John Leighton Stuart

Not to be confused with John Leighton Stewart or John Stewart Leighton.

John Stewart Leighton in 1941

John Leighton Stuart (Chinese: 司徒雷登; Pinyin: Sītú Léidēng; born June 24, 1876; died in 1962) was the first President of Yenching University and later United States ambassador to China; he was the last person to hold that position before the transfer of the embassy to Taipei.

Early life

Born in Hangzhou, China, on June 24, 1876, of Presbyterian missionary parents from the United States. He had three younger brothers, David Todd (1878), Warren Horton (1880) and Robert Kirland (1883). His father, John Linton Stuart and mother, Mary Louisa Horton and a brother were interred in Hangzhou. Although an American by nationality, Stuart considered himself Chinese more than an American. He spoke the Hangzhou dialect. At age eleven, he went to the U.S. state of Virginia, where his awkwardness in speaking English led to his being teased by his classmates. He attended Hampden-Sydney College and later Union Theological Seminary, where he aspired to be a missionary.

Missionary and academic

In 1904, after his marriage, he returned to China with his wife, Aline Rodd, and became a second generation missionary in China from the Presbyterian Church in the United States.

In 1908 he became a professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at the Nanking Theological Seminary. During his tenure, he published 'Essentials of New Testament Greek in Chinese'and 'Greek-Chinese-English Dictionary of the New Testament' (1918).

In January 1919, he became the first president of Yenching University. He established physical, financial, and education foundations of the institution. He quickly made the university among the top universities, and the premier Christian institution, in China. He forged partnerships with Harvard University, leading to the establishment in 1928 of the famous Harvard－Yenching Institute, an important legacy in cultural exchange. He also forged partnerships with Princeton University, Wellesley College, and the University of Missouri. He cared much about students and teachers and their interactions.

Shortly after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Yenching University ceased to exist. In 1952, Peking University relocated to the Yenching campus.

Princeton University gave him an Honorary Doctorate in 1930, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt consulted him on Chinese issues in 1933.

Political Activities

John Leighton Stuart attended National Assembly in 1948

Stuart supported Chinese nationalism. He was sympathetic to students and faculty at Yenching who participated in May Fourth Movement (1919–1921) and May Thirtieth Movement (1925). He favored the Northern Expedition (1926-1927) against the warlord factions in Beijing. He even led a protest with Yenching students against the Japanese invasion in Manchuria (1937). He forged ties with the leaders in the Nationalist Party, particularly Chiang Kai-shek, since they both spoke the same Zhejiang dialect, and leaders in the Communist Party, some of whom were graduates of Yenching. He recommended U.S. aid to China during 1937-1941. After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese incarcerated Stuart in Beijing for 3 years and 8 months (December 1941 - August 1945).

His deep involvement with China's politics, education and culture won him respect among the Chinese intellectuals and students during the 1930s and the 1940s. Even Wen Yiduo, a scholar whom Mao Zedong and the Chinese communists often praised, expressed his respect and admiration for John Leighton Stuart in his famous last speech. Ironically, when Wen Yiduo's last speech was included in Chinese textbooks in Mainland China, the paragraph praising John Leighton Stuart was deleted.

U.S. Ambassador to China

On July 4, 1946, Stuart was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to China and, in this position, worked in concert with General George C. Marshall to mediate between Nationalists and Communists. After Marshall's departure from China in January 1947, he led the mediation efforts that changed from all-out support of the Nationalist government to mediating the coalition government, to negotiating an understanding with the Communist party When the Nationalist government fled Nanjing, and Communist forces entered the city in April 1949, Stuart maintained the U.S. Embassy in Nanjing. He sought accommodation with the Communist Party in an effort to maintain U.S. presence and influence in China, making contact through a graduate of Yenching University, Huang Hua, who became a member of the Nanjing Military Council.

In reaction to the State Department White Paper on China, Mao Zedong published a sarcastic article Farewell, Leighton Stuart! which has the following characterization of Leighton Stuart:

John Leighton Stuart, who was born in China in 1876, was always a loyal agent of U.S. cultural aggression in China. He started missionary work in China in 1905 and in 1919 president of Yenching University, which was established by the United States in Peking. On July 11, 1946, he was appointed U.S. ambassador to China. He actively supported the Kuomintang reactionaries in prosecuting the civil war and carried out various political Intrigues against the Chinese people. On August 2, 1949, because all the efforts of U.S. imperialism to obstruct the victory of the Chinese people's revolution had completely failed, Leighton Stuart had to leave China quietly.

Attempts to accommodate the Communist Party failed, with both sides unwilling or unable to make any concessions. As a result, Stuart was expelled from China on August 2, 1949, and formally resigned as Ambassador on November 28, 1952.

Final Wish

In Stuart's will, he wishes to be buried in China, or more precisely in Beijing,the campus of Yenching University. His ashes were buried in his birthplace, Hangzhou, on November 17, 2008.

References

• Yu-ming Shaw, An American Missionary in China: John Leighton Stuart and Chinese-American Relations (Cambridge: Council on East Asian Studies Harvard University: Distributed by Harvard University Press, 1992).
• Philip West, Yenching University and Sino-Western Relations, 1916-1952 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976).
• John Leighton Stuart: The Forgotten Ambassador, The Reports of John Leighton Stuart, 1946-1949 (Westview Press 1981), ISBN 0-86531-157-9.
• John Leighton Stuart: Fifty years in China, The memoirs of John Leighton Stuart, missionary and ambassador.
• John Leighton Stuart: Greek-Chinese-English dictionary of the New Testament (Presbyterian Mission Press 1918).
• Mao Tse-tung: Farewell, Leighton Stuart! In: Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, Beijing, Foreign Languages Press 1969; vol. IV, p. 433-440.

External links

• Remembering John Leighton Stuart, New York Times,November 21, 2008.Accessed October 19, 2011.
• The father of Yenching University, CCTV,July 12, 2011,Accessed October 19, 2011.
• John Leighton Stuart, China Expert, Is Buried Hangzhou at Last
• Mao Zedong: Farewell, Leighton Stuart!

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Patrick J. Hurley	US Ambassador to China 1946–1949	Succeeded by Karl L. Rankin