The predecessor of Peking University, the Imperial University, was founded in 1898. The Imperial University was renamed Peking University in 1912. In 1925, Peking University established the Department of Biology. In 1952, during the national adjustment of colleges and universities, the biology departments of Peking University, Yenching University and Tsinghua University were merged. On this basis, the School of Life Sciences of Peking University was established in 1993. . ——The first establishment of the Department of Biology at Peking University

In 1918, President Cai Yuanpei hired Zhong Guangguang as an associate professor at Peking University to prepare for the establishment of the Department of Biology and the Herbarium. Zhong Guanguang said to Principal Cai: "I am willing to travel thousands of miles and climb thousands of mountains. I am determined to collect and fulfill your entrustment to the best of my ability." After that, it took ten years to collect and make more than 16,000 wax leaf specimens across the country.* **150,000; more than 500 species of animals, and more than 300 species of wood, fruits, roots, and bamboos. In 1924, Peking University established my country's first biological specimen laboratory based on this.

In September 1925, the Department of Biology of Peking University was established. Mr. Tan Xihong was the first department chair and was succeeded by Mr. Jing Libin two years later. In 1932, Mr. Zhang Jingyue returned to China from Europe and was appointed by the then President of Peking University, Jiang Menglin, as the third dean of the Department of Biology.

On the eve of the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, the biology departments of Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Yanjing University formed the modern biology education center in northern my country and trained the first generation of biologists in China. A group of early scholars who studied in Europe and the United States, such as Zhang Jingyue, Chen Zhen, Li Ruqi, Li Jitong, Wu Yunzhen, and Hu Jingfu, brought modern biological knowledge back to China and trained Yan Chujiang, Xu Ren, Wang Fuxiong, Tan Jiazhen, Wu Jieping, Zhao Yibing, Wu Zhengyi, Shen Tong, Chen Yuezeng, Lin Changshan and other outstanding scholars in the field of biology have formed a team of experts in modern biology education and scientific research in China, and have had a profound impact on the development of biology in my country.

The 1920s and 1930s were the foundation period for biological research in my country. Professors from the three universities and their students have conducted pioneering work in the most important basic research fields of biology in my country, such as animals, flora and taxonomy, and genetics.

Mr. Zhang Jingyue’s research on the effect of light on plant morphogenesis, Mr. Li Jitong’s research on the emergence of new tips on the coleoptile of decapitated oats, Mr. Chen Zhen’s genetic research on the domestication process of goldfish, Li Ruqi Mr. Wang’s research on horse roundworm chromosomes and ladybug gene interaction research are both at a certain level. Mr. Wu Yunzhen conducted a survey and classification of plants in North China, and drew nearly 2,000 primary color maps of North China and Yunnan Plateau plants, promoting the development of plant taxonomy in China. Mr. Hu Jingfu spent decades compiling the masterpiece "Catalogue of Chinese Insects", which is the foundation work of Chinese insect taxonomy. Professor Li Ruqi studied under the famous American geneticists T.H. Morgan and C.B. Bridges in his early years. He was the first scholar to introduce cytogenetics to China, laying a solid foundation for the development of genetics in my country.

The "Green Garden" in the War of Resistance Against Japan In 1937, when the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out, Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University moved south and jointly established a temporary university in Changsha. On November 1st, Changsha Temporary University opened. Professor Li Jitong serves as the head of the Department of Biology. In mid-December 1937, as war approached Changsha, the school decided to move to Kunming. On April 2, 1938, Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University formed the Southwest Associated University in Kunming, Yunnan. On May 4 of the same year, the Southwest Associated University officially opened, with Mr. Li Jitong still serving as the chairman of the Department of Biology.

