Yenching University (simplified Chinese: 燕京大学; traditional Chinese: 燕京大學; pinyin: Yānjīng Dàxué) was a notable university in Beijing, China. It integrated three Christian colleges in the city in 1919. Yenching (Chinese: 燕京; pinyin: Yānjīng) is an alternative name of Beijing (Peking) - derived from its status as capital of Yan state, one of the seven Warring States from 5th century BC to 3rd century BC.
- Huiwen University (滙文大學) was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church (美以美會) in 1889. Her precursor was (崇內懷理書院) founded in 1870. Hiram Harrison Lowry was its principal.
- (華北協和女子大學). Its precursor (貝滿女塾) was founded in 1864
- (通州協和大學). Its precursor (公理會潞河書院) was founded by Congregational. Devello Z. Sheffield was the school's principal.
The University was originally founded under the name of Peking University. In its early years, it was in a chaotic situation, due to its financing by several different churches.
John Leighton Stuart was appointed as the principal of the university in January 1919 when he taught Greek language in Nanking Theological Seminary (金陵神學院), a seminary in Nanjing in China. Being short of capital at the beginning, he ran for fund raising worldwide and got handsome support from the estate of Charles Martin Hall an American and executive of Alcoa Aluminum. He bought royal gardens of Qing to build a scenic campus and employed gardeners from the Imperial gardens. In 1926 the campus was completed. Theology, Law and Medical were the main schools in the university, with Arts and Science studies.
Stuart attracted major Chinese and Western scholars to teach. Religion was not a qualification, although Stuart gave major support to the School of Theology. In 1928 the Harvard-Yenching Institute, was jointly founded by Yenching University and Harvard University for the education of humanity and social science in East Asia and Southeast Asia. This independent institute continues to exist on the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By 1930 the school was among the top universities in China, its teaching distinguished itself by a considerable academic freedom. During the Second Sino-Japanese War in World War II, Peking was occupied by Japan and the university was moved to Chengdu in Sichuan.
After the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, Yenching University with its Christian background was closed. Its arts and science faculties of Yenching was merged into Peking University, and its engineering section was merged with Tsinghua University, with Peking University obtained the Yenching campus. In 1952 Peking University moved from central downtown Beijing to the previous Yenching campus in the city's Haidian district.
References
Philip West, Yenching University and Sino-Western Relations, 1916-1952 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976).
Internet Links
Internet Mission Photography Archive (enter "Yenching University in Search Box) [1]
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