In August 1913, Zhou Enlai was admitted to the Nankai School in Tianjin. His character and talents were greatly appreciated by Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling. The latter once said, Zhou Enlai was the best student at Nankai. 

Zhou Enlai when he was a student at Nankai School

Zhou Enlai graduated from Nankai School in June 1917 and went to Japan in September of that year to pursue further study. However, in April 1919, when he learned that Nankai School was about to establish a university department, he decided to return to China to continue his studies at Nankai.

On September 25, 1919, Nankai University formally opened its doors to 96 students. With Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling’s approval, Zhou Enlai was enrolled in the liberal arts discipline at the university without sitting for the entrance examinations. Zhou registered as the number 62 student.

Zhou Enlai's Enrollment Registration Form

Commemoration of the opening of Nankai University on September 25, 1919

(Zhou Enlai, back row, first from left)

In his spare time, Zhou Enlai set up the Nankai Student Correspondence Office and called on alumni to make suggestions for the spiritual development and career reform of Nankai.

Zhou Enlai, during his study at Nankai University, deeply edified by the patriotic tradition of Nankai University, proactively threw himself into the patriotic student movement. On January 29, 1920, Zhou was arrested by the Beiyang Government. After his release from prison, Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling agreed to establish a Fan Sun Scholarship to sponsor Zhou Enlai and another student, Li Fujing, to study abroad.

During his stay in Europe, Zhou Enlai maintained his communication with Yan Xiu, Zhang Boling and other Nankai scholars, and actively promoted the establishment of the Nankai Alumni Association in Europe.

Before and after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhou Enlai had more contact with Zhang Boling and other Nankai alumni. In an interview in Yan'an with the North China Star, an English-language newspaper in Tianjin, he said,  “I went to high school and university at Nankai in Tianjin. The school was strict in class and lively in its extracurricular activities. My future participation in revolutionary activities was deeply influenced by my education at Nankai.”

During his work on the Patriotic United Front in Chongqing, Zhou Enlai often visited Nankai teachers and friends in Jinnan Village, one of the Nankai Schools, of the Shapingba District. His speeches, such as “The Founding of the Republic against the War and the Spirit of Nankai”, echoed strongly among Nankai alumni, teachers and students.

After Zhang Boling's death in 1951, Zhou Enlai personally went to Zhang Boling's house to offer his condolences and lay the wreath. He agreed to be the initiator of Zhang Boling's memorial service without any hesitation.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai was continuously concerned about the development of his Alma Mater.

He returned to Nankai University in 1951, 1957, and 1959 for inspection and learned more about its teaching and research, as well as the study life of students and faculty. He sincerely hoped that Nankai would have a new school spirit in the new era, a new teaching focus, and a guarantee of quality, so that it could truly serve socialism well.

On February 24, 1951, Zhou Enlai came to Nankai University for inspection.

On April 10, 1957, Premier Zhou accompanied a Polish government delegation to Tianjin.

On May 28, 1959, Zhou Enlai came to Nankai University for inspection.

To everyone’s surprise, on January 8, 1976, students and faculty at Nankai University heard the sad news of Zhou Enlai's death. In the midst of the whole nation's grief, the Gang of Four and its proxy in Tianjin repeatedly warned that no mourning was allowed. The printed portraits of Zhou Enlai, obituaries, eulogies, and articles commemorating his death were removed from the Nankai University Journal. What’s worse, the proxy claimed that they would investigate the teachers and students of Nankai University who placed wreaths in the Tianjin cemetery on the graves of  revolutionary martyrs. At the risk of collective punishment, leaders of Nankai University decided to set up a memorial hall in the university auditorium, and held a solemn memorial meeting on January 15.

The beloved Premier Zhou Enlai has been gone for 44 years. But for all of us at Nankai, he is never far away. On the anniversary of Zhou Enlai's death, birth, and during the Qing Ming Festival, Nankai students, faculty, and alumni voluntarily come to pay their respects to Zhou Enlai at his statue and monument on campus. Nankai University has also commemorated Premier Zhou Enlai through the establishment of the Zhou Enlai Research Center and the Zhou Enlai School of Government, the Zhou Enlai Class and the Zhou Enlai Scholarship, and the International Symposium Studying Zhou Enlai. Since 2016, Nankai University has been commemorating Zhou Enlai's entrance into the university with memorial activities on September 25 every year.