Songzhou Academy

　　   Situated in Songzhou Village, Punan Town, Xiangcheng District — on the northern outskirts of Zhangzhou, the academy was established in the second year of the Jinglong era (708 AD) during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, more than 1,290 years ago. To date, it is one of the earliest discovered academies in China. The Longxi County Annals record: “Songzhou Academy is located in the Twenty-Fourth Township, where Chen Xiang of the Tang Dynasty lectured to scholars and locals.” Covering an area of about 15 mu, the site included study halls, reception rooms, and a racetrack, functioning both as a place of learning and martial training, and was of considerable scale. In the second year of the Zhenyuan era (786 AD) during the Tang Dynasty, the prefectural seat was moved to Longxi County, and a grand temple known as Songzhou Grand Temple was built in front of the academy to enshrine Chen Yuanguang and his generals, forming a layout with the temple in front and the school behind. It was destroyed by fire during the Taiping Rebellion in 1864 but was later rebuilt. The academy was founded and taught by Chen Xiang, a Hanlin academician and imperial tutor, and was government-run. Its teaching staff were appointed by the county magistrate Long Li. The purpose of the academy was “to guide the people toward rituals and music, preventing them from living aimless lives like fishermen or woodcutters,” aiming to change the situation where “no one from the coastal region ever became an official.” Chen Xiang integrated Confucius’s principles of “literature, conduct, loyalty, and integrity,” teaching by both words and personal example, guiding the people in rituals and music, opening the minds of aspiring scholars, and cultivating a large number of talented individuals.