What is a university?

1. University, the scientific name of ordinary colleges and universities, is an organization with unique functions. It is not only the product of the development of human culture to a certain stage, but also a unique culture gradually formed on the basis of long-term school-running practice through historical accumulation, self-efforts and external environmental influence. 2. Universities have a history of thousands of years. At first, it mainly developed from Germany, Britain and other countries. Modern universities in China originated in the West, which evolved from European medieval universities, British universities, German universities and then American universities. It is generally believed that the establishment of 1809 Berlin University in Germany marks the birth of a university in the modern sense. 3. Educators have many classic remarks about universities. For example, Cai Yuanpei thinks: "A great scholar includes many schools of etiquette." British educator Newman said: "University education should provide universal knowledge (truth with ordinary meaning) and complete knowledge, not narrow professional knowledge." The knowledge he said includes both concrete scientific truth and abstract and scientific philosophical knowledge. 4. Characteristics of university culture: University culture is gradually formed on the basis of long-term school-running practice; University culture is accumulated and created with university people as the main body; University culture is based on knowledge and its disciplines (majors); University culture is the result of the blending of local culture and international culture.