In recognition of the extraordinary contributions of XJTLU Board of Directors and university leaders during the course of the university’s establishment and development, the Dushu Lake Higher Education Town Administration Office (later changed to Suzhou Dushu Lake Science and Education Innovation District Administrative Committee) donated the portrait oil paintings of XJTLU’s directors of Board, Presidents and Executive Presidents. These painting were formally exhibited in XJTLU Museum since its opening in October 2014.
On the theme of the unique “Five-Star” education model of XJTLU, Mr. Li Pingxun, who is a disciple of Mr. Wu Sanda, member of China Artists Association and deputy Chairman of Shanxi Artists Association, created a piece of calligraphy entitled “Wholeheartedly Engage in Education with the ‘Five-Star’ Model”. He presented it to the University as an expression of his admiration of our educational model. As a university aim for our alumni to be prepared for the internationalisation and social development which characterise the world today. We believe that in order for them to be successful we must ensure that our students graduate not only with a firm and professional understanding of their major, but also an acute understanding of the globalised workplace into which they are entering. To this purpose, XJTLU draws on the positives of both Eastern and Western education models to form a cohesive structure comprising
In 2013 upon being accepted as a student at XJTLU, Zhang Shuang from Zunyi, Guizhou Province decided to travel to university in a somewhat unusual way. Zhang Shuang and her family drove from Zunyi to Suzhou. Drawing on the American tradition of a pre-college road trip the whole trip took them 20 days to complete. During this time they passed through a total of 26 cities. Upon their arrival in Suzhou they received a warm welcome from Professor Xi Youmin. Zhang Shuang and her family gifted XJTLU a scroll entitled the “Way to the University” in memory of their special journey and to serve as an inspiration to other students.
Suzhou’s No.1 Silk Factory museum operates a small number of Jacquard looms, which represent key junctions between East and West, between past and present, and between silk weaving and digital technology. Silk in production, these looms are an international rarity. The project aims to preserve this heritage and interpret its significance by communicating the importance of Chinese silk industry and of the Jacquard loom in the development of the modern computer, which grew from the binary logic of Jacquard punchcards. We applied punchcard-driven silk weaving as a visual storytelling medium, and used it to create strategy to develop educational products for the silk factory’s museum shop.
As a gift for XJTLU 10th anniversary, the University of Liverpool has given XJTLU a traditional British narrow boat named “Liverbird of Suzhou”. Over the journey of more than 9000 kilometres, It was officially unveiled on 26 July, 2016 on Suzhou’s Jinji Lake, as a token of the 10 years collaboration and friendship between XJTLU and UoL. It is now docking at the north side of the Central Building of XJTLU.
The original logo of XJTLU was very simple, only with the name of XJTLU written by Ms. Zhaolin Fang – a master of Chinese drawing and calligraphy. The unique 001 Logo had given to Mr Jianhua Dong on 9 September, 2006. XJTLU launched its new logo on 11 November, 2009, consisting of the Chinese name of XJTLU, the wheel logo of XJTU and the key elements of the shield logo of UoL.
The interior design of the VIP room was determined by the University Librarian and then Head of the Brand & Market Office Bi Xin and his team. They decided to use traditional Chinese calligraphy as the main decorative motif. They invited Professor Luo Sangui, a member of China Artists Association and current Deputy Director of Photography & Fine Arts Department of Guangming Daily, to create two versions of the Ode to XJTLU using cursive script and regular script. They also invited Mr. Mu Yunwu, the Executive Editor of the China Management Magazine, to create a calligraphic work entitled The Great Learning, which contains 2,212 Chinese characters in total. The two works, Ode to XJTLU (in cursive script) and The Great Learning, are now displayed on each side of the VIP room on the 12th floor of Central Building of XJTLU, creating a delightful contrast. The Ode to XJTLU (regular script) is kept next to the Circular Meeting Room on the first floor of the Central Building, opposite the entrance to the museum. Both the Ode to XJTLU and The Great Learning were written bilingually, thus reflecting XJTLU’s international nature. President Xi’s favourite quotes from these works are: “A university, in any worthy sense of the term, must grow from seed. It cannot be transplanted from England or Germany in full leaf and bearings” and “When the American university appears, it will not be a copy of foreign institutions, or a hot-bed plant, but the slow and natural outgrowth of American social and political habits. The American college is an institution without a parallel; the American university will be equally original.” These were the words of Professor Charles William Eliot, the former President of the Harvard University. These statements are well applied to the unique vision and mission of XJTLU. The English text was printed on the calligraphic works after they had been written. Special care was taken to ensure harmonisation between the Chinese calligraphy and the English typed text.
In May 2007, Sir Robin Saxby, Chairman of the Institution of Engineering and Technology of the United Kingdom (IET), donated a statue of Michel Faraday (who was a great British scientist in the 1990s) to XJTLU in honour of the friendship between the two institutions. The statue is now located at the entry to the 2nd floor of the Foundation Building of XJTLU.
On September 20, 2011, to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911, Bei Kede, a student of 2008 cohort who majored in Information & Computing Science, together with Dr. Sun Huifang, a granddaughter of Mr. Sun Yat-sen, donated this statue of Sun Yat-sen to XJTLU. In total, Dr. Sun Huifang has 65 donations of statues of Sun Yat-sen to institution throughout China. Of these 5 were donated to institutions in Jiangsu Province. XJTLU is the only university in Suzhou to have a statue of Sun Yat-sen.
As a gift for XJTLU 10th anniversary, the University of Liverpool has given XJTLU a traditional British narrow boat named “Liverbird of Suzhou”. Over the journey of more than 9000 kilometres, it was officially unveiled on 26 July, 2016 on Suzhou’s Jinji Lake, as a token of the 10 years collaboration and friendship between Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and University of Liverpool. It is now docking at the north side of the Central Building of XJTLU.
