Modern Architecture of St. John's University

When talking about higher education in Shanghai, St. John's University, one of the earliest universities established in China, is impossible to overlook. Its former site is at 1575 Wanhangdu Road, Shanghai, now the Changning Campus of East China University of Political Science and Law. On 7 October 2019, it was listed in the eighth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

St. John's University was founded in 1879, originally as St. John's College, and was upgraded to St. John's University in 1905. It was China’s first institution of higher learning in the modern sense. The campus buildings, blending Chinese and Western styles, left a vivid mark on the history of modern Chinese architecture.
In 1952, during the nationwide restructuring of China’s higher education institutions and departments, St. John's University was dissolved and incorporated into several universities in Shanghai. The campus was transferred to East China College of Political Science and Law, now the Changning Campus of East China University of Political Science and Law.
As one of China’s earliest university campuses, this site carries not only the cultural depth of a century-old institution, but also bears witness to the development of modern higher education. It was home to China’s first school building for the teaching of natural sciences, its first modern university gymnasium, and more. It nurtured countless leading minds: the writer Lin Yutang, the architect I. M. Pei, and the journalist and publisher Zou Taofen all spent their formative years here, immersed in learning. It also bears the historical imprint of legal education. In Siyan Hall, Sun Yat-sen’s powerful call to save the nation from a century ago seems still to echo; the site also nurtured the origins of China’s century-long Olympic dream.
As the grand sweep of history slowly draws together, this century-old campus has found fresh vitality and become part of city life. Since August 2019, the Suzhou Creek walkway along the East China University of Political Science and Law section has been widened, bringing natural scenery together with historic buildings and creating the new landscape of the “Eighteen Views of Suhe ECUPL”. What was once an inner garden has truly become a shared urban “back garden”.