In the early days, university education was for elites, and a liberal arts education was the core, with an emphasis on religion and philosophical explorations. The preference for liberal arts over science and technology disciplines was gradually dropped in the Western world after the industrial revolution and during the Meiji Restoration in Japan when the cliched talk of old traditions and values gave way to more practical learning. When it comes to humanities rankings, the author have to say a few words about subject evaluations. A university's unique academic strengths are not necessarily reflected in its overall ranking. Along with China's economic and political rise, many issues related to Asia's humanities and social sciences are hot topics for academic research. They need to be studied with a scientific method to evolve into distinctive fields of specialized knowledge.