Tongcheng School Exhibition Hall

Tongcheng School Exhibition Hall

The Tongcheng School Exhibition Hall is located in "Gaochun Jixuan" on Gongyuan Road. The museum takes the rise and fall of the Tongcheng School—the largest prose school of the Qing Dynasty—as its main thread, arranging content chronologically based on the mentorship relationships of key representative writers. It presents information horizontally through thematic blocks such as the historical background, literary exchanges, and academic contributions of these writers, integrating cultural relics, historical remains, published works, and academic research. With rich content, distinctive features, and accessible depth, it combines academic rigor, knowledge, and accessibility. The museum serves to inherit the finest traditions of national culture, promote Tongcheng culture, and build a modern literary hub. It is a window into understanding Tongcheng, learning about the Tongcheng School, and studying ancient literary history, attracting scholars and experts from around the world.

Tongcheng was known as the Tongzi Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn period. The county system was established in the early Tang Deshi era. The ancient county name originated in the Song Dynasty, rose to prominence in the Ming Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty, particularly renowned for the classical prose of the "Tongcheng School." The saying "Are not all the world’s great writings from Tongcheng?" was a praise for Tongcheng literature during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era. The Tongcheng School boasts over 1,200 writers, more than 2,000 works, and hundreds of millions of words of materials—these figures represent the cultural achievements created by the Tongcheng prose school that emerged over 200 years ago.

The Tongcheng School, also known as the Tongcheng Literary School, is alternatively called the Tongcheng Classical Prose School or the Tongcheng Prose School. Its main representatives—Dai Mingshi, Fang Bao, Liu Dakui, and Yao Nai—were all from Tongcheng, Anhui, during the Qing Dynasty, hence the name. The Tongcheng Literary School was the largest prose school of the Qing Dynasty’s literary scene, remarkable for its large number of writers, wide geographical influence, and long-lasting impact, which is rare in the history of literature.

The formative period was during the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns of the Qing Dynasty, with key figures including Dai Mingshi, Fang Bao, and Liu Dakui. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, Tongcheng saw a rise in scholarly pursuits, with “those capable of wielding the brush to write classical prose having successors in every generation.” In the late Ming and early Qing periods, figures such as Fang Yizhi and Qian Chengzhi were dedicated to reviving classical prose, laying the groundwork for the Tongcheng School.

Dai Mingshi was a pivotal figure in the development of the Tongcheng School, proposing the ideas of "writing with substance" and "establishing sincerity in rhetoric," effectively pioneering the Tongcheng School’s theory of literary principles. In 1644, when the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, to consolidate its rule, it promoted Confucian Neo-Confucianism and used both soft and hard methods to bring intellectuals into line. The classical prose school led by Fang Bao emerged in response. Fang Bao was described as “one whose learning and conduct follow Cheng and Zhu, and whose writing stands between Han and Ouyang” (from Wang Zhaofu’s Preface to Collected Works of Mr. Fang Wangxi). Later, in his essays “Reading Eight Books of Records of the Grand Historian” and “After Reading Ten Tables of Records of the Grand Historian,” he introduced the concept of “principle and method.” After being acquitted in the Nan Shan Ji case, his theory of “principle and method” became clearer and more complete. In 1733, Fang Bao compiled Selected Classical Prose, providing a model for the “principle and method” theory, which thereafter gained significant attention. Fang Bao taught students for decades, becoming a central figure in promoting the Tongcheng classical prose movement. His notable students included Ye You from the county, Zhang Xinnong, Lei Xuan from Ninghua, Wu Jiang, Wang Youpu from Tianjin, Shen Tingfang from Renhe, Wang Zhaofu from Daxing, and Cheng Jian from She County. Liu Dakui, mainly active during the Qianlong era, built upon Fang Bao’s “principle and method” theory and introduced the concept of “spirit and vitality.” His most famous disciples included Yao Nai, Wang Zhuo from Tongcheng, Wu Ding from She County, Cheng Jinfang, and Qian Lusi from Changzhou. Other disciples such as Lu Bunsun, Lu Shaoren, Dong Gucheng, Dong Sicheng, Zhang Qi, Dong Shixi from Wujin, Xie Shiyuan, Tang Chunfan, Qin Xiaoxian from Wuxi, Wang Shaowen from Shanyin, and Dai Xi from Qiantang numbered in the dozens, forming the “Yanghu School”—effectively a branch of the early Tongcheng School.

Academic research on the Tongcheng School is extensive, but the Tongcheng School Exhibition Hall offers the best window into it all.