Yuelu academy, Changsha
Editor:Sharon Lee
Source:rednet.cn
Updated: 2007-8-24 15:13:36
As one of the four most prestigious academies over the last 1000 years in China, Yuelu Academy has been a famous institution of higher learning as well as a centre of academic activities and cultures since it was formally set up in the ninth year of the Kai Bao Reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (976). Yuelu Academy, surviving the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, was converted into Hunan Institute of Higher Learning in 1903, and Hunan Normal College, Hunan Public Polytechnic School in succession, and was finally named Hunan University in 1926. The Academy has witnessed a history of more than one thousand years without a break, so it is called a ¡°one-thousand-year-old academy¡±. The historical transformation from Yuelu Academy to Hunan University is an epitome of the development of China¡¯s higher education, which mirrors the vicissitudes of China¡¯s education system.
The history of the academy
As one of the four most prestigious academies over the last 1000 years in China, Yuelu Academy has been a famous institution of higher learning as well as a centre of academic activities and cultures since it was formally set up in the ninth year of the Kai Bao Reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (976). Yuelu Academy, surviving the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, was converted into Hunan Institute of Higher Learning in 1903, and Hunan Normal College, Hunan Public Polytechnic School in succession, and was finally named Hunan University in 1926. The Academy has witnessed a history of more than one thousand years without a break, so it is called a ¡°one-thousand-year-old academy¡±. The historical transformation from Yuelu Academy to Hunan University is an epitome of the development of China¡¯s higher education, which mirrors the vicissitudes of China¡¯s education system.
Shortly after its establishment, Yuelu Academy was known throughout the whole of China for its style of school management and its role in the dissemination of academic learning. When Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty summoned the dean, Zhou Shi, to an interview, and conferred upon the Academy his Majesty¡¯s inscription, Yuelu Academy vaulted into great fame, and enjoyed the reputation ¡°xiao xiang zhu si¡±, meaning it was a place in Hunan where great scholars assembled. It is right here that the renowned ¡°Huxiang School of Learning¡± in the history of the li philosophy (the philosophy of principle) began to gain currency when Zhang Shi lectured in the Academy in the Northern Song Dynasty. And when Zhu Xi came here twice to give lectures, so popular were the lectures that ? there were too many visitors for the Academy to seat, and the water in the Yinma Pond (the Horse-Watering Pond) was drained by their horses. Later on, the Academy saw other learning and ideas promulgated and exchanged such as the Yangming School in the midst of the Ming Dynasty, the Donglin School in the last years of the Ming dynasty, the Han School of the Qian Long and the Jia Qing Reigns (1736-1821) and the New Learning of the last years of the Qing Dynasty. The academic learning and education system of Yuelu Academy have had a far-reaching impact on the formation and development of Hunan¡¯s cultural tradition.
Today, Hunan University has grown into a comprehensive university with a balanced development of various disciplines. It focuses on engineering subjects, but also has a solid foundation in science subjects. Its liberal arts are grounded in a unique culture, and the economics courses have characteristics of their own, too. Yuelu Academy, which has undergone restorations, has been listed as a key historical site under the state protection. It still shoulders the responsibility of conducting academic researches and training professionals. A new chapter of the history of the one-thousand-year-old academy is being written.
(the main gate)
The gate was formerly built at the time of the Song Dynasty, and was then called ¡° Central Gate¡± because in southern China there were lots of stone torii. The present structure was renovated in the 7th year of Tongzhi Reign of Qing Dynasty (1868), adopting the structure of a General Gate of southern China. Before the gate are 12 steps which lead up to the gate and the five rooms around it. There are flush gable roof on the top and a stepped gable wall in the yard. In the front of the gate stand a couple of quadrate columns with white walls, black tiles and eave tiles, and drawings of dragons flying around the Taiji together with cloud patterns drawn on the beams. The whole Gate is impressive. The words ¡°Yuelu Academy¡± on the horizontal board were inscriptions of Zhenzong, an Emperor of the Song Dynasty. It was said in the 8th year of Xiangfu Reign, Northern Song Dynasty (1015), Zhenzong learnt the education reputation of Yuelu Academy and the virtue of the master, Zhou Shi, so he summoned Zhou Shi to the capital to an interview and gave him the title Master of the Imperial College in the hope that he would stay in the capital to give lectures. However, Zhou Shi longed for his Yuelu Academy and insisted on going back to the Academy. So, the emperor awarded his Majesty¡¯s own handwriting ¡°Yuelu Academy¡± to hang on the top of the Main Gate and meanwhile presented him with some other classics to take back to the Academy. From then on, Yuelu Academy became well known all around the country and students came to study in an endless stream. Yuelu Academy became one of the four famous Academies in the Northern Song Dynasty. Now on the door posts of the gate are couplets which read ¡° The Kingdom of Chu, unique home of talents, The Academy of Yuelu, where they are more abundant than any where else.¡± The first line of the couplet is from ¡°the 26th year of Xianggong, Zuo Zhuan¡±, and the second line is from ¡°Taibo of the Confucian Analects¡±. This couplet originates from Chinese classics and it is very appropriate given the fact that talents have been brought up continuously by the Academy since its establishment.
From:http://dm.hnu.cn
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