On June 7, the 16th High Table Dinner was held at the International Campus, Zhejiang University, hosted by Weixue College. Professor Yan Jianhua, Dean of Weixue College, attended and presided over the dinner. Professor Yao Qiang, Dean of Tsinghua University's Ziqiang College, delivered an in‑depth address on two major themes: the evolution of China's engineering education and the development of residential colleges with Chinese characteristics.
Student and faculty representatives from Tsinghua University, the University of Hong Kong, Chu Kochen Honors College, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Global College, and three colleges (Choi Kai Yau College, Ma Man Kei and Lo Pak Sam College and Stanley Ho East Asia College) at the University of Macau came together for a cross‑institutional, cross‑regional exchange on residential college culture.
Professor Yan Jianhua welcomed the guests, introduced the college's practices and the "Zhejiang–Hong Kong–Macau" exchange program, and introduced the two main themes of the evening.
In Professor Yao's address, "Looking Back a Thousand Years, What Kind of Future?" [TN: 千年回望，何以未来], he traced Chinese engineering education from ancient craft transmission and the Kao Gong Ji [TN: 《考工记》, a late Spring and Autumn period technical compendium], through the pioneering Fujian Naval Academy, to the leadership of universities like Tsinghua and Zhejiang. With China's engineering education now the world’s largest in scale, he identified quality, core technological innovation, and industry leadership as the next imperatives.
"Competition among top universities is ultimately between models of talent cultivation," Yao said, turning to the heritage of traditional Chinese academies. A modern residential college rooted in that tradition, he argued, sharpens a university’s character. He urged colleges to foster a culture of congyou [TN: 从游, "following in the master's wake" — a mentorship metaphor popularized by former Tsinghua President Mei Yiqi], where teaching by example creates a supportive, purpose-driven educational community.
The evening featured a mentorship appointment ceremony for Weixue College, with mentors supporting students across multiple dimensions — from research mentoring and career planning to emotional well‑being.
Participants praised the dinner as a valuable platform for exchanging approaches to engineering education and residential college development. Qiu Jiarui of Weixue College said the talk clarified "the mission of our generation." Liao Weiyu of Ziqiang College noted that comparing residential college models across ZJU, HKU, and the University of Macau gave him "a new understanding of how the classical academy tradition can energize the cultivation of modern engineers."
(Article: Office of Student Affairs; Editing: CHEN Nuo; Editing in Charge: GUO Jiyao LI Yinan; Reviewer: YANG Yi; Final Review: QU Haidong)