Huaiyu Academy

Huaiyu Academy

Huaiyu Academy is located at the eastern foot of Jingang Peak on Mount Huaiyu, facing Yuyao Peak, and is one of the ancient academies in Shangrao, Jiangxi. In the 15th year of the Chunxi era of the Song Dynasty (1188), Zhu Xi lectured in a thatched cottage and authored a volume titled *Lectures at Yushan*. Lu Jiuyuan, Lü Dalin, Wang Yingchen, Cheng Gong, and others also gave lectures here; Wang Anshi and Yang Yi left behind poems. Since then, Huaiyu Academy gained renown alongside the four great academies of the time. In the 36th year of the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty (1557), Wang Zongmu, the Vice Commissioner of Education of Jiangxi, visited the county to inspect education and converted Fahai Chan Temple into Huaiyu Academy, thus reviving its name. Throughout the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, numerous notable figures lectured here and left poetic inscriptions. In the 9th year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1581), when Zhang Juzheng was in power, he banned all academies across the country; in the 4th year of the Tianqi era (1624), the eunuch Wei Zhongxian further suppressed academies, leading to their complete takeover by monks. In the 7th year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1742), Huaiyu Academy was rebuilt and its farmland reclaimed. After renovations in the 3rd year of the Tongzhi era (1864) and the 16th year of the Guangxu era (1890), the academy covered a total area of over 10,000 square meters, reaching an unprecedented scale. In January 1935, the 24th year of the Republic of China, Kuomintang troops used the academy as barracks during their campaign against the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army led by Fang Zhimin, and later burned it down completely.

The ruins of Huaiyu Academy now lie where the Huaiyu Mountain Farm, supply and marketing cooperative, hospital, cultural station, and residences of Shijiazhuang villagers are located. It is said that beneath the ancient sweet storage tree to the south of the original site, cultural relics buried by monks during the suppression are hidden. Traces of the academy ruins can still be faintly discerned, the Pan Pond is silted up, the Pan Bridge has been filled in to become a road, and the remnants of the plaque inscribed with “Huaiyu Academy” in Zhu Xi’s handwriting—legendarily carved from black jade—are still preserved. Stone steles for the “Pan Bridge” and “Yishao Spring” remain intact. Behind the ruins of Fangrun Hall stands a pear tree planted by Zhu Xi himself, which was broken by a hurricane but sprouted a new branch from its roots, now grown to a circumference of one person’s embrace.