ABSTRACT
John Leighton Stuart was not the first to put forward the idea to develop Yenching into a Chinese institution. While developing the Chinese element of Yenching, Stuart never forgot to make the university an international institution. During the early years, Yenching did not have formal divisions of schools and programs due to the limited campus space. As one of the core departments of Yenching, the Department of Chinese Language and Literature was established in 1923. The Department of History was one of the oldest departments of Yenching. The Journalism Department of Yenching not only cultivated the earliest modern Chinese journalists, but also greatly enhanced the reputation of the university. The practices of the Sociology Department had received Stuart's unswerving support and encouragement. After inspecting the Yenching administration, the Ministry of Education concluded that the University had met the standards for first-rate Chinese universities in school buildings, equipment, academic supervision, and administration.