In the extremely difficult environment of the Anti-Japanese War, teachers and students of the Department of Biology of Southwest Associated University used various channels to communicate with the outside world in Yunnan, a traffic-constrained country, in order to broaden their horizons and acquire new knowledge. At that time, four young teachers including Du Zengrui, Yin Hongzhang, Shen Tong and Wu Suxuan returned from overseas and brought back new foreign knowledge and advanced teaching methods, which broadened the students' horizons. Professor Shen Tong often organized academic lectures, which greatly enlivened the academic atmosphere of the Department of Biology at that time and also trained young teachers. Dr. Joseph Needham, a British biochemistry expert, visited from 1941 to 1942. He gave an academic report in the Department of Biology and presented a batch of biological books, magazines and slides, which established the relationship between the General Assembly and the Western scientific community.

In the harsh environment of the eight-year Anti-Japanese War, Mr. Wu Zhengyi, who participated in the Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan walking group, collected plant specimens while walking, and made groundbreaking achievements in the study of the world's flora zoning system for decades. ; Professor Zhao Yibing lost no time in studying the influence of altitude on the blood phase of Chinese people; Professor Zhang Jingyue guided his assistants to conduct morphological research on konjac in Yunnan; Professor Yin Hongzhang and others published a paper on phosphorylase in stomata abroad; Niu Manjiang used local amphibians Animal salamanders conducted research on anatomy and pigment cells and embryonic development; Chen Yuezeng's research results on the mating types of Paramecium were later published in the United States; the Animal Physiology Laboratory led by Professor Shen Tong confirmed the outstanding role of Yunnan Baiyao in curing the disabled through animal experiments Efficacy; Professor Shen Jiarui studied "Crustaceans in Kunming Dianchi Lake and Erhai Lake"; Professor Zhao Yibing studied "Salamander Water and Salt Balance"; Huang Zhe conducted research on "Kunming Planarian Classification and Reproductive Development"; Professor Li Jitong guided students to carry out Ecological research has been carried out; the Plant Physiology Laboratory of the Institute of Agriculture, chaired by Professor Tang Peisong, has carried out research on plant auxins and completed "thermodynamic research on water relations in isolated living cells".

This work is considered internationally as an important theoretical contribution to plant physiology.

Southwestern Associated University is the convergence of the fine traditions of the three universities. The combination of the liberal academic atmosphere of Peking University and the scientific and rigorous management of Tsinghua University and Nankai University made the Department of Biology of Southwest Associated University a green field for education and scientific research in the rear area of ????the Anti-Japanese War. The rigorous and active academic style and diligent and enterprising spirit of the School of Life Sciences of Peking University today were formed, inherited and developed during that period and under such environmental conditions.

Restored and rebuilt, Three Springs Converged in Yanyuan

——Department of Biology after Department Adjustment

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Beijing in October 1946 Universities resume. After the resumption of the school, the Department of Biology was divided into the Department of Botany and the Department of Zoology. Mr. Zhang Jingyue served as the director of the Department of Botany, and Mr. Wang Jingxi, Zhuang Xiaoyi and Li Ruqi successively served as the directors of the Department of Zoology. The famous professors who taught at that time included Chen Zhen, Li Jitong, Tang Peisong, Zhao Yibing, Wu Suxuan, Cui Zhilan, Luo Shiwei, Zhang Zhaoqian, Li Mingxin, etc.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, colleges and universities across the country underwent departmental restructuring in 1952. The liberal arts and sciences departments of the former Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Yanjing University were merged to form the new Department of Biology of Peking University, and the Biology Building was built in the East District of Yanyuan. A group of students, including Chen Yuezeng, Chen Deming, and Cao Zongxun, who studied abroad after studying at Southwest Associated University, returned to the Department of Biology at Peking University.

After the merger of the biology departments of the three universities, Mr. Zhang Jingyue, a famous plant morphological anatomist, became the director of the department. Mr. Zhang Jingyue received a doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1925. He was elected as an academician of Academia Sinica in 1949. He was appointed as a member (academician) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955 and served as the vice president of the Botanical Society of China. At that time, the Department of Biology established four teaching and research sections of botany, plant physiology, zoology and animal physiology. In 1956, it was the first in the country to formally establish a biochemistry teaching and research section.

