The programme aims to provide students with an understanding of the nature of Chinese language and cultural studies and its use for academic and professional purposes.  There are three streams: (1) Chinese Language and Literature,  (2) Chinese History, and (3) Chinese History and Cultural Heritage.  The Chinese Language and Literature Stream will familiarize students with the literary tradition of China and its applications in modern society.  The Chinese History Stream will enable students to acquire the historical and cultural knowledge of China through a variety of tangible and intangible resources in China.  Students can also opt for the Chinese History and Cultural Heritage Stream, in which they will also study history, museum and cultural heritage courses specially designed by Peking University and will have on-site visits to cultural relics conservation units and archaeological sites in Chinese Mainland.

To be eligible for admission, you must:

• hold a degree from one of the tertiary educational institutions of Hong Kong funded by the University Grants Committee; or
• hold a degree of a level equivalent to (a) above from a local or non-local institution recognized for this purpose by the University; or
• have satisfied the academic requirements for corporate membership of a professional institution recognized for this purpose by the University; or
• have obtained an equivalent qualification, or provided evidence of academic and professional attainments, acceptable for this purpose to the university.

In addition to the University General Entrance Requirements, applicants are expected to meet the following specific Chinese language requirement:

(a)  have satisfactorily completed at least one tertiary level Chinese course of 30-hour or more which includes substantial written Chinese elements ; or

(b)  have obtained a grade D or above in HKALE AS-level Chinese Language and Culture, or Level 4 or above in HKDSE Chinese Language, or equivalent.

Applicants who cannot produce documentary evidence of (a) or (b) will be required to take an admission test in Chinese language writing and reading and attain a standard comparable to that set for (b).  They must pass this admission test to satisfy the above specific requirement.

Priority will be given to those with one or more years relevant work experience.

Applicants whose entrance qualification is obtained from an institution where the medium of instruction is not English should also fulfill the following minimum English proficiency requirement:

• a score of 79 (Internet-based test) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)^@#; or
• an overall band score of 6.0 in International English Language Testing System (IELTS)^@##; or
• a score 450 in the new College English Test (CET-6) of Chinese mainland; or
• other equivalent qualifications.

^@TOEFL and IELTS scores are considered valid for two years. Applicants are required to provide their English test results obtained within the two years preceding the start of the University's application period. 'TOEFL iBT Home Edition', 'TOEFL Mybest Score', 'IELTS Indicator', 'IELTS One Skill Retake' and 'IELTS Online' are not acceptable. 

^# Applicants are required to arrange with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send their TOEFL results directly to the University. The TOEFL institution code for CityUHK is 3401.

## Applicants are required to arrange for sending their IELTS result(s) via the IELTS Results Service e-delivery to the University.  Please note that applicants with an overall band score of 6.0 will be required to pass an interview for English proficiency conducted by the Department.  Interviews for other applicants may not be required.  

1. Programme Core Course (3 credit units) 

• Essential Concepts in Chinese Culture

2. Stream Courses (27 credit units)

i) Stream Core Courses (9 credit units)

Stream 1: Chinese Language and Literature (9 credit units) 

• Classical Chinese Literature
• Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature
• Capstone Project in Chinese Language and Literature

Stream 2: Chinese History (9 credit units) / Stream 3: Chinese History and Cultural Heritage (9 credit units)

• History and Historical Sources in a Changing World
• Cultural Heritage Theories and Practices in China
• Capstone Project in Chinese History and Cultural Heritage

ii) Stream Electives (18 credit units)

Students are required to take at least 4 courses (3 credit units each) or 2 courses (3 credit units each) plus CAH6507 Master’s Dissertation (6 credit units) from the electives of their own stream; the remaining 6 credit units can be taken from the electives of their own stream or another stream.

Stream 1: Chinese Language and Literature

• Selected Readings in Chinese Language and Literature
• Chinese Documentology
• Chinese Literary Criticism
• Classical Chinese Philology
• Great Works of Chinese Literature, History and Philosophy
• Chinese Creative Writing
• Special Topics in Hong Kong Literature and Culture
• Gender Perspective on Chinese Literature
• Special Topics in Chinese Literature and Religion
• Chinese Literature and Fine Arts
• Theories for Understanding Contemporary Chinese-language Fiction
• Historical Narrative in Chinese Literature and History Writing
• Special Topics in Chinese-language Film and Fiction
• Master’s Dissertation
• Seminar on Chinese for Professional Purposes

Stream 2: Chinese History / Stream 3: Chinese History and Cultural Heritage

• Selected Readings in Sinology**
• Chinese Written Characters, Literary Chinese, and East Asian History
• Writing for Museum Professional
• Chinese Art Criticism and Education
• Cantonese Opera: Texts and Performance
• Museum Studies in China
• Archaeology and Civilization of Early China
• Chinese Architecture, Gardens and World Heritage
• Hong Kong’s Urban Landscape and Heritage Preservation
• Modern China and Hong Kong
• History of Chinese Buddhist Thought
• Cultural History of Medicine in China
• Chinese Cultural History
• From Lingnan to the Greater Bay Area
• The Silk Road and the History of China’s Foreign Relations
• Cultural and Creative Industries in Greater China
• Master’s Dissertation

Chinese History and Cultural Heritage Stream: The Chinese History and Cultural Heritage Stream offers a two-year full-time programme, with some courses entrusted to the Department of History of Peking University (PKU) for teaching. Students in their first year will follow the normative one-year curriculum of Chinese History Stream (30 credit units in total). While in the second year, students will follow the curriculum specially designed by PKU and take courses on-site at PKU which will be taught by PKU faculty (15 credit units in total).  To strengthen students’ knowledge of cultural relics conservation, museum display, cultural and creative design, etc., PKU will collaborate with organizations like The Palace Museum, Dunhuang Academy, China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association, China Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, The First Historical Archives of China, National Library of China in course offering.  Besides, students will be arranged to visit cultural relics conservation units and archaeological sites inside and outside Beijing. Students who have completed their studies and fulfilled the requirements of CityUHK will be conferred a degree of MA in Chinese and History with Cultural Heritage by CityUHK. The programme structure and course introduction of the PKU curriculum can be found on the programme website.

**The medium of instruction of the course Selected Readings in Sinology is English/Chinese.

The medium of instruction of this programme is mainly Putonghua.

Programme video
Department of Chinese and History
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Last updated on 1 December 2025