Xiu Chuan Academy

Xiu Chuan Academy

Xiu Chuan Academy is a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

Ancient rural academies in the Chengdu area have long enjoyed national renown, among which the most famous is the Xiu Chuan Academy located in Chengxiang Town, Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu. The current site of Xiu Chuan Academy is also the only well-preserved county-level academy ruins in Sichuan Province.

Chengxiang Town, where Xiu Chuan Academy is located, historically belonged to Jintang County and was also the site of the former Jintang County government office. As one of the first batch of historical and cultural towns in Sichuan Province, today’s Chengxiang Town still preserves a wealth of historical and cultural relics dating back to the Han Dynasty: the solemn county government office, the rustic Confucian Temple and Martial Temple, the grand Mingjiao Temple Juehuang Hall, and the tranquil Xiu Chuan Academy…

Xiu Chuan Academy is situated on Dadong Street in Chengxiang Town. It was first built during the Northern Song Dynasty, originally located on West Street of the town. In the 59th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1720), Chen Shunming, the then magistrate of Jintang County, relocated it from the bustling West Street to its current site. The academy was renamed “Xiu Chuan Academy” due to its proximity to the Xiu Chuan River. The academy underwent three rounds of renovation and expansion in 1751, 1761, and 1805 by Jintang magistrates Zhang Nanying, Rao Xuexi, and Xie Weijie respectively.

Recently, I saw at the academy an inscription on the gate: “Learn extensively and acquire diverse skills to cultivate refined scholars; follow benevolence and practice the arts to strive for universal erudition,” with the horizontal plaque reading “Cultural Flourishing.” This couplet has silently witnessed the ancient town for over 100 years.

Today, Xiu Chuan Academy has of course long lost its original function as an educational institution and now exists solely as a heritage site of the past academy. The academy covers an area of 5,085 square meters and is divided into four courtyards: the first and second serve as courtyards with wing rooms on both sides; the third is the outer lecture hall; the fourth is the inner lecture hall. All are built with brick-and-wood structures, featuring tiled roofs and latticed doors and windows. Apart from some sections where walls were later rebuilt with bricks, the entire structure largely retains its original Qing Dynasty layout and architectural style.

Xiu Chuan Academy is one of the earliest, largest, and best-stocked academies in the Chengdu area. Its successive headmasters were all learned scholars. Among the verified nine headmasters, there was one Jinshi (advanced scholar), six Juren (provincial graduates), and two Bajiang (selected tribute students). Most students were top talents among the Xiucai (licensed students) and Tongsheng (child students).

Over the past seven or eight hundred years, Xiu Chuan Academy nurtured figures such as Huang Zhongyong, author of selected works in the Complete Poems of the Song Dynasty; the Neo-Confucian scholar Xie Shi; the historian Zhang Jinsheng; Peng Jiazhen, a hero of the Xinhai Revolution; the philosopher He Lin; the botanist He Zhu; and the renowned writer Liushahe.

Zheng Guangfu, a Sichuan folklorist, recalled, “My father studied at Xiu Chuan Academy when he was young. He often told me that this old academy was very famous in the Chengdu area, with an outstanding academic atmosphere. Almost every family was eager to send their children here to study, no matter how hard or poor they were.”

In those days, Xiu Chuan Academy was an open educational institution and frequently interacted with the renowned Chengdu Jinjiang Academy located on Wenweng Road in Chengdu. The Jinjiang Academy, built in the 43rd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1794), was the longest-running official provincial academy in Sichuan during the Qing period. A distinctive feature of both academies was that lectures were open to all—regardless of whether one was a student or from any school of thought—anyone could attend for free.

At the time, prominent late Qing scholars such as Li Diaoyuan, known as one of the “Three Talents of Shu”; Liu Guangdi, one of the “Six Gentlemen of the Hundred Days’ Reform”; and Luo Chengxiang, the only top imperial scholar from Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty, all taught or lectured at these two academies.

Protected area: bounded by the existing perimeter wall.

Construction control zone: extends 20 meters beyond the protected area.

Text and photos by Tian Huimin