Lianjiang Academy

　　      Situated on Lou Street in Lianjiang Town, the academy was constructed in the third year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty (1738). It features a courtyard-style layout, consisting of a gate hall, lecture hall, worship hall, Kuixing Pavilion, and Wenchang Pavilion, covering an area of 4,903 square meters.     In April 1929, Mao Zedong, representing the Fourth Red Army, delivered the spirit of the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party here and hosted a training class for land revolution cadres. From 1930 to 1934, the academy served as the location of the Xingguo County Soviet Government.

　　The exquisitely carved and painted Lianjiang Academy is located on Heng Street in Lianjiang Town, Xingguo County. Facing south, it is a brick-and-wood structure with red doors and vermilion windows. Built in the third year of the Qianlong reign (1733), it spans an area of 4,903.8 square meters. Following the contour of the mountain, the academy has five levels of progressively ascending architecture, comprising a gate hall, lecture hall, worship hall, Kuixing Pavilion, Wenchang Palace, and Chongsheng Shrine, forming a cohesive architectural complex. Rising step-by-step from low to high, the design is rigorous, the layout orderly, the momentum majestic, and the presence grand and imposing.

　　The ticket-like gate tower faces east, symbolizing the arrival of “auspicious purple air from the east.” The hip-and-gable roofed gate features ridge ends with upside-down mythical beast ornaments facing each other, with a bold porcelain vase in the center. Below is a horizontal plaque with blue characters on a red background, inscribed “Lianjiang Academy,” bordered with cloud patterns, flanked left with “Plum and Orchid by the Northern River” and right with “Bamboo and Chrysanthemum by the Eastern Pool.”

　　Passing through the gate tower leads to a spacious front yard, which can accommodate a thousand people. Eight pine and cypress trees and two magnolia trees are planted around it. To the north, climbing 13 steps leads to the gate hall, which has a flush-gable roof, two stories high, with a total of four rooms. The central part is the main gate, featuring a red stone frame and a pair of wooden doors, with a horizontal plaque inscribed in blue characters on a red background, reading “Elegance Gathers at Two Rivers,” set into the lintel. On either side of the plaque are landscape paintings titled “Northern Peaks and Rivers Reflecting Two Rivers” and “Eastern Waters Gathering to Inspire Culture.” A pair of round vermilion pillars stands in front of the gate.

　　Upon entering the gate hall, a small courtyard-style flower garden comes into view. The garden is filled with exotic flowers and fragrant plants, separated by delicate walls on the sides. Passing through the garden path and ascending five stone steps leads to the lecture hall, which has three rooms, a flush-gable roof, and a ridge decorated with molded figures of a “red phoenix facing the sun.” The upturned eaves are adorned with alternating poems and paintings, exuding refined charm. In front is a boat-roofed eave corridor, supported by four vermilion wooden pillars resting on red stone drum bases. Symmetrical wooden lattice screens flank the central hall, which has three walls without doors, and latticed doors and windows on the side rooms. There is one side door on each side, and to the east of the hall are six student rooms, with nine on each side.

　　Passing through the lecture hall is a courtyard, and ascending two steps leads to the Ke Hall. It is elaborately carved with flowers and embroidered designs, with dragons and phoenixes depicted. Each corner is supported by a vermilion pillar under a flush-gable roof, surrounded by lattice windows. The front has a pair of hinged doors, with thresholds as high as the knees, resembling a “grand bridal sedan.” Inside the hall are more than ten black-lacquered book chests labeled: Historical Records, Essence, Jade Treasures, Silk Manuscripts, Hanlin, and National Heritage.

