ABSTRACT
John Leighton Stuart lived in China for 50 years, during which time China experienced a period of profound changes. As a wealth of historical materials demonstrate, Stuart was deeply influenced by his family background in his decision to become a missionary in China, his establishment of Yenching University, and his assumption of the office of ambassador to China. During Stuart's Hampden-Sydney period the famous Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions reached its height. In summer 1902 Stuart graduated from Union Theological Seminary and became a fulltime worker for the church. Stuart had his first taste of defeat in church politics, which dealt a severe blow to the inexperienced Stuart. In 1907 Stuart ran Bible training classes in his own mission station for a taste of possible problems arising from mission education in China. Besides teaching at the Seminary, Stuart attended regularly the meetings of religious study groups or offered the Bible course at the nearby University of Nanking.
