学进去

There are many schools in ancient China. Today let’s see the four ancient academies (书院) of China.

·Yingtianfu Academy

Yingtianfu Academy in Shangqiu, Henan Province, also known as the Nanjing Guozijian, was built by Yang Que, who loved education and teaching.

Later, Fan Zhongyan came to study here, then settled down and served as a main teacher of this academy. In 1043, Song Renzong changed Yingtianfu Academy into Nanjing Guozijian, making it the highest academy in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Located at the foot of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha, Hunan Province. Yuelu Academy has been famous since it was set up in 976 A.D. in the Song Dynasty. The academy, experiencing the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, has seen a history of more than one thousand years without a break, so it is called the “one-thousand-year-old academy”.

Songyang Academy is at the foot of Songshan Mountain in Henan Province, which was built during the North Wei Dynasty over 1,500 years ago. It was called Songyang Temple at first.

After changing its names several times, it became Songyang Academy in 1035. Since then, it has become an education institution in ancient China. It was also one of the birthplaces of Neo-confucianism (理学) in the Song Dynasty.

Bailudong Academy, located at the southern foot of Wulao Peak, Jiangxi Province, is regarded by some people as “the best academy” in China. It was built in 940 A.D. as the first comprehensive (综合的) academy in history.

Zhu Xi, a Confucian scholar in the Song Dynasty, rebuilt the academy to personally teach and set the rules and purposes. Later, the rules of Bailudong Academy have influenced the school-running model for centuries. They have now spread to Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and other areas.