Soochow University (simplified Chinese: 苏州大学; traditional Chinese: 蘇州大學; pinyin: Sūzhōu Dàxué), colloquially known in Chinese as Suda (苏大, Sūdà) is a university in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. The school is part of the Chinese Ministry of Education's Project 211, and a Jiangsu provincial key comprehensive university. The original Soochow University (simplified Chinese: 东吴大学; traditional Chinese: 東吳大學; pinyin: Dōngwú Dàxué) was founded by Methodists in Suzhou in 1900 as a merger of three existing institutions: the Po-hsi Academy, the Kung-hsiang Academy, and the Chung-hsi Academy. The university was split in 1949 as a result of the Chinese Civil War, and merged with the Southern Jiangsu College of Culture and Education and the Department of Mathematics and Physics at Jiangnan University to form the Jiangsu Teacher's College in 1952. The English name Soochow University was revived in 1982; however, the original Chinese name Dongwu 東吳 was not adopted, and the institution was given the name Suzhou 苏州. The Suzhou College of Sericulture, Suzhou Institute of Silk Textile Technology and Suzhou Medical College were each merged into the University in 1995, 1997 and 2000 successively.