Tsinghua University High School

The Qinghua Fuzhong was named Cheng Zhi School (simplified Chinese: 成志学校; traditional Chinese: 成志學校; pinyin: Chéngzhì Xuéxiào) when it is founded in 1915, consisting of elementary grades and a kindergarten.

In 1939, Cheng Zhi school, together with Tsinghua University, moved to Kunming following the Japanese invasion and became part of the joint secondary school of the National Southwestern Associated University. The school moved back to Beijing in 1946 after the war and became a combined middle/elementary school.[3]

• In 1952, the middle school part of Cheng Zhi and the middle school affiliated to Yenching University merged and formed the Tsinghua University Fushe Zhongxue (清华大学附设中学, Zhongxue as an add-on to Tsinghua University).
• In 1958, the preparatory school established in 1951, intended to prepare cadre workers and farmers for education in the university, was merged into Fushe Zhongxue.
• In 1960, Tsinghua University backed a further expansion of Qinghua Fuzhong, for the first time established its high-school section, and gave it its current name.

The reason why Tsinghua invested in and reorganized Qinghua Fuzhong came from the university's own problem with its incoming students: many of them excelled in nothing but exams. To solve this problem, Tsinghua decided to prepare its incoming students themselves.

While other Middle and High schools in Beijing are administered by the local government, Tsinghua University directly appoints the headmaster and other keynote figures of Qinghua Fuzhong and backs it with financial support. Students are freed from repetitive training of exam questions, instead, they are encouraged to learn foreign language, participate in sports, and art performances. On top of that, born and bred in families of university faculty members and high-level government officials, most of the students in Qinghua Fuzhong already comes with good education.[4]

After Mao Zedong drew the line between bourgeois and proletarian, the war between children of university faculties and those of Party officials began. On May29th, 1966, the first Red Guard organization was established among Qinghua Fuzhong students who felt ill-treated by the school during its effort to stop the war.[5] On June 2, the first 'big-character poster' signed by a 'Red Guard' is posted on the classroom building, declaring that they will fight with 'mid-age bourgeois' until they are destroyed. Apparently the mid-age bourgeois refers to the school's administration, which is appointed by the university.

In mid June, Red Guards start to publicly criticize and denounce the school headmaster and other faculty members.

The Red Guards took control of the school in August.

In 1978, the students came back after the 'Down to the Countryside Movement'. To accommodate them, Qinghua Fuzhong Erbu (清华附中二部), a new school later renamed to Qinghua Er Fuzhong (Second Zhongxue affiliated to Tsinghua) was founded, offering only middle school grades. In 1984, the middle school section from Qinghua Fuzhong was relocated into Qinghua Er Fuzhong, making Qinghua Fuzhong a dedicated high school.

15 years later, in 1999, the Er Fuzhong moved into newly completed buildings inside the campus of Qinghua Fuzhong. In 2003, the registration of Qinghua Er Fuzhong was cancelled and merged back into Qinghua Fuzhong. By then Qinghua Fuzhong was already known as the 'high school' of Tsinghua.

In the 2009 school year an international school affiliated to Tsinghua Fuzhong opened, called Tsinghua International School or THIS. It is tied to and shares facilities with Tsinghua Fuzhong but remains an independent school. The school has around 430 students from grades 1-12. The colleges attended by alumni are impressive for a small school, including names like Columbia, Brown and MIT.