The Chinese Department of Xiamen University was founded in 192 1, where famous writers and scholars such as Lu Xun, Lin Yutang, Zhou Jianming, Shen Jianshi, Luo Changpei and Yu Yu once taught. Yang Shuda, Sister Liu and other famous scholars have successively served as the head of the Chinese Department. The Chinese Department is affiliated to the College of Humanities and has six teaching and research sections. The Chinese Department implements an integrated management system of departments, institutes and centers.

At present, the Chinese Department has three doctoral programs, eight master programs and four undergraduate majors: Chinese language and literature, Chinese language and literature (normal class), Chinese language and literature (applied linguistics) and drama, film and television literature.