primary and middle school, and a university history museum that records its origins in 1898.学校设有附属医院、附属小学与附属中学，并建有校史馆，记录自 1898 年以来的办学历程。
• Since 2001 it has taken part in the Wuhan seven-university joint education scheme, which lets undergraduates minor in a second degree at partner universities in the city.自 2001 年起，学校参与武汉「七校联合办学」，本科生可在同城合作高校跨校辅修第二学位。
• Its teaching in agronomy and life sciences is supported by national talent-training bases in basic biology and in life science and biotechnology.其农学与生命科学教学得到国家生物学理科基地、国家生命科学与技术人才培养基地等平台支撑。
• Research at the university is spread across 39 national, ministerial and provincial research bases and testing institutions, linked to key laboratories, engineering centres and quality-inspection bodies.学校现有国家、部省级研发基地与检测机构共 39 个，涵盖重点实验室、研发中心与质量检测机构，科研体系覆盖面广。
• It maintains academic exchanges with institutions in South Korea, Thailand, Canada, Vietnam, Japan and the United States, among them Gyeongsang National University, Dong-A University, the Asian Institute of Technology and McGill University.学校与韩国、泰国、加拿大、越南、日本、美国等国家和地区的多所大学建立了合作关系，包括韩国庆尚大学、东亚大学、泰国亚洲理工学院与加拿大麦吉尔大学等。

Campus

• The main campus lies at the foot of Shizishan, Lion Hill, in the Hongshan District of Wuchang, between South Lake to the south and Yezhi Lake to the north.学校主校区位于武昌洪山区狮子山下，南临南湖、北接野芷湖，环境依山傍水。
• It covers 7,425 mu, or about 495 hectares, and the buildings have a combined floor area of roughly 850,000 square metres.校园占地 7425 亩，约合 495 万平方米，校舍建筑面积约 85 万平方米。
• Teaching and administrative buildings account for about 410,000 square metres, while student dormitories take up about 228,000 square metres.其中教学行政用房面积约 41 万平方米，学生宿舍面积约 22.8 万平方米。
• The campus has ten celebrated scenic spots, among them the sunset over the lake and hills, the breeze in the bamboo, and the main building set against the square.校园有「校园十景」，包括湖山夕照、清风竹语、杉林藏幽、主楼华章与广场雨韵等景观。
• Its library, holding about 2.43 million volumes, is one of the largest agricultural libraries in central China.学校图书馆馆藏约 243 万册，是华中地区规模最大的农业类高校图书馆之一。
• Jingyuan Lou, originally the building of the economics and land management college, now houses the teaching of landscape architecture.景园楼原为经贸土管学院楼，现为风景园林系教学楼，见证了学校院系布局的变迁。
• Baoji Yuan preserves residential buildings of the era when the campus stood at Baoji'an, a reminder of the university's nineteenth-century origins.教工旧住宿区「宝积苑」保留着学校宝积庵时期的建筑记忆，呼应其十九世纪末的创办渊源。
• The campus is served by a gigabit-backbone network reaching every desktop, and the affiliated hospital provides medical services to staff and students.校园网采用「千兆为主干、百兆到桌面」的架构覆盖全校，附属医院则为师生提供医疗服务。

Reputation

• In the 2027 QS World University Rankings HZAU is placed in the 1001-1200 band.在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中，华中农业大学位列第 1001-1200 位。
• It did not enter the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, so the QS, U.S. News and ARWU tables are its main international references.该校未进入 2027 年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名，因此 QS、US News 与软科三榜是其主要的国际参照。
• In the 2026-2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities ranking it is placed 351st in the world.在 2026-2027 年度 US News 全球最佳大学排名中，该校位居全球第 351 位。
• In the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities it is placed in the 201-300 band.在 2026 年软科世界大学学术排名中，该校位列第 201-300 位。
• OpenAlex records about 57,204 scholarly works and 6,645,757 citations associated with the university, placing it among China's leading agricultural research institutions.据 OpenAlex 统计，该校累计约有 57,204 篇学术成果与 6,645,757 次被引，科研产出规模在中国农业类院校中位居前列。
• In the national fourth-round discipline evaluation seven of its disciplines reached grade A, including three at the highest grade A+.在全国第四轮学科评估中，该校有 7 个学科进入 A 类，其中园艺学、畜牧学、兽医学 3 个学科获评最高等级 A+。
• In the first round of the Double First-Class effectiveness evaluation it reached the first grade in seven of nine indicators, and five disciplines were selected for the second round of construction.在「双一流」建设首轮成效评价中，该校在九项指标中有七项达到第一档，并有五个学科入选第二轮建设名单。
• Its agricultural science and life sciences rank in the global top 1 per cent of the ESI, with six component fields all in that top tier.其农业科学与生命科学学科进入 ESI 全球前 1%，所涵盖的 6 个领域全部位列该前列区间。
• HZAU is particularly strong in hybrid rapeseed, green rice, high-quality breeding pigs, animal vaccines, premium citrus, test-tube potatoes, cotton, corn and freshwater fish.学校在杂交油菜、绿色水稻、优质种猪、动物疫苗、优质柑橘、试管种薯、棉花、玉米与淡水鱼等方面成果突出。
• As a Ministry of Education university in the 211 and Double First-Class groups, HZAU is widely regarded as one of China's leading agricultural and life-science universities.作为教育部直属、入选「211 工程」与「双一流」的高校，华中农业大学被普遍视为中国农业与生命科学领域的领军高校之一。