　　The Kuixing Pavilion is located behind the worship hall, five stone steps higher, with a pyramidal roof adorned with a colorful painting of “two dragons playing with a pearl.” It has eight sides and four pillars, with copper bells (commonly known as wind chimes) hanging from the corners. When the wind blows, the bells chime, enhancing the serene atmosphere. A horizontal plaque inscribed with “Kuixing Pavilion” hangs between the rooftop and the pavilion ceiling. The ceiling features a caisson, commonly called a fruit lid or bridal sedan cover, decorated with a bas-relief of “a carp jumping over the dragon gate.” The base of the pavilion is built with strip stones, flanked by red stone railings. Stone pillars are topped with carved stone lions gazing at each other, looking naive, lifelike, and vivid. Originally a place to enshrine the deity Kuixing, the pavilion resembles a pavilion with open walls, housing six cacti that have grown for 20 years, standing tall like incense sticks. In recent years, they have bloomed white flowers four times—pure and rare, seen as an auspicious omen.

　　Under the second-level ceiling of the Kuixing Pavilion is a statue of the Kuixing deity, holding a vermilion brush and standing on one leg with bent knees, symbolizing “Kuixing dotting the scholarship star.” The ceiling has three levels, with upturned eaves, green tiles, and red railings, standing tall and prominent under the sky and towering above the rest of the academy.

　　Immediately behind the Kuixing Pavilion is the Wenchang Palace, closely connected to it with just a walkway in between, formerly used to enshrine the “Wenchang Emperor.” The Wenchang Palace also has a brick-and-wood structure with a flush-gable roof. The central hall ceiling features an octagonal caisson with carved brackets and five tiers of floral panels, with a bas-relief of “dragons and phoenixes bringing prosperity.” Six large red stone pillars stand in the palace, among which the front corridor pillars originally bore a couplet composed by Zhong Qixun, a Xingguo scholar, using “Xingguo” as a wordplay: “Prosper our small state, exemplify literary virtue; the virtuous of the nation, favored by the Emperor’s heart.” Flanking the central hall are two-story auxiliary buildings, along with soft-panel side rooms in front.

　　The front part of the palace features a boat-roofed eave corridor, with a side door on each of the east and west ends, leading directly outside.

　　The Chongsheng Shrine is located to the left of the Wenchang Palace, connected via side rooms and separated by a front yard. It has a flush-gable roof, double eaves with upturned corners, red walls, and vermilion pillars, with a double-layered lattice door. The central ceiling of the eave corridor features a colorful painting of “a qilin spitting out a jade book.” The central hall ceiling has a caisson with a bas-relief of “two lions rolling a ball,” while the sides feature four directional tiers, flowing clouds, arched bridges, and landscape paintings paired with poetry. The main hall ceiling includes four symmetrical painted murals: one depicting “Bees (symbolizing nobility) and Monkeys (symbolizing rank) bowing to Elephants (symbolizing ministers)”; another “Two Ducks (symbolizing first place) passing Reed (symbolizing announcement)”; a third “Golden Rooster Announcing Dawn”; and a fourth “Sparrows (symbolizing rank) and Deer (symbolizing salary) with Bees (nobility) and Monkeys (rank).” These thought-provoking images add depth to the space.

　　Fifteen meters in front of the auxiliary building stands a three-bay stone memorial archway, engraved with dragon heads, lion bodies, floral patterns, rolling clouds, and drums… The exquisite carving, smooth lines, and delicate patterns make it a masterpiece of stone carving art, truly breathtaking.

　　The Lianjiang Academy boasts exquisite architectural artistry, possessing both historical and cultural value as well as modern revolutionary significance. It was Mao Zedong’s residence in April 1929. That year, Mao wrote the famous “Xingguo Land Law” here, sparking the surging tide of overthrowing landlords and redistributing land. It inspired tens of thousands of brave Xingguo men, like lions with manes bristling, to roar their way into joining Chairman Mao’s Red Army and the revolution. It gave rise to Xingguo’s renowned titles: “County of the Red Army,” “County of Generals,” “County of Martyrs,” and “Model County for Creating First-Class Work.”

　　Lianjiang Academy is like a radiant pearl, an eternal monument.