Danzhou Dongpo Academy

　　The Dongpo Academy, situated in Zhonghe Town, Danzhou City on Hainan Island, is a national key cultural relics protection unit. In ancient times, it was the location of the Danzhou government office. The winding village streets are all paved with bluestone slabs, and ancient temples, shrines, and stone tablets can be seen everywhere. The ancient Dongpo Academy lies beneath a grove of coconut trees.

　　The Dongpo Academy is located at the foot of Shushan Mountain in the northeast corner of Dingshu Town, Yixing City, and was built during the Northern Song Dynasty. The environment around the academy is very elegant, with lush trees and birds chirping, and a small river quietly flowing past the front of the courtyard. The buildings within the academy are neat, majestic, simple, and elegant, exuding a strong traditional ethnic style. Despite enduring a thousand years of natural disasters and historical upheavals, generations of local people, valuing literature and education, have raised funds to carefully maintain the academy, which remains well-preserved to this day.

　　The Dongpo Academy is closely associated with Su Dongpo, an outstanding literary figure in Chinese history. He was immensely talented and made multifaceted contributions to the development of Chinese literature and art, especially in prose, for which he was widely praised and ranked as one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song dynasties.

　　The Dongpo Academy is located 45 kilometers from Nada and covers an area of 2,500 square meters. It was designated as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 1996 and is one of Hainan’s important cultural heritage sites. Built during the Northern Song Dynasty (1098) in memory of the great literary figure and exiled official Su Dongpo, it was later renovated and renamed to its current name in the Ming Dynasty (1549). The Dongpo Academy is one of Hainan’s significant cultural landmarks. The academy gate is grand and spacious, and the grounds feature ancient, lush woods and competing blossoms. Architectures such as the Zaiwang Wine Pavilion, Zai Wine Hall, and Ao Hall Shrine are classic and time-honored.

　　The Zai Wine Hall was the residence and teaching place of Su Dongpo when he was exiled to Changhua Army (now Danzhou City). The "Qiongtai Historical Records" states: "When the Song Dynasty's literary master Su Shi was exiled to Dan’er, he lectured and promoted virtue, gradually fostering a thriving culture. The flourishing of culture in Qiongzhou truly began with him."

　　The Zai Wine Pavilion features a double-eave hip-and-gable roof structure, with two levels—the upper level has four corners and the lower eight, interlaced so that each corner is upturned as if ready to take flight. To the east and west of the pavilion are lotus ponds, creating a charming reflection with the pavilion. The hall displays illustrations depicting Su Dongpo’s life over his three years in Danzhou.

　　Inside the academy, the main hall and side chambers display many of Su Dongpo’s manuscripts, ink traces, historical relics, and the famous "Poge Lilv Painting" (Picture of Poet with Straw Hat and Straw Rain Boots). There are also poetic inscriptions by Guo Moruo, Deng Tuo, and Tian Han, as well as artworks by renowned painters. The main hall is located behind the Zai Wine Hall, separated by a courtyard. On both sides are corridors that connect to the Zai Wine Hall, forming a quadrangle courtyard. In the center of the courtyard stands a century-old mango tree with dense foliage, lending the space a serene and solemn atmosphere. A color sculpture of Su Dongpo giving lectures is displayed in the center of the main hall, with lifelike depictions of figures such as Su Dongpo and Confucian scholar Li Ziyun. In front of the hall, a bronze statue of Su Dongpo in his bamboo hat and straw rain boots stands amidst vibrant flowers.

　　In the fourth year of the Shaosheng era of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty (1097 AD), Su Dongpo was demoted to the position of Qiongzhou Biejia (a minor official post). He first stayed in an official residence in Danzhou but was later driven out by his superior, so he built a few thatched cottages in an areca palm forest and named them the Areca Hut. Su Dongpo developed deep bonds with the local people. Zhang Zhonghe, the prefect of Danzhou, together with the Li family of the Li ethnic group—scholarly families including Li Ziyun—jointly raised funds to build a house next to Li Ziyun’s residence. This house served both as lodging for Su Dongpo and his youngest son Su Guo and as a place for literary gatherings. Su Dongpo, referencing the historical allusion of "carrying wine to ask about characters" from "The Book of Han · Biography of Yang Xiong," named the building the "Zai Wine Pavilion." Later, Su Dongpo would meet relatives and friends in the Zai Wine Hall and give lectures to students of both Han and Li ethnicities, spreading Central Plains culture.

　　In the Qing Dynasty, the Zai Wine Hall was renamed the Dongpo Academy. Although the original site had endured 900 years of wind and rain erosion, out of reverence and admiration for Su Dongpo, the local people repaired and expanded the site several times. The Dongpo Academy has now been fully restored to its former glory and has become a well-developed tourist attraction.

　　

　　Su Shi (1037~1101)　　Su Shi (1037–1101), courtesy name Zizhan, art name Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan in Meizhou (present-day Sichuan). His family had a rich literary tradition: his grandfather Su Xu loved reading and was good at poetry. His father, Su Xun, was a master of classical prose and provided careful guidance to both Su Shi and his younger brother Su Zhe. His mother, Lady Cheng, was knowledgeable and principled, once telling young Su Shi the story of Fan Pang from the "Book of the Later Han · Biography of Fan Pang" to inspire him with the deeds of ancient virtuous scholars. By the time Su Shi turned 21 and left Sichuan for the capital, his knowledge and cultivation were already quite mature. Su Shi was erudite and open-minded, thriving in the integrated ideological atmosphere of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism during the Northern Song Dynasty. Su...... Details+