Presently the reconstruction of the spirit of Chinese universities is a hot issue in Chinese higher education The spirit of Peking university “ideological freedom and compatibility with all trends of thought” put forward by Cai Yuanpei inherits “Three A” principles of American higher education Inheriting, developing the spirit of Peking university, and learn “Three A” principles of American higher education make an enlightenment point to the perspective of the origin and development of the spirit of Chinese universities The key of the reconstruction of the spirit of Chinese universities lie in the realization of academic freedom, academic autonomy and persistence of selfindependence and selfrenewal of national culture