Former Site of Guangya Academy

Former Site of Guangya Academy

The former site of Guangya Academy is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The former site of Guangya Academy is located on Xizeng Road, Xicun, Guangzhou. It was a higher education institution founded by Zhang Zhidong, the Viceroy of Liangguang. The campus was established in Yuantou Township, west of the city, with construction starting in the 13th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1887) and completed in the 14th year. Classes began in June of the same year, enrolling 100 tribute students and 100 supervised students from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces respectively. Students lived on campus with a three-year study system.

Guangya Academy faces south and is surrounded by a protective moat, covering an area of 120,000 square meters. Along the central axis are the main gate, the Headmaster’s Building, the auditorium, the Hall of Uprightness, and the Crown Pavilion; on both sides are the East and West Dormitories for student accommodation, as well as other structures such as the Qingjia Hall, Lingnan Ancestral Hall, and Lotus Retreat Hall. After the Qing government ordered the abolition of academies in the 27th year of the Guangxu reign, Guangya Academy was converted into the Liangguang College, and then into the Liangguang Higher College in the 29th year. After the establishment of the Republic of China, it became the Provincial No. 1 Middle School, and in 1935 (the 24th year of the Republic), it was renamed Guangya Middle School. Due to damage from wars over the years, most of the original buildings were destroyed, leaving only the Headmaster’s Building and the Crown Pavilion. Only the rear hall remains of the Shrine of Master Lianxi.

The Headmaster’s Building served as the office space for the headmaster. It is five bays wide (26 meters) and three bays deep (13 meters), with a nine-rafter structure. The center serves as a corridor, with stone pillars in the front porch and halls on both sides. It has a flush-gable roof with gray tubular tiles and a gray-glazed ornamental ridge with antique patterns. The roof tiles and bricks are inscribed with the characters “Guangya.”

The Crown Pavilion is a two-story building, rebuilt in the 24th year of the Republic of China by Huang Linshu. It has a reinforced concrete structure, is five bays wide and three bays deep, with a hip-and-gable roof, a dragon-headed ridge, and ridge-end ornaments featuring mythical creatures.

In front of the ruins of the Hall of Uprightness, there are four stone tablets from the Qing Dynasty, including the “Preface to Shuowen Jiezi by Xu Shen.” On the inner wall of the west hall of the Headmaster’s Building, there are three Qing Dynasty stone tablets, including the “Memorial Regarding the Establishment of Guangya Academy and the Petition for an Imperial Inscription for the Academy Signboard.”

In 1999, the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government designated it as a cultural relic protection unit. On July 17, 2002, it was listed as part of the fourth batch of cultural relic protection units of Guangdong Province.

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Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Guangdong Province