In 1912, with generous support of Huang Yanpei, a well-known educator, Jiangsu Provincial Fisheries School was founded.  Zhang Liu, its first president, put forward five wishes for students, namely: to be diligent; to be simple and sincere; to keep away from flippancy; to avoid empty talk about state affairs; and to be self-reliant.

On September 1, 1914, the four-character phrase “Diligence, Sincerity, Dedication and Practicality” was officially chosen as the school motto.

In 2004, the university gave a new interpretation to the connotation of the school motto: Diligence: to be diligent and devoted, namely to study and work hard, fight against passivity and indolence. Sincerity: to be simple and unadorned, namely to be honest in conduct, do more and speak less, and fight against luxury and waste. Dedication: to love one’s home country and alma mater， namely to be loyal to the home country, love the alma mater, and oppose ingratitude. Practicality: to be realistic and pragmatic, namely to value practice and pragmatic result, and oppose falsification.