Guixi Xiangshan Academy

Guixi Xiangshan Academy

Guixi is the birthplace of "Xiangshan Jingshe," one of the four great academies of the Southern Song Dynasty. The Xiangshan Academy was first established in the 14th year of the Chunxi era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1187 AD), and was then called "Xiangshan Jingshe." The Yingtian Mountain in Guixi features "lofty ridges and deep valleys, lush forests and clear springs." Lu Jiuyuan was delighted upon ascending it and thus built the Jingshe to reside there. Students also quietly built their own cottages nearby. In the mornings, they would beat the drum and "bow as they ascended to the lecture hall," teaching in a composed manner. Over the course of five years of lectures, more than a thousand students came to study. At that time, the already renowned Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi wrote to Lu Jiuyuan saying: "I hear that the efforts of clearing and carving at Xiangshan have steadily progressed, and the number of students coming to study is also very large. I regret not being able to visit once to witness the wonders and take in the scenery."

The Xiangshan Academy endured many trials and underwent several relocations. It was not until the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty that it was moved to the east of the county town and the academy was rebuilt. However, it was completely destroyed due to warfare. Nevertheless, its influence has always endured. It made outstanding contributions to the cultural development and talent cultivation of Guixi and even neighboring counties. During the Song and Ming dynasties, over two hundred scholars from Guixi passed the imperial examination and became jinshi. Between the Jiading and Chunxi eras of the Southern Song Dynasty, spanning forty-four years, eleven members of three generations of the Zheng Tianyou family from Guixi became jinshi. During the Ming Dynasty's Jiaqing era, there was the chancellor Xia Yan, who was praised as having "loyalty that pierced the sun and moon, and fame that overflowed the countryside." There was also Jiang Yichao, an upright and incorruptible examiner of the Yingtian Ritual Classics, who "did not take even a penny nor give even a penny." He was commended by Hai Rui as: "Magistrate Jiang is a role model for a hundred generations, worthy of the title across the world and through all time." Xu Jiusi and his son Xu Guiming were famous water conservancy experts during the Ming Dynasty's Jiajing era, known for benefiting the people and eliminating malpractices. Although Lu Jiuyuan’s philosophical thoughts (including his educational ideas) inevitably contained many idealistic elements due to historical limitations, his fearless spirit of declaring "the Six Classics are all annotations of me—why should I annotate the Six Classics?"; his opposition to "self-abandonment and self-deprecation," and emphasis on "self-reliance, self-respect, not following others’ footsteps or parroting others’ words" as a pioneering spirit; and his profound insight that "the words of past sages adapt to the times and follow reason" all have commendable aspects. Lu Jiuyuan attracted students with his vast knowledge and remarkable insight, making Xiangshan Academy one of the nation’s most famous academies of its time. The Qing scholar Quan Zuwang commented: "Yuelu, Bailudong, Lize, and the Lu family’s Xiangshan—all rose to prominence together, and the disciples of these four schools spread across the world."

Source: People's Government of Yingtan City