A breakthrough analysis of the structure and role of Chinese universities that bridges the divisions between Sino and Western systems. While many analyses of Chinese university systems focus on the difference between Sino and Western educational structures, The Chinese Idea of a University takes a new path by putting these two constructions of higher education in conversation. Citing the practices of four differing Chinese regions, professor and administrator Rui Yang opposes the existence of an impassable chasm between Chinese and Western ideas of a university and argues that it is possible to combine Chinese and Western ideas of higher education. This is the first book in English to systematically introduce, explain and theorize the Chinese tradition of higher education while drawing on empirical evidence of contemporary university development collected from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Yang acutely recalls historic events that have shaped Chinese university structures, and he contextualizes the enormous impact Western academic models and institutions have had from the development of modern Chinese universities up to today.