The history of this institute can be traced back to 1978, when the Department of education approved the establishment of the Du Fu Work Office of the original Wen Shi Zhe Institute and the Office of Literary Theory.  In 2002 the new Wen Shi Zhe Institute was established; some of the members of the Du Fu Office became a part of the Han Tang Literature Institute, and the Office of Literary Theory changed its name to the Institute for Wen Xin Diao Long and Chinese Aesthetics.  In 2008 this former institute was combined with the Institute of Ancient Chinese Literature to become the Institute of Ancient Literature and Literary Appreciation.  In 2012 the Wen Shi Zhe Institute, the old Advanced Confucian Studies Institute, the Center for Confucian Studies, and the Editorial board of the journal Wen Shi Zhe were integrated and became the new Institute for Advanced Confucian Studies.  The original Institute of Ancient Literature and Literary Appreciation again changed its name to become the Institute of Chinese Literature.  The current head of the institute of Professor Fu He Yuan.

This institute has five full time staff members: professors Fu He Yuan, Qi Liang De, and Zhou Ji Wen, and assistant professors Zhao Rui Cai and Qi Wei.  Majors in this institute include literary appreciation, aesthetics and culture, Wen Xin Diao Long studies, and ancient Chinese literature.

Professor Fu He Yuan is a distinguished academic in the fields of ancient Chinese literary theory, and in particular, art theory.  He has published Chinese Chanracters and Calligraphy, Famous Calligraphers and Their Works, Shu Wei Xin Hua (which won a top provincial prize for literary theory), A Complete History of Chinese Aesthetic Culture: the Song and Yuan Volumes, (which won a second place national prize from the Ministry of Education), Shu Qing Hua Yi——Essays on Chinese Art and Aesthetics, and others.  He has also published articles in Wen Shi Zhe, Chinese Calligraphy, and Calligraphy Studies.  He is currently at the head of two grant projects: Studies in Traditional Chinese Aesthetic Culture and the construction of a Contemporary Aesthetic Culture with Chinese Characteristics, and Studies in Contemporary Shandong Calligraphy.

Professor Qi Liang De specializes in Wen Xin Diao Long and classical literature.  His main works are Wen Xin Diao Long and Chinese Culture——A Canon of Literary Appreciation (which won two awards), Critical Commentary on Wen Xin Diao Long, and An Index on Wen Xin Diao Long Related Studies.  He has also published more than sixty articles.  In the Liu Xie Chapter of Shan Dong Sheng Zhi: Zhu Zi Ming Jia Xi Lie Cong Shu, there is a section which specifically mentions Prof. Qi and his work on Wen Xin Diao Long studies.  In this field, he has become a well-known and influential scholar.

Professor Zhou Ji Wen specializes in literary theory and appreciation.  He has jointly published Western Aesthetics, and An Introduction to Aesthetics; his individual works include the Ming and Qing Dynasty volume of A Complete History of Chinese Aesthetic Culture (which earned a second place national prize from the Ministry of Education), Studies on Harmony and Aesthetics.  He is also widely published in academic journals.  He is currently heading up the grant project Studies in Traditional Chinese Aesthetic Culture and the construction of a Contemporary Aesthetic Culture with Chinese Characteristics.

In the field of ancient literature, his specialty is Tang Dynasty literature, with a focus on the poet Du Fu.

Assistant Professor Zhao Rui Cai specializes in Tang Dynasty literature, and has published Vulgar Art and the Spirit of the Times, and Studies on the Relationship between Customs and Tang Poetry.  He jointly authored or edited A Critique on Modern Chinese Study of Tang Poetry, Tang Shi Hua Pu, A New Translation of Selected Du Fu Poems, An Annotated Collection of Du Fu Poems, Thirteen Lectures on the Classics, and was the vice-editor for the Du Fu Dictionary.  He has published dozens of articles that have been well received.

Assistant Professor Qi Wei has published many insightful articles of Du Fu’s poetry.  He published Song Ci Hua Pu, Tang Shi Hua Pu; he participated in the collation of Du Fu’s Complete Works; and participated in the editing of Research into Shan Dong Texts of Du Fu’s Work, An Annotated Collection of Du Fu Poems, A Dictionary of Tang Dynasty Poetry, and Selections from Ancient Chinese Literature.

The Institute of Chinese Literature accepts masters students majoring in literary theory, aesthetics and culture, literary criticism, Wen Xin Diao Long, and Tang Dynasty literature.