Former Site of Jindong Academy

Former Site of Jindong Academy

The former site of Jindong Academy is a cultural relic protection unit of Tianjin Municipality.

The former site of Jindong Academy is located at No. 48 Dongda Street, Gegu Town, Jinnan District, Tianjin City, dating back to the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1874).

Jindong Academy is located in the ancient town of Gegu, Jinnan District, Tianjin, and is one of the eight major academies in Tianjin. Historical records indicate that the early Gegu area began land reclamation in the 29th year of the Wanli reign in the Ming Dynasty (1601). After years of development, it gradually became a well-known land of fish and rice. Due to its proximity to the seaport, where ships docked, it grew into a bustling hub of water and land transport and a prosperous market town. In the 3rd year of the Guangxu reign (1877), local gentry from Gegu, including Su Shanheng, Zhao Renbi, and Guo Yanpei, initiated the establishment of Jindong Academy within the Wenchang Pavilion. The project received support from Li Hongzhang, a leading figure of the Westernization Movement and Viceroy of Zhili, who not only approved the establishment but also personally inscribed the academy’s plaque. The academy occupied three temples—the Wenchang Pavilion, the Medicine King Temple, and the Buddha Temple—covering a total area of about 1,500 square meters. It enrolled around seventy to eighty students, mostly from affluent families. The teaching staff consisted of about a dozen scholars with official degrees, and the funding was drawn monthly from the public granary funds of the town, with an allocation of 700 taels of silver.

After the 1911 Revolution, the academy was taken over by Tianjin County and renamed Gegu Town Government Second-Class School. In 1927, it was renamed Government Primary School of Gegu Town, Tianjin County. Until December 1948, when Gegu Town was liberated, the then-renamed “Private Jindong Middle School” was taken over by the People’s Government and renamed “Government Middle School of Gegu Town, Tianjin County.” In the autumn of 1979, it was renamed “Tianjin Gegu No. 1 Middle School.” In August 2000, it merged with the former Gegu No. 2 Middle School and relocated to a new campus.

The current Gegu Tianhou Palace, before its reconstruction, was the site of Gegu No. 1 Primary School—that is, the former site of Jindong Academy. A stone stele recording the history of Jindong Academy is preserved inside the palace. The stele is rectangular, measuring 166 cm in length, 63 cm in width, and 18 cm in thickness.

On January 5, 2013, the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government designated it as part of the fourth batch of Tianjin Cultural Relic Protection Units.

Gegu Town: Gegu Town in Jinnan District, Tianjin, is historically one of the “Eight Great Ancient Towns” of North China. Located at the tail end of the Haihe River, where the river curves beautifully toward the east, historic Gegu was a water town, with water stretching as far as the eye could see. Surrounded by lakes, harbors, pits, and ponds scattered all around, and crisscrossed by rivers, ditches, canals, and pools, these waterways divided the ancient town into several island-like areas connected by nine bridges. Peach and willow trees lined the banks, with miles of peach blossoms and birds chirping. Boats floated gently, and bridges appeared and disappeared among the trees, resembling a “water town in the south of the Yangtze.” Gegu Town was developed as early as the Song Dynasty, and during the Yuan Dynasty,… More on Gegu Town++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Tianjin Cultural Relic Protection Units