Soviet influence on higher education in China: A case study of Heilongjiang University

The article examines the role of Soviet specialists in the establishment and development of the higher education system in Northeast China during the 1950s, using Heilongjiang University (Harbin) as a case of study. The authors determine the relevance of the study by the fragmented nature of existing research on this aspect of Sino-Soviet cooperation from 1951 to 1960. The research employs a historical-archival research method.
The novelty lies in introducing previously unpublished archival materials from Heilongjiang University into academic discourse. Analysis of these materials enabled the verification and refinement of the personnel composition of the 1951 Soviet academic mission, resulting in a nominal list of 181 instructors and the discovery of photographic documents featuring some of these specialists. These findings are of fundamental importance as they allow for the correction of existing historiographical assessments: in contrast to information found in a number of Russian and Chinese sources mentioning the work of only 11 Soviet specialists, it has been possible to documentarily confirm the large-scale nature of their presence.
The aim of the research is the historical reconstruction of the activities of Soviet instructors based on the compiled list and an analysis of their professional contribution to the development of the Harbin Specialized School of Foreign Languages the predecessor of the modern Heilongjiang University. The objectives include establishing the biographical data of the specialists and assessing their influence on the formation of the university's curricula, pedagogical methods and institutional structure.

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