Stuart And Yenching University Student Movement

In the middle of the 20th century, Stuart John Leighton, who was once a missionary, president of university and ambassador in China, had made a great impact on Chinese religion, education, politics and so on. Stuart's influence greatly exceeded any other contemporary foreigner in China. The thesis only discusses one aspect of his important effect on the student movement in China. On the one hand, it reveals the outstanding performance of Yenching University's students among many student movements influenced and supported by Stuart; on the other hand, it uncovers Stuart's attitude to the student movement during each historical period. The thesis consists of four sections.Section I states Stuart and Yenching University's supporting attitude to the student movement in the 1920s. By stating the action of Yenching University's students in May Fourth Movement, May Thirtieth Movement, March Eighteenth Event and so on, the writer expounds that Stuart had shown supporting attitude to the student movement since he began to take office as president of university.Section II deals with Stuart and the non-Christianism movement. In face of the fierce non-christianism movement, Stuart positively made a series of reformations which conformed to historical tidal current.Section III discusses Stuart and the student movement on resisting Japan. It was because of Stuart's support that Yenching University's students became the main force of the student movement on resisting Japan, and Yenching University became the headstream of December Ninth Movement. In this section, the writer not only disscusses Stuart and Yenching University student' s action in each phase of student movement on resisting Japan but also clarifies the headspring of Stuart's thought on resisting Japan .Section IV analyzes Stuart and the student movement during the Liberation War. During this period, Yenching University's students inherited the eximious tradition of anti-imperialism and patriotism in thel920s and 1930s and were still the vanguard ofthe student movement. While their worshipful and admirable president—Stuart, as an American ambassador in China, had greatly changed his attitude to the student movement with the variation of his status. At the final part of this section, the writer analyzes the reasons for his changing attitude in detail.