Its name was changed to "National Shanxi University" (simplified Chinese: 国立山西大学 traditional Chinese: 國立山西大學; pinyin: GuoLi ShanXi DaXue) in 1918, and changed back to "Shanxi University" in 1931. In 1937, because of the War of Resistance Against Japan, which is part of World War II, Shanxi University was moved away from Taiyuan. The school of law was moved to Pingyao, the college of liberal arts was moved to Yuncheng, the department of engineering and physics and the office of president was moved to Linfen.