Department of Chinese Studies, University of Malaya
The Department of Chinese Studies at the University of Malaya (UM Chinese Studies) is a public department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Founded in 1963, it is one of Southeast Asia’s oldest Chinese studies units. The department offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs, conducts research in Chinese language, literature, culture, and Sinology, and runs conferences, public lectures, student activities, and outreach programs. Its goals include advancing Sinology, promoting translations of Chinese classics, contributing to the humanities and social sciences, and encouraging intercultural understanding in Malaysia’s multilingual society.
Origins of Chinese studies at UM trace back to proposals in the early 1950s for Chinese literature courses at the Singapore campus. Formal instruction began in 1953. After the Kuala Lumpur campus opened in 1959, a special committee in 1960 supported creating a full Chinese Studies department. Professor Cheng Te-k'un of Cambridge led the preparatory work in 1962, with interim leadership by Wang Gungwu and Wolfgang Franke. Teaching started in May 1963 with 101 students. The department offered a dual-track curriculum—Chinese language and literature for both Chinese and non-Chinese-speaking students—with instruction in Chinese, Malay, and English. In the mid-1960s it hosted renowned scholars such as Ch’ien Mu.
The first bachelor graduates came in 1966, the first master’s graduate in 1967, and the department awarded its first PhD in 1980. The 1970s and 1980s brought structural and language-policy reforms, but graduates continued to enter education and academia. In 1987, after debates about enrolment in Chinese-medium courses, academic autonomy was restored. When UM was designated a research-intensive university in 2007, the department expanded its research by launching journals and thematic publications. In the 2010s and 2020s, specialized research centers for Dream of the Red Chamber studies and Malaysian Chinese literature were established.
Today the department offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Undergraduates gain language skills, literary analysis, cultural understanding, and research methods. Postgraduates pursue specialized research in Chinese literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, and Southeast Asian Chinese communities.
The Dream of the Red Chamber Research Centre, founded in 2018, focuses on classical Chinese literature, Redology, and related cultural exchange in Southeast Asia. In 2022, the Mahua Centre was established to study Malaysian Chinese literature, including archival work and author studies.
The Department of Chinese Studies Alumni Association, known as Zhongxie, was established in 1990 as a legally registered group that supports department activities and fundraising. The department has had several heads since its founding.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:29 (CET).