Jinggong Villa

Jinggong Villa

Jinggong Villa

Jinggong Villa, also known as "Shijia Academy." According to the genealogy of Shangchi Village, in the sixth year of the Jiayou era of the Song Dynasty (1061), Wang Anshi set aside a piece of land behind Shangchi Village,

where he built a residence villa, which later generations called Wang Anshi’s Villa. This villa had two stories, three sections, three halls, and more than 20 rooms, and was later converted into the "Shijia Academy," managed and maintained by ten families. Students from both Shangchi and Yuanli villages attended school here, and over the generations, the academy nurtured many outstanding talents. The villa covered an area of more than 400 square meters, with a main gate on the right side of the outer wall inscribed with the characters “Villa.” In the middle was a pond, and on the wall directly opposite the center of the pond were the characters “Yuyun Pool” (Bath Clouds Pool). To the left was a bamboo grove, along with three large camphor trees and one plum tree. Further inside was an inner wall, with gates on the left and right, dividing the space into upper, middle, and lower sections. The central hall symmetrically featured two square courtyards, allowing ample sunlight and fresh air indoors. The upper hall had a latticed window on the left floor, facing Baiyebai (Hundred Leaves Pond), from which the moon could be seen on clear nights. Above the window was a wooden plaque inscribed with the three characters “Tingyue Lou” (Moon-Listening Tower). The tranquil and beautiful environment made it an ideal place for students of Shangchi to live and study. Wang Anshi often expressed his wish to spend his days here, bathing in Yuyun Pool and quietly listening to the celestial tales from the moon. Later, a private tutor composed a couplet: “The Moon-Listening Tower accompanies my books, timeless in beauty; the Yuyun Pool delights with flowers and birds, springlike in all seasons.” During the land reform period, Jinggong Villa was distributed among several villagers for use. Due to lack of maintenance, only ruins remain today.