Lianxi Academy

　　Lianxi Academy is situated in the urban area of Moling Town. It was established during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era as the highest educational institution in what was then Xiangcheng County (present-day site of Moling High School). According to the 1911 edition of the *Xiangcheng County Annals*: “In the 25th year of the Qianlong reign (1761), due to the gradual dilapidation, low-lying terrain, and limited space of the former Hongyang Academy, Magistrate