Peitian Nanshan Academy

　　Five centuries ago during the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty, in this small village of Peitian, the seventh-generation ancestor Wu Zukuan cut wood and cleared grass to build a "Stone Mound Thatched Cottage." He hired struggling scholars to teach a few local children to read and write. "The second master gathered teaching materials and students; two or three pupils studied poetry and books." This shows the scale was very small at the time, but it was "the originator of scholarly culture across the thirteen surrounding regions."

　　"Upholding honesty in family life and continuing scholarly traditions through generations" was the ideal of Hakka education. Later, the "Stone Mound Thatched Cottage" became the "Nanshan Academy," expanding its building size and student intake. It hired scholars and Confucianists as teachers, and its curriculum gradually aligned with the requirements of the imperial examination system. During the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty, Grand Secretary of the Ministry of War Pei Yingzhang was ordered to inspect Fujian and Zhejiang. He first visited Tingzhou, then toured Guanzhai Mountain in Liancheng, before crossing Wushi Jiling and climbing Qianxun Slope to enter Peitian. In other words, it was the cultural aura of the Nanshan Academy that attracted him. After inspecting the academy, Pei Yingzhang was deeply moved and inscribed a couplet: "Though a hundred li from the Tingzhou city walls, it is the foremost household within the gates of Confucius."

　　By the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong reign, a number of imperial scholars and scholars of classical learning had emerged from the Nanshan Academy, with seven of them, including Wu Xi, serving in the imperial court.

　　Features of Nanshan Academy

　　A Crystallization of Wisdom: The emergence of a folk academy can be seen as a crystallization of public wisdom. Unlike the unrealistic fantasies of literati or the many short-term official actions mired in the mundane, it aligned with rural realities while also showcasing a lofty cultural ideal. That the Nanshan Academy has not only lasted five hundred years but also continued to develop and improve is due to the fruitful results of education, which have maintained the villagers’ enthusiasm for running the school.

　　Academy Funding: The academy’s funding mainly came from 100 dan of grain rent paid annually by the village’s “Yanqing Hall,” with any shortfall covered by the Nan Village Public Ancestral Hall. By the Guangxu era, Wu Changfeng of the Wuting lineage bequeathed 42 mu of land and 700 dan of rent to establish a charitable school granary, creating a system of student aid and scholarships—pioneering the first educational endowment fund for running, aiding, and rewarding education. It wasn’t until after the founding of the People’s Republic of China that the academy was renamed Peitian Primary School. Prior to that, it generally operated under a school board system responsible for decision-making, construction, management, hiring teachers, and more. The initiative was naturally led by the local gentry of high moral standing, until the principal system during the Republican era. The academy owned school fields, and the school granary had relatively stable income, unaffected by dynastic changes. Over the turbulent centuries in China, how many ideals of farmers fell through due to lack of institutional guarantees? Today, Peitian Primary School, like others, has built new teaching buildings, but this modest little school—with just 13 teachers and a little over 200 students—owns 50 mu of bamboo groves and mixed fruit orchards, something peer schools can only envy. The legacy left by ancestors has spared Peitian Primary School the embarrassment of not being able to afford chalk or candles, and it also gives the teachers an uncommon serenity rarely seen in their profession.

　　Flexible Teaching Methods: The flexible teaching approach fostered an intoxicatingly vibrant learning atmosphere. In 1906, the academy was renamed the Nanshan District Central National School of Changting County and began offering modern education. In addition to traditional subjects such as Chinese literature, history, geography, and composition, the curriculum included new subjects like mathematics and natural science; character-building classes such as self-cultivation, art, and music; hands-on courses like labor and handicrafts; and physical training such as sports and gymnastics—totaling over ten subjects. Moreover, boys and girls sat together, and out-of-town students stayed on campus. Both content and format were close to modern education. Most notably, English was taught—even in a remote mountain academy during the isolationist late Qing Dynasty, unsuspecting children were learning English. One can imagine how astonished their elders must have been when they conversed in English. Historical records indicate the campus had a football field, installed horizontal and parallel bars, and set up wooden horses. What did all this vibrant campus life signify in an era when men had just cut off their long braids and women had just begun to unbind their feet?

　　Outstanding Scholars: During the imperial examination era of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this academy produced 191 successful candidates, 19 of whom entered government service, including five who reached the fifth rank and the highest reaching the third rank. Remarkably, in modern times, it also produced four students who studied in France and Japan alongside Sun Yat-sen. No wonder Ji Yun, Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy during the Qing Dynasty, was so impressed after visiting the cluster of academies in Peitian—seeing the revival of the Central Plains’ farming-and-studying heritage—and inscribed the timeless plaque reading “Outstanding Scholars from Boshui.” Shall we speak of romance?

　　Progressive Ideals: The people of Peitian, steeped in literary fragrance, cultivated openness and progress. The "Daoshan Thatched Cottage," also called the "Infant Relief Room," served as the village’s orphanage and home for the elderly. Any orphan or elderly person without support was raised here through donations from villagers. Its unique social education and welfare system had already taken initial shape by the Xianfeng era. The "Bamboo Cultivation Tower," focused on skill exchange and training in claywork, carpentry, carving, sculpture, and paper-cutting; the "Infant Rescue Society" that discouraged son preference; and the "Daheshan Taoist Hall" enforcing drug rehabilitation—all stood as evidence of openness and advancement. Throughout the ancient residences of Peitian, whether mansions or humble homes, patterns of ancient coins made of cobblestones are laid at entrances, courtyards, and pathways—symbolizing warding off evil and upholding righteousness, as well as awakening business awareness among clansmen. They also reflect the ancestors’ consistent tradition and forward-thinking philosophy of valuing the integration of officials and merchants in a feudal society where the hierarchy of “scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant” was starkly defined.

　　Among the enlightened and progressive ideals of Peitian’s ancestors, the most noteworthy is the phrase “May We Speak of Romance.” These four ink characters are engraved on the inner wall of the Rongxi Cottage. Beyond the visual impact, one is even more surprised that in a feudal society marked by male dominance and strict gender segregation, Peitian’s ancestors held such progressive beliefs. The Rongxi Cottage was originally designed as a place for women of the Peitian clan to learn culture, needlework, and etiquette. The students were unmarried maidens and newlywed brides, and the teachers were mothers, mother-in-laws, and elder sisters-in-law. The main content of study included family teachings, clan rules, and especially values like “the Three Obediences and Four Virtues”—respect, filial piety to parents, harmony with siblings, observance of seniority, distinction between genders, and kinship unity. The couplet “Bamboo companions bring open hearts; pine-clad hills broaden our vision” reflects the cottage’s goal of elevating women’s self-cultivation and broadening their perspectives. The plaque “Kingdom of Virtuous and Capable People” clarifies its aim to nurture wise wives and good mothers.