St. John’s University was
established by American Anglican Church in September 1879 and ended in September
1952. With its 73 years of history, it was one of the church universities with
the longest history in China.
Bishop Samuel
Schereschewsky
On April 14, 1879,
Bishop Samuel Schereschewsky of American Anglican Church
Shanghai laid the foundation for St.
John’s School,
which started to operate on September 1 of the same year. In 1881, Yan Yongjing
took charge of teaching affairs. In
1886, clergyman F. L. Hawks Pott of American Anglican Church came to the
school for teaching and later acted as president. He stayed at the school for
52 years and contributed considerably to the development of St. John’s.
F. L.
Hawks Pott
In 1896, St. John’s School
underwent a reform and in 1905 it became a full university registered at District of Columbia, the U.S.A. From then on, the degrees
granted by the four school of the University ---- Arts, Science, Medicine and
Theology ---- would be recognized by various university in the U.S. and St.
John’s became a renowned higher learning institution in China.
In 1925, the Chinese government required all the schools set by foreigners
be registered in China.
At first, both American Anglican Church and St. John’s
University refused the request.
Till 1947, the Trustee of the University applied for registration and got
approval.
The teaching
style of St. John’s
was unique and it was mainly represented in the teaching of English, religion
and sports.
St. John’s University was the first to use English as its teaching
language. Early in 1881, the university established the Department of English.
Its intensive training helped its students to have the best English level among
all universities in China,
which granted its graduates much advantage in employment.
Religion played
an important role in its education. Particularly in its early days, religions
education was compulsory. This tradition gradually diminished only after
anti-Japanese war.
This University
adopted western education style and sports on an important part of its
education which became its another characteristic placed. The university had
complete sports facilities. Its sports activities included track and field,
soccer, basketball, badminton, etc. Its sports level kept ahead in china .
China’s first soccer
team was also born in this university.
The initiators
of St. John’s tried to
promote the separation between politics and education. However, the clergymen
could not truly enforce its motto. In the May 4th movement of 1919,
students rushed out of the campus. After the May 30th Massacre in
1925, students and the university authorities had serious conflicts for
students’ strike. In
order to prevent students from taking part in anti-imperialism activities, the
university declared the suspension of teaching. 17 teachers including Meng
Xiancheng and 553 students left the university to form Guanghua University
(presently known as Donghua University at Yan’an Road (W)) in August of the
same year.
Science Building
Mann Hall
The expense of
St. John’s mainly came
from tuition, church subsidy and social contributions, which created favorable
material foundation for the infrastructure of the university, the acquirement
of teaching facilities and the employment of teaching staff. Most of its
architecture was constructed in the late 19th century and the 1920s
to 1930s. The most famous of them include Schereschewsky Hall in 1894, Yen Hall
in 1904, Mann Hall and the sports field in 1908. Later, Low Library, Science
Building and Social Hall were gradually established. The architecture was an
excellent combination of western and Chinese style.
St. John’s also paid specially attention to the influence of
extra-curriculum activities on talent cultivation. In 1890, the students
published “the St. John’s Echo” and initiated the tradition of
students-published periodicals in higher learning institutions. There were
numerous students’ societies and rich activities. The university regularly held
drama performance and speech contests in both English and Chinese, which helped
to cultivate the comprehensive ability of the students.
With the
eruption of anti-Japanese war on August 13, 1937, the university moved to
Continental Mercantile Co. at Nanjing Road in the International Settlement to
avoid being affected by the war. Later, the four universities, including St.
John’s, Shanghai
University, Soo Chow University and Hangchow Christian College, formed Shanghai
United Christian University. In 1940, St. John’s moved back to its original address.
As China was in
the depth of anti-Japanese war, the University lost contact with the outside
and its expense was mainly from tuition and the contribution of alumni
association.
The alumni
association of St. John’s, established on January 20, 1900, was the solid
backup force of the university. Many of its early members were in important
positions in politics, economy, medicine, industry and commerce, e.g. Gu
Weijun, Yan Huiqing, Wang Zhengyan, Song Ziwen, Song Ziliang, Song Zian, Zhou
Yichun, Liu Hongsheng, Yan Fuqing, Chen Hang, Niu Huilin, Niu Huisheng, Rong
Yiren … Some of them had been elected into the Trustee of the university. After
the ending of St. John’s, the schoolfellows of the university at home and
abroad still kept in touch.
In 1941, Sheng
Siliang became the first Chinese president of the university.
After the
founding of new China, in December 1952, the university became completely
independent of American Anglican Church.
In September 1952, the Ministry of Education decided to restructure the
departments and faculties of higher learning institutions in China. The
departments and faculties of St. John’s
were merged into relevant universities and the campus was put under the
authority of East China University of Politics and Law. St. John’s
University thus ended its
73 years of history.
