John Leighton Stuart's Dream of China

司徒雷登的中国梦

2017-01-17 Enrico 西外小初高双语国际课程部

John Leighton Stuart was a second-generation American missionary who played an influential role in the development of modern Chinese education. Born in Hangzhou in 1876, he completed his formal schooling in the United States, but returned to China to teach theology. In 1919, he became the first principal of Yanjing University, a new college in Beijing that sought to combine the best elements of  Chinese heritage and international education. In particular, Stuart aimed to cultivate a spirit of free inquiry, critical thinking, and intellectual independence among his students.

After the war, Stuart would go on to serve as the last American ambassador to China before the 1949 revolution. He died in the United States, but in 2008, after decades of effort reaching up to the highest levels of the Chinese government, his ashes were taken to China and interred alongside those of his family in Hangzhou. What was once Yanjing now forms part of the campus of Beijing University.Scholars from all over the world and many disciplines went to Yanjing to teach and learn, and the university became renowned for its work in the humanities and social sciences as well as for its pioneering Chinese studies program. Stuart dreamed that the university would play a leading role in shaping the modern Chinese nation – and that one day, a revived China would take its place “among the materially and morally powerful nations of the world.” Stuart supported the cause of Chinese nationalism, and was even imprisoned by the Japanese army during the Second World War for his role in encouraging resistance to Japan.

When I was asked to prepare a presentation on Stuart, I had come across his name before, but I was unfamiliar with his life and work. Researching his career was therefore a learning experience for me as well. As I read about Stuart’s aspirations and achievements, I was struck by the similarities between his vision and the kind of school we hope Xiwai will become. Stuart wrestled with the same fundamental questions that we face today: What is our role as teachers? Where does our sense of identity come from? Can one have a strong attachment to one’s particular culture and heritage, but also cultivate a global outlook? Is there such a thing as “global citizenship,” and if so, what does it entail?

Stuart, of course, confronted these issues at a time of profound national, cultural, and intellectual crisis – not just in China, but throughout the world. His answer to these questions was Yanjing University. There, he created a learning environment steeped in classical Chinese culture, but embracing powerful ideas and practices from around the world (including China itself). (Ironically, it was the American Stuart who insisted that the university be designed in the traditional Chinese style; his Chinese colleagues preferred a more Western aesthetic.) Stuart believed that a modern society must have a strong sense of its own roots if it is to engage with the rest of the world openly and confidently. He also believed that when different cultures meet, interact, and dialogue with each other on the basis of mutual respect, enormous achievements are possible. These are the same beliefs that underpin our philosophy of education at Xiwai.

John Leighton Stuart worked heroically in pursuit of his dream, and it is fitting that his service to the Chinese nation in particular, and to the cause of education in general, has at last been recognized. We do not often think of our work in such terms, but as international educators today, we are following in the footsteps of Stuart and others like him from around the world who devoted their lives to the progress of global education. I encourage all Xiwai teachers, Chinese and foreign, to learn more about this remarkable individual, his career, and his thought. In the story of his life, there are valuable lessons for us all.