Huazhou Academy

Huazhou Academy

Huazhou Academy is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

When mentioning Huazhou Academy, perhaps not many people know about it, as after all, it is not as renowned as the Four Great Academies of ancient China — the Songyang Academy, the White Deer Grotto Academy, the Yuelu Academy, and the Yingtianfu Academy. But if you mention Fan Zhongyan’s “Memorial to Yueyang Tower,” then people will definitely be familiar with it. Although Huazhou Academy may not be as prestigious as the Four Great Academies, it was also a highly influential institution of higher learning in ancient China.

Founding of the Academy

Huazhou Academy was first built during the Qingli era of the Song Dynasty. Fan Zhongyan, a renowned statesman, military strategist, litterateur, educator, and philosopher of the Northern Song Dynasty, established the academy’s lecture hall — the Chunfeng Hall, a library tower, study rooms, and created the Baihuazhou (Hundred Flowers Islet) on the east side of the academy while renovating the Lanxiu Pavilion and constructing the Chunfeng Pavilion. The academy was named after Baihuazhou. In 1045 AD, Fan Zhongyan was demoted and appointed as the prefect of Dengzhou. Worried about the lack of academic vigor, he found the area around Baihuazhou to be peaceful and picturesque — an ideal place for scholarly pursuits. Thus, amid his busy schedule, he planned and founded Huazhou Academy. Moreover, he would lecture at the academy in his spare time. For a time, the literary atmosphere in Dengzhou flourished significantly. Fan Zhongyan’s son, Fan Chunren, who later became a Grand Academician of the Guanwen Hall, as well as Zhang Zai, who served as an editor at the Chongwen Institute, and Han Wei, who once served as the prefect of Dengzhou, all “studied under Fan Zhongyan at Huazhou Academy.” In 1067, during the fourth year of the Zhiping era of the Northern Song Dynasty, the famous litterateur and calligrapher Huang Tingjian served as the magistrate of Ye County. He visited Huazhou Academy to pay homage to the relics of Lord Fan and wrote a poem: “Lord Fan planted bamboos by the pavilion by the water, and I, a wandering traveler, arrived like a shooting star. The divine spirit should not vanish here; the grass and trees remain green even after a hundred years.” (from “Annotations on Huangshan’s Poems · Miscellaneous Inscriptions on Baihuazhou”)

Huazhou Academy is the birthplace of the “Memorial to Yueyang Tower.” Just a short distance southeast from the urban area of Dengzhou City, Henan Province, you will find a garden-style architectural complex shaded by bamboo and cypresses, with pavilions scattered throughout — this is Huazhou Academy, built by Fan Zhongyan when he governed Dengzhou.

Fan Zhongyan was originally from Wuxian, Jiangsu. In 1044 (the fourth year of the Qingli era), due to the failure of the “Qingli Reforms” that he championed, and filled with sorrow and indignation, he petitioned the emperor and volunteered to govern Dengzhou. The following year, he arrived in Dengzhou in the capacity of a Court Gentleman for Consultation and Academician of the Zizheng Hall.

With the wisdom and ability befitting a high-ranking chancellor, Fan Zhongyan made remarkable achievements in governing Dengzhou. He emphasized moral education over harsh punishment, abolished excessive taxes, and promoted agriculture and sericulture. A year later, the imperial court ordered Zhongyan to relocate and govern Jingzhou. However, the people of Dengzhou, deeply moved by his benevolence, knelt along the road for miles to plead for him to stay. Touched by their sentiments, Zhongyan could not bear to leave and petitioned the emperor, requesting permission to remain in Dengzhou — to which the emperor eventually consented.

In his spare time, Fan Zhongyan often enjoyed wine, admired the scenery, lectured, or socialized with friends. “Returning along the Qili River with the moon overhead, I let out a whistle on Baihuazhou as the wind rose.”

“The host sings loudly, the guests drink deep, and we forget to leave Baihuazhou all night.” In the company of friends, Fan Zhongyan shed his usual stern demeanor — sometimes beating drums and singing, sometimes howling into the wind — quite unrestrained. At the same time, he built an academy beside Baihuazhou, where he often taught the classics, passing on knowledge and resolving doubts for many students. In the academy, the lecturers spoke with eloquence, and the listeners were enlightened — this academy is today’s Huazhou Academy.

Among those demoted along with Fan Zhongyan was his close friend Teng Zijing. After Teng was demoted to Yuezhou, he renovated the famed southern tower — the Yueyang Tower. Upon the new tower’s completion, Teng sent a special envoy across great distances to write to Fan Zhongyan, earnestly requesting him to compose a memorial for the Yueyang Tower. Upon receiving the letter, Fan Zhongyan did not decline and began carefully studying the texts and images of the Yueyang Tower, pondering deeply and refining his draft.

On the fifteenth day of the ninth month in 1046 (the sixth year of the Qingli era), Fan Zhongyan sat before the Chunfeng Hall of Huazhou Academy and penned the “Memorial to Yueyang Tower.” And because of Fan Zhongyan, and because of the “Memorial to Yueyang Tower,” Huazhou Academy has since become a cultural sanctuary revered and admired by scholars and literati from all over the world.

Since Fan Zhongyan’s time, Huazhou Academy has been destroyed by wars multiple times, yet has also undergone numerous renovations. Additionally, due to its beautiful scenery, it ranks first among the Eight Scenic Spots of Dengzhou, known as “Huazhou Rainfall.” The academy houses the Chunfeng Hall, the birthplace of the “Memorial to Yueyang Tower,” the Lanxiu Pavilion standing above the autumn waters, the uniquely small and exquisitely designed Pan Pond and Zhuangyuan Bridge — the only ones of their kind in the nation — as well as the Memorial Temple of Fan Wen Zheng Gong, which enshrines a statue of Lord Fan. Walking into the academy, one sees pavilions and towers arranged in picturesque disorder, with hills, lakes, islets, and woods complementing each other — all buildings designed in the style of Jiangnan gardens. Outside the academy, on the city wall, ancient cypresses stand densely, with the Chunfeng Pavilion and Wenchang Pavilion nestled among them. In front of the academy’s main gate, a bridge spans the city moat, its arches lying gracefully across the waves, while water murmurs gently beneath — further enhancing the refined beauty of this thousand-year-old academy.

On October 7, 2019, Huazhou Academy was included in the eighth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

Address: Renmin East Road, Dengzhou City, Nanyang, Henan Province

Type: Historic Site

Phone: 0377-62365586

Opening Hours:

8:00-17:30

Ticket: 30 RMB

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level