In the summer of 1876, Hangzhou welcomed a special baby named Situ Leiden, who carried an innate cross-cultural mission. During his fifty-year career in China, the American was both a missionary, the founder of the highly respected Yenching University, and a U.S. ambassador to China. His achievements in China were extraordinary, but they also caused fierce controversy, making him one of the most controversial foreigners in modern Chinese history.
Stuart Layden, whose full name is John Layden Stuart, is an American, but he is destined to be closely associated with China. His father, a missionary, brought him to Hangzhou, China. As a teenager, Stuart returned to the United States to complete his studies, and then returned to China with his wife to become missionaries for the American Church of Southern Governors. In 1919, he left Nanjing and went to Beijing to serve as president of Yenching University. Among the many undertakings in his life, Yenching University was the one he devoted the most effort to and the most successful.
The success of Yenching University is crucial to the development of higher education in China. Adhering to the principle of academic freedom, Stuart has recruited a diverse team of teachers, including foreign professors and teachers who adhere to traditional Chinese Confucianism, including first-class disciples, Catholics, and Buddhists. Bingxin, who taught at Yan University as a Xi teacher, described Stuart as a respectable parent in this big family.
Although from an objective point of view, Stuart has contributed to the improvement of Chinese students' international vision and humanistic accomplishments, and has cultivated a group of talents, his main goal has always been to promote the American political system in China. In 1946, Situ Leiden, who was over seventy years old, submitted his resignation to Yanda and became the "father of Yanda". He refused to cooperate with Japan during the Anti-Japanese War, and this experience won him a reputation from all walks of life in China.
Unexpectedly, however, under Marshall's persuasion, Stuart became the U.S. ambassador to China, mainly responsible for mediating peace talks. This transition from educator to ambassador came as a surprise. He promoted the American political system in China and became a symbolic figure in the US invasion of China. Situ Leiden targeted Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Chinese Kuomintang, and actively supported the ** reorganization, exposing the ambitions of the United States.
On August 5, 1949, Stuart and his entourage arrived at Pearl Harbor, the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The United States published "U.S.-China Relations: Focusing on the Period 1944-1949" with the intention of washing away the history of its policy toward China. However, through the article "Farewell, Stuart Leiden", it profoundly reveals the cover-up US aggressive policy and sharply satirizes Stuart's departure.
This article truly reflects the views of the Chinese people. They realized that although Situ Leiden regarded himself as a friend of the Chinese people, he had actually been carrying out the aggressive policy of the United States. Situ Leiden's image in Chinese history gradually collapsed, and he became a figure who betrayed his principles, supported unequal treaties, and actively supported the policy of supporting Japan.