The Department of Chinese Language and Literature is one of the most prestigious faculties with a long history at Sun Yat-sen University.

　　It was early in 1924, when the University of Guangdong (the predecessor of Sun Yat-sen University) was founded, that the Department of Chinese Literature, which became the Department of Chinese Language and Literature later on in 1926 when the university was renamed after Sun Yat-sen, was set up.

　　In January 1928, the Faculty of Literature and History established the Institute of Language and History with four divisions – Archaeology, Language, History, and Folklore, aiming to pursue studies and develop cultures. In Spring 1935, the Institute of Literature and History (the Institute of Language and History originally) was reorganized and then became the Institute of Arts, including two brunches, namely Chinese Literature and Chinese History, and it started to recruit graduate students in September that year.

　　In the time of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the teachers & students of Chinese Department moved to other sites, such as Weijiang of Yun Nan, Pingshi and Meixian of Guang Dong, and kept teaching and studying in difficult conditions.

　　The Department of Chinese Language was set up in 1946 and incorporated into Peking University, some of the staff stayed and turned to Chinese Department. The Program of Journalism was set up in 1958 and incorporated into Jinan University in Guangzhou next year. The Training Centre of Chinese Language was set up in 1981 and incorporated into the School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University in 1992. Now the program for BA students at Chinese Department is Chinese Language and Literature.

　　There have been so many well-known scholars ever teaching at Chinese Department, such as Lu Hsun, Kuo Mo-juo, Fu Hsi-nian, Yu Ta-fu, Ch’eng Fang-wu, Ku Chieh-kang, Chong Ching-wen, Chao Yuan-jen, Luo Ch’ang-pei, Lu K’an-ju, Feng Juan-chun, Wang Li, Ch’en CH’i-hsiang, Jong Keng, Shang Ch’eng-tzuo, Chan An-tai, Fang Hsiao-yue, Tong Mei-k’an, Wang Ch’i, Hsian Yu-ch’ing, Huang Hai-chang, Lou Ch’i. They have contributed so much to the development of Chinese Department.

　　Presently, there are 67 teachers, including 22 professors and 20 associate professors, and more than 500 undergraduate students, together with nearly 400 graduate students, including over 160 postgraduate students. Five research centres and institutes have been established, namely, Institute of Traditional Opera and Human Oral and Non-material Heritage, Institute of Classical Philology, Research Office of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature, Research Center of Folklore, and Research Center of Stylistics.

　　One of the most important parts of teaching programs at Chinese Department is the four-year undergraduate-tutors system and intensified writing training. BA students have their own tutors since they are recruited. Most often there are two or three students in a tutorial. Each student is asked to write 100 short compositions in the first year, 8 book reviews the second year, 1 thesis the third year and 1 dissertation the last year.

　　Chinese Department has established constant research cooperations with National Kyushu University (Japan), Daito Bunka University (Japan), University of the South (USA), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), University of Hong Kong and Sun Yat-sen University (Kaohsiung, Taiwan).