Student life

• The university's motto is 勤读力耕，立己达人, meaning to study and cultivate diligently and to establish oneself while helping others to succeed.学校校训为「勤读力耕，立己达人」，勉励师生勤奋学习钻研、努力开拓实践，并修身立德、达人济世。
• The phrase 立己达人 derives from the Analects, where Confucius says that one who wishes to establish himself should help others to do the same.「立己达人」出自《论语·雍也》「己欲立而立人，己欲达而达人」，体现学校的育人理念。
• Its guiding philosophy is 育人为本，崇尚学术, placing student-centred education and the pursuit of scholarship at the centre of its mission.学校办学理念为「育人为本，崇尚学术」，以学生为本，崇尚学术追求。
• The university anthem, composed in 1946 with lyrics by Zhu Zai'an and music by Yu Yixuan, was originally the song of the Hubei Provincial Agricultural College.学校校歌改编自 1946 年由朱再庵作词、喻宜萱作曲的《湖北省立农学院院歌》，歌词含「勤读力耕肩重任，立己达人图自强」。
• The university's anniversary and alumni day is 2 October, the date on which the Hubei Farming School opened in 1898.学校校庆日暨校友日为 10 月 2 日，即 1898 年湖北农务学堂开学的日子。
• The 2005 competition to design a new emblem drew more than 300 entries, and the winning design by two law students, Liu Tao and Wang Juan, entered use on 2 October 2007.2005 年学校为校徽、校歌、校训征集作品，共收到 300 余份；法学系 2002 级本科生刘涛、王娟设计的校徽于 2007 年 10 月 2 日正式启用。
• The emblem combines an ancient Chu bronze bell and the traditional ploughshare reshaped into the letters HAU, above the founding year 1898.校徽主体采用古楚国「编钟」与传统农具「耒耜」的形象，并变形组合成英文缩写「HAU」，下方标注建校年份「1898」。
• The university's standard colour is a deep Huanong green, and the campus includes the Shizishan Square and a walkway honouring the Zhang Zhidong Class.学校标准色为专门配制的「华农绿」，校园内建有狮子山广场与展示「张之洞班」文化的步道。
• Anniversary celebrations in 1998, 2008 and 2018 marked the university's 100th, 110th and 120th years, the last held under the theme of two sixty-year cycles of farming and study.学校于 1998 年、2008 年与 2018 年分别举行建校 100 周年、110 周年与 120 周年校庆，其中 120 周年校庆主题为「耕读双甲子，薪火传天下」。

Notable people

• Zhang Zhidong, the Governor-General of Huguang, founded the Hubei Farming School in 1898 as the forerunner of the university.张之洞，清末湖广总督，于 1898 年创办湖北农务学堂，是学校的创办人。
• The philologist Wang Guowei and the official Ye Gongchuo taught at the Hubei Higher Agricultural School in its early years.国学大师王国维与北洋政府交通总长叶恭绰等名流曾在早期的湖北高等农业学堂任教，奠定了学校的学术传统。
• Zhang Qifa, a plant geneticist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, graduated in 1976 and became a leading figure in crop genomics.张启发是农作物遗传学专家、中国科学院院士，1976 年毕业于华中农学院，是作物基因组学领域的领军人物。
• Chen Huanchun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, graduated in veterinary medicine in 1975 and is a leading animal virologist.陈焕春是中国工程院院士，1975 年毕业于华中农学院畜牧兽医系，是家畜传染病学与动物病毒学专家。
• Xiong Yuanzhu, an animal geneticist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, graduated in 1959 and joined the faculty.熊远著是动物遗传育种专家、中国工程院院士，1959 年毕业于华中农学院并留校任教。
• Fu Tingdong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pioneered hybrid rapeseed varieties that are widely grown in China.傅廷栋是中国工程院院士，培育的杂交油菜品种在中国广泛种植，被誉为杂交油菜领域的开拓者。
• Deng Xiuxin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is known for his work on citrus genetics and breeding.邓秀新是中国工程院院士，在柑橘遗传与育种方面成就卓著。
• Jin Meilin and Zhang Xianlong, both academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, work respectively in veterinary vaccines and cotton breeding.金梅林与张献龙均为中国工程院院士，分别从事动物疫苗与棉花育种研究。
• Bao Manzhu took part in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.包满珠是政府间气候变化专门委员会参与人员之一，分享了 2007 年诺贝尔和平奖。
• Xu Benyu, who studied at the university from 1999 to 2003, was named one of China's people who moved the nation by CCTV in 2004.徐本禹于 1999 年至 2003 年就读于华中农业大学，当选中央电视台「感动中国」2004 年度人物。
• Li Changping, who studied agricultural economics at the university, became a well-known rural reformer and a township party secretary.李昌平曾在华中农业大学农经学院就读，是中国知名的乡村改革者与乡镇党委书记。
• Xue Hua, a graduate of the university, chairs the Guangdong Haid Group, one of China's largest animal-feed companies.薛华是该校毕业生，任广东海大集团董事长，是中国大型农牧饲料企业的重要负责人。
• Chen Yaobang, a graduate, served as Minister of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China.陈耀邦是该校校友，曾任中华人民共和国农业部部长。
• Yan Jianbing, appointed president in August 2024, is a maize genomics and molecular breeding scientist.严建兵于 2024 年 8 月出任校长，是玉米基因组学与分子育种领域的科学家。