Hengshan Wendeng Academy

Hengshan Wendeng Academy

Wendeng Academy, also known as the Temple of Lord Hu Wendeng, is located in Hengshan, Hunan. It currently houses the "Chunqiu Building" (i.e., the Science Building) of Yueyun Middle School. Lord Hu Wendeng refers to Hu Anguo (1074–1138), a Neo-Confucian scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, courtesy name Kanghou, posthumously honored with the title Wendeng. Originally from Chongan, Fujian, he later moved to Nanyue, Hunan. At the age of 17, he entered the Imperial Academy to study and was a private student of the Two Chengs (Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao). In the fourth year of Shaosheng during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song (1097), he passed the imperial examination and was soon appointed to oversee education in Hunan. Later, due to opposing the intentions of the powerful official Cai Jing, he was dismissed and returned to Fujian, where he secluded himself to study the Spring and Autumn Annals. In the third year of Shaoxing (1133), he came to Nanyue, purchased land under Ziyun Peak, and built a residence, naming it "Wendeng Academy." He stayed there for five years without leaving the mountain, during which he wrote the Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. Upon completing the book, he submitted it to the emperor, and Emperor Gaozong remarked that it deeply captured the essence of the sages. Hu Anguo specialized in the study of the Spring and Autumn Annals, advocating reverence for the king and disdain for hegemony, peace for the Xia (central states) and resistance against the Yi (barbarians), using classical texts to discuss politics, speaking bluntly and uprightly, with the goal of remedying the difficulties of the time and restoring the Central Plains. The scholarship on the Spring and Autumn Annals carried patriotic ideas that upheld national dignity and had a profound influence on the later Huxiang School. In the Ming Dynasty, his Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals was recommended as a representative work of orthodox Neo-Confucianism and designated as a textbook for the imperial examinations. In order to compile the Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, he worked tirelessly through all seasons, neglecting food and sleep, which led to increasingly severe illness. He passed away in the academy in 1138 at the age of 64 and was posthumously honored with the title Wendeng. His son, Hu Hong, formally named the place and expanded it by adding the Chunqiu Building to enshrine his father. He wrote and taught there for over 20 years, completing famous Neo-Confucian works such as Knowing Words and The Grand Annals of Emperors and Kings, while also inheriting and spreading his father’s teachings. Famous Southern Song scholars such as Zhang Shi, Zhao Tang, Xiang Yu, Zhao Shimeng, Wu Yi, and Biao Juzheng were all his students. Meanwhile, Hu Datong (Hu Hong’s youngest son), Zhong Haoyu, Zhao Fang, Xiao Gu, and others were students of Zhang Shi (who served as head of Yuelu Academy) at Yuelu Academy. Politically, they advocated resisting the Jin and opposed Qin Hui’s peace negotiations; academically, they promoted practical learning grounded in classics and opposed empty theorizing, forming the influential Huxiang School of the Southern Song period. Hu Hong was the founder of this school, and thus both Biquan Book Hall and Wendeng Academy are regarded as the birthplaces of the Huxiang School. In the 31st year of Shaoxing (1161), Zhang Shi studied here and grasped the core of his teachings. After Hu Hong’s death, Zhang Shi transmitted his teachings at Yuelu Academy, and the site gradually fell into disuse. In the eighth year of the Hongzhi era of the Ming Dynasty (1495), imperial censor Zheng Weihuan rebuilt the site, renamed it an academy, and enshrined statues of Hu Anguo and his two sons, Yin and Hong. “He gathered local scholars to reside there,” and “for a time, scholarly recitations flourished.” Li Dongyang wrote the Record of Lord Hu Wendeng’s Academy, strongly advocating his principles of “revering the king and slighting hegemony” and “bringing peace to the Xia and resisting the Yi.” During the Jiajing era, Zhan Ruoshui once built the Baisha and Ganquan Academies nearby. In the fifth year of the Chongzhen era (1632), County Magistrate He Shizhong renovated the site, built the Changshou Nunnery behind the academy, appointed descendants of the Hu family to manage the ancestral worship, and instructed monks to “protect the Dharma.” He also wrote the Record of the Renovation of Wendeng Academy and Changshou Nunnery, describing the academy as engaging in “serving our teacher’s disciples in the front” and “serving the sage of the West in the back” as a “dual beauty.” In the 12th year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1747), County Magistrate Xie Zhongkeng demolished the Changshou Nunnery. In the 15th year (1750), Gao Baiwei restored the ancestral hall, “constructed study rooms around the hall, donated food supplies, and gathered students,” turning it into a free school. In the 21st year (1756), the land rents were merged into the Wenfeng and Jiexian Academies, and teaching ceased. In the first year of the Daoguang era (1821), descendants of the Hu family, including Wen Sheng and Bing Quan, “together with their clan,” renovated the site, constructing a main gate, memorial archway, lecture hall, ancestral hall, side rooms, and auxiliary chambers, totaling three courtyards, and again gathered students to study there.

Since its establishment in the Song Dynasty, Wendeng Academy underwent seven restorations through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Especially during the Qing Dynasty, it was restored approximately once every 50 years. After the Xinhai Revolution, it was converted into Hu Family Wendeng Primary School. During the War of Resistance, it was renamed Zhiwen Primary School before eventually closing.

After 1949, it was incorporated into Yueyun Middle School, and the buildings previously used as the primary school were turned into faculty dormitories. In 1986, the old buildings were demolished, and a three-story science building was constructed on the site. In September 2002, the science building was renovated and renamed the "Chunqiu Building." A stone stele inscribed with the Record of the Chunqiu Building was erected on the right wall of the first-floor entrance to commemorate the event.