Tianjin University is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education. It was originally called Beiyang University.  When it was founded on October 2, 1895, it was considered the first modern university in China known in the world for its motto of "seeking the truth in facts", its spirit of "being rigorous in research" and its tradition of "patriotic devotion". It was renamed by the state as Tianjin University in 1951 and later qualified as one of the first 16 national key universities approved by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1959. The Tianjin University is also one of the first important universities in the national "Project 211" and "Project 985". It is one of the Class A institutions in the national project of "Building World-Class Universities".