Sun Jianai (7 April 1827 – 29 November 1909) was a Chinese official and educator during the late Qing dynasty, noted as an advisor and tutor to the Guangxu Emperor.

After service as an education director in Hubei and at the Palace School for Princes, he was appointed as the tutor of the young Guangxu Emperor alongside Weng Tonghe.

A political moderate, Sun survived Empress Dowager Cixi's coup against the reform movement, and continued to manage the university.

Shortly into their service, both tutors upset conservative Manchu officials after recommending that the 17th century Ming loyalists Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu be enshrined at the Beijing Temple of Confucius.

Alongside the general and statesman Li Hongzhang, Sun opposed Weng's advocacy of war against Japan over Korea, believing that China would be unable to defeat the Japanese.

In 1896, a memorial ostensibly from the official Li Duanfen [zh] (but likely composed by his relative Liang Qichao) was sent to Emperor Guangxu, requesting the university's establishment.

Sun wrote in favor of this document, stating that prior western-style government schools (such as naval colleges or the Tongwen Guan) only taught individual skills, rather than a unified educational framework.

[8] Sun stressed that the western powers invested large amount of money and resources into their national universities, and advocated that such an institution should be located in the capital of Beijing, in order to serve as a unifying cultural symbol.

He created a draft curriculum for the institution which mixed western and Chinese learning and centered around ten disciplines: astronomy, classics, politics, literature, military science, engineering, commerce, and medicine.

The emperor approved the establishment of the university and appointed Sun the Director of Educational Affairs (管學大臣; Guǎnxué dàchén) in order to organize it.

[6][7][9] However, the university's establishment was delayed by conservative leaders such as Pujing, Prince Yi [zh] and Gangyi, who stressed the expenses required by the institution.

In July, Sun wrote to the emperor requesting that Feng Guifen's reformist text Jiaobinlu kangyi (校邠廬抗議; 'Protest from the Jiaobin Studio') be printed and distributed among court officials.

He scaled back his earlier plans for the institution in the more conservative environment, maintaining that the university's primary purpose was to teach the Chinese classics.

However, conservatives within the imperial government continued to oppose the university, and despite political support from Grand Councilor Ronglu, Sun was unable to secure funding to expand it.

[24] In order to mediate conflict, Sun was appointed in 1904 to manage the reestablished Imperial University alongside his initial replacement as president, Zhang Baixi, as well as the bannerman Rongqing [zh].

[1][25] Sun served on a commission alongside Qu Hongji to study foreign governments for possible reforms, producing small-scale proposals due to conservative opposition.