St. John's University, Shanghai
聖約翰大學 | |
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Motto |
學而不思則罔 思而不學則殆 |
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Motto in English | Light and Truth |
Type | Private university |
Active | 1879–1952 |
Affiliation | Anglican |
President | Francis Lister Hawks Pott |
Location | Shanghai, China |
Website |
www |
St. John's University, Shanghai | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 聖約翰大學 | ||||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 圣约翰大学 | ||||||||||
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![](../I/m/St_Johns_College_Shanghai.jpg)
St. John's University (SJU) was an Anglican university in Shanghai. Founded in 1879 by American missionaries, it was one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China, often regarded as the Harvard of China.[1]
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Communist government closed the university in 1952, most of its faculty members, students and library collections were transferred to the East China Normal University. Its Board of Governors moved the university to Hong Kong, founding Chung Chi College, a part of Chinese University of Hong Kong.
History
Foundation as St. John's College
The university was founded in 1879 as "St. John's College" by William Jones Boone and Joseph Schereschewsky, Bishop of Shanghai, by combining two pre-existing Anglican colleges in Shanghai. The architect for the college's original quadrangle of buildings was Newark, New Jersey architect William Halsey Wood. The first president was Yen Yun-ching (Chinese: 顏永京, 1838-98).[2] During the early period of St. John's College, Lydia Mary Fay (1804-78), a missionary of the Protestant Episcopal China Mission (or the American Church Mission), helped to set up Duane Hall, a secondary school which later became part of St. John's College.[3]
St. John's began with 39 students and taught mainly in Chinese. In 1891, it changed to teaching with English as the main language. The courses began to focus on science and natural philosophy.
St. John's University
In 1905, St. John's College became St. John's University and became registered in Washington D.C. in the United States. It thus had the status of a domestic university and American graduates of St. John's could proceed directly to graduate schools in the United States. As a result, the university attracted some of the brightest and wealthiest students in Shanghai at the time. It was the first institution to grant bachelor's degrees in China, starting in 1907.
The university was located at 188 Jessfield Road (now Wanhangdu Lu), on a bend of the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai and was designed to incorporate Chinese and Western architectural elements.
In 1925, some academics and students fled from the St. John's University, later forming the Kwang Hua University. In 1951, Kwang Hua University was incorporated into East China Normal University.
Chinese Civil War and disestablishment
The university survived World War II and the Chinese Civil War. However, in 1952 the Communist government adopted a policy of creating specialist universities in the Soviet style of the time. Under this policy, St John's was broken up. Most of its faculties were incorporated into the East China Normal University. The medical school was incorporated into Shanghai Second Medical College, which became the School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2005. The campus became the site of the East China University of Politics and Law.
Notable alumni
- Raymond Chow, filmmaker.
- Thomas Dao (1921–2009), physician who developed breast cancer treatment alternatives.[4]
- Chung Sze Yuen, senior Hong Kong politician.
- Francis Hsu, former Catholic bishop of Hong Kong.
- Wellington Koo, diplomat, former president of the Republic of China, foreign minister, former judge and vice-president of the International Court of Justice.
- Jiang Shaoji, a famous internist and gastroenterologist in China.
- Jing Shuping, (graduated 1939) businessman, founder of Minsheng Bank, China's first privately owned bank.[5]
- Lin Yutang, writer.
- Liu Yichang, writer.
- Lu Ping, Chinese politician in charge of the handover of Hong Kong and Macau.
- I.M. Pei, architect (attended the University high school).
- Meng Xiancheng, educator, the first president of East China Normal University.
- Qian Liren, Chinese politician and diplomat
- Shi Jiuyong, jurist, former President of the International Court of Justice.
- T. V. Soong, politician, brother to the Soong sisters, Premier of the Republic of China.
- K. H. Ting, Anglican bishop and former national leader of Protestants in the People's Republic of China.
- Wang Chui Reng, Chinese diplomat and ambassador; senior news official
- Vivian Shun-wen Wu, businesswoman
- Yen Chia-kan, politician, former Vice President and President of the Republic of China.
- Rong Yiren, "Red Capitalist", the founder of CITIC Group, and Vice President of the People's Republic of China.
- Zhang Boling founder of Nankai University and the Nankai system of schools.
- Zhou Youguang, linguist.
- Zhu Qizhen, former Vice Foreign Minister, Chinese Ambassador to the USA and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Peoples Congress of China
- Cheng Youshu, diplomat and poet
- Chen Chi-lu, Minister of Council of Cultural Affairs of the Republic of China (1981-1988)
- Liu Hongsheng, prominent industrialist, known as the "King of Matches"
Administration
- Francis Lister Hawks Pott, President of St. John's College 1888 to 1896, President of St. John's University from 1896 to 1941
- William Z.L. (SiLiang) Sung was the Vice President of St. John's University under Francis Lister Hawks Pott and later the first Chinese born Acting president during WWII. He was accused of collaboration with the Japanese after the war, imprisoned, and later acquitted. He was helped lead the first two delegations from China to the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. He emigrated to the US and became a priest in the Episcopal church working as a Chaplin with the Diocese of California. Also an undergraduate Alumni.
- William Payne Roberts, instructor and acting president in the absence of Pott (needs verification)
- David Z.T. Yin, Rector of the University, was a distinguished Chinese scholar who had represented the YMCA in Shanghai at the turn of the century.
Other colleges established by alumni for commemorating SJU
To keep the school's traditions alive, SJU alumni (called Johanneans) founded three academic institutions around the world bearing the name of St. John's:
- In Taiwan, St. John's University was established in 1967,
- In Vancouver, St. John's College at the University of British Columbia was established in 1997,[1]
- In Shanghai, St. John's College at the East China Normal University will open its door in 2016.[6]
See also
References
Citations
- 1 2 Yang Wu. "Founding of SJC". University of British Columbia. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
- ↑ 1947-, Wickeri, Philip L. (Philip Lauri), (2015). Christian Encounters with Chinese Culture : Essays on Anglican and Episcopal History in China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, HKU. ISBN 9789888313259. OCLC 911961991.
- ↑ Wickeri, Philip (2017-02-02). Strong, Rowan, ed. "Anglicanism in China and East Asia, 1819–1912". The Oxford History of Anglicanism, Volume III. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199699704.001.0001.
- ↑ Hevesi, Dennis. "Dr. Thomas Dao, Expert on Treatment of Breast Cancer, Dies at 88", The New York Times, July 25, 2009. Accessed July 26, 2009.
- ↑ "Founder of China's private Minsheng Bank dies". Reuters. 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ↑ Newsletter, SJUAA
Further reading
- Seeds From The West : St John's Medical School, Shanghai, 1880-1952. Chen, Kaiyi; Imprint Publications, Chicago, 2001. ISBN 1879176386