A cultural enlightenment site for martyrs such as Qin Qingchuan and Liu Fuchu (Heshan Academy)

A cultural enlightenment site for martyrs such as Qin Qingchuan and Liu Fuchu (Heshan Academy)

A cultural enlightenment site for martyrs such as Qin Qingchuan and Liu Fuchu (Heshan Academy) is a classic red tourism attraction.

Heshan Academy is located within the campus of the No. 2 Middle School in Xingwen County.

Built during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, Heshan Academy is a traditional Chinese mortise-and-tenon style structure covering a construction area of 200 square meters. The building is currently largely preserved in its original state.

At the former site of Heshan Academy, there remains a stone stele from the late Qing Dynasty inscribed with the words “Revitalize Literature and Education.”

During the late Qing Dynasty, the imperial examination system was abolished and modern schools were introduced. In 1903, Heshan Academy was renamed Luzhou Wei Higher Primary School. In 1911, Gusu Middle School was founded here, enrolling two classes and operating as an affiliate of Luzhou Wei Higher Primary School. In 1929, Gusu Junior High School was established, admitting students in both spring and autumn sessions. By 1944, it had grown to eight classes with 300 students and over 20 full-time teachers. This institution nurtured numerous revolutionary figures and outstanding communists, including Qin Qingchuan, Wang Bin, Wen Gongyuan, Chang Huazhi, and Liu Fuchu. From the Xinhai Revolution to the War of Resistance against Japan and the Liberation War, the school’s faculty and students actively participated in promoting democracy and progress—giving street speeches, staging modern plays, distributing progressive materials and leaflets, opposing feudalism, and resisting corruption and tyranny. It served as the birthplace of new culture and revolutionary thought in the former Gusu County.