Cuiping Academy

Cuiping Academy

Cuiping Academy is a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

Cuiping Academy is located in Yibin, Sichuan. In the 18th year of the Chenghua reign during the Ming Dynasty (1482), Magistrate Lu Yuanzhi built it on the mountainside of Cuiping Mountain to the west of the city. In the 6th year of the Jiaqing reign during the Qing Dynasty (1801), Acting Magistrate Song Mingqi relocated it to Danan Street within the city. In the 29th year of the Daoguang reign (1849), Magistrate Xu Daofan funded the construction of over 20 additional rooms, using the remaining 670 taels of silver from the construction to generate interest to supplement the academy’s funding, and also transferred the land and properties of the free school to the academy. County Magistrate Zhu Qi donated 1,000 taels of silver, which together with the existing interest totaled the purchase of three pieces of land and houses, with the rental income used to cover teachers’ salaries and students’ expenses. The annual salary for the head instructor was set at 120 taels of silver, 40,000 cash for stipend, 4 taels for festival gifts, 2 taels for hiring fees, 20 taels for the supervisor’s meals, 10,000 cash for the gatekeeper’s wages, about 40 taels for tea and snacks for the head instructor and others, and 10 taels for repairs of buildings and utensils such as pots and pans. The remaining 300 taels were entirely allocated for scholarships and rewards. In the 27th year of the Guangxu reign (1901), it was converted into Shangzhi School. Twenty years later, it became the Xuzhou Prefecture Middle School. It is the only well-preserved academy architecture in Yibin City and holds significant value for studying education and cultural history of the Qing Dynasty.

It is now a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.

Protected area: the land occupied by Cuiping Academy and an extension of 10 meters beyond the edge of the front plaza.

Construction control zone: an extension of 20 meters beyond the protected area.