Founded on1July 3, 898, it was the first comprehensive university founded by the central government in China (predecessor of Peking University) during the Reform Movement of 1898. Shi Jing University Hall was the highest institution of learning in China at that time, and it was also the first highest educational administrative organ in China. It exercised management functions and governed national education.

1On July 3rd, 898, Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty officially ordered the establishment of Shi Jing University Hall. The original school site is located in Jingshan East Street (formerly Mamiao) in Beijing and Honglou in Shanghai Beach (northeast of the Forbidden City) (now No.29 May 4th Street in Beijing). Shi Jing University was founded under the auspices of Sun Jianai, and American missionary Ding Weiliang was the chief teacher of western learning. The Constitution of Shi Jing University was formulated by Liang Qichao with the approval of Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty, and is regarded as the first university constitution in China. The articles of association put forward the school-running policy of "taking middle school as the body and western learning as the application", holding that "both of them need each other, and only when they are unprepared can they achieve great things", emphasizing that the core of the university hall is to cultivate talents, and taking "cultivating extraordinary talents for future use" as the purpose of establishing the university hall.

In the same year, the library building of Shi Jing University Hall was completed, which is one of the earliest modern new libraries in China. 1900, Shi Jing University Hall was first attacked by the Boxer Rebellion, and then occupied as a barracks by the German-Russian invading army in Eight-Nation Alliance. The school buildings, books and equipment were seriously damaged, and the university auditorium was forced to close for two years. 1902, after the war subsided, the Qing court ordered the restoration of Shi Jing University Hall, the library was also reset in the same year, and Zhang Baixi, the official maintenance minister, was appointed as the management minister. Zhang Baixi first organized a crash course, which was divided into official schools and normal schools. 1862 Shi Jing wentongtang, which was founded during the westernization movement, was also merged into the university hall.