Professor Li Jitong, director of the Botany Teaching and Research Office, is a famous ecologist and plant physiologist in my country. He received a doctorate from Yale University in 1925. In 1955, he was appointed as a member (academician) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the founder of the Botanical Society of China. One of them, he founded my country's first specialized group on plant ecology and geobotany in the Department of Biology of Peking University, pioneering grassland ecological research. In 1957, Li Jitong was transferred to Inner Mongolia University as the vice president. He transplanted plant ecology and geobotany to Inner Mongolia University and developed it into a research center for grassland ecology in my country.

Professor Tang Peisong, director of the Plant Physiology Teaching and Research Office, received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. He is a member (academician) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and former chairman of the Botanical Society of China. He has made important research results in many fields of plant metabolism, such as respiration, photosynthesis, etc., and is one of my country's scientists with a high international reputation. Another subject leader in the Plant Physiology Teaching and Research Section was Cao Zongxun, a young plant developmental physiologist who had just returned to China.

Professor Li Ruqi, director of the Zoology Teaching and Research Office, is a famous geneticist in my country. He studied under T.H. Morgan and C.B. Bridges in his early years and received a doctorate from Columbia University in 1926. He is one of the early pioneers of the sub-discipline of genetics and has served as the chairman of the Chinese Genetics Society. Cui Zhilan, an animal tissue embryologist, Chen Yuezeng, a protozoologist and cytologist, Lin Changshan, an insect ecologist, and Zhang Zongbing, an insect toxicologist, are the main subject leaders of the zoology teaching and research section.

Professor Zhao Yibing, director of the Animal Physiology Teaching and Research Office, is a famous physiologist in my country. He received a doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1934 and has served as the chairman of the Chinese Physiological Society. He is one of the first scientists in the world to study hibernation physiology. His work became part of the classic work on hibernation physiology. Biochemists Shen Tong and Zhang Longxiang and physiologist Chen Deming are the main subject leaders of the Animal Physiology Teaching and Research Section. Later, the Biochemistry Teaching and Research Section and the Biophysics Teaching and Research Section were separated from the Animal Physiology Teaching and Research Section, with Shen Tong and Chen Deming serving as the directors of these two teaching and research sections respectively.

Professor Chen Zhen is committed to researching the history of Chinese biology in the Department of Biology and offers the course "History of Chinese Biology". Mr. Chen specialized in genetics at Columbia University in his early years. In 1955, he was appointed as a member (academician) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research on the inheritance, variation and evolution of goldfish is a classic work of modern biology in my country. In 1953, he was ordered to prepare for the establishment of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and later served as director. At the same time, he continued to teach in the Department of Biology of Peking University.

In 1954, Professor Shen Tong and Professor Zhang Longxiang began to prepare for the establishment of a biochemistry teaching and research office. In 1956, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the Biochemistry Teaching and Research Office of Peking University was formally established as the first in the country. Mr. Zhang Longxiang received his PhD from the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto, and then went to the Department of Chemistry at Yale University in the United States to conduct research on the lipid chemistry of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In 1952, the departments were reorganized. Professor Zhang Longxiang served as deputy director of the construction committees of Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Yanda University. In 1953, he was appointed as deputy director of the Department of Biology at Peking University. In 1978, he was appointed as vice president of Peking University. From 1981 to 1984, he served as professor of Peking University. Principal, he is also the chairman of the Chinese Biochemical Society.

At that time, the Department of Biology of Peking University brought together more than ten top biologists in the country. Many domestic colleges and universities sent people to Peking University for further study. The influence of the Department of Biology radiated across the country and contributed to the development of our country. It has made contributions to the construction of life science disciplines, teaching construction, and teacher construction in colleges and universities.