Nanjing University (NJU or NU) simplified Chinese: 南京大学; traditional Chinese: 南京大學; pinyin: Nánjīng Dàxué; colloquially 南大, Nándà), or Nanking University, is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning in China. It is a member of the C9 League. It was established as a new school in 1902 in the end years of the Qing Dynasty, and became a university in the early 1920s, the early years of Republic of China, and is the first Chinese modern university with the combination of education and research. Before the eve of establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949, the name was changed from National Central University to Nanking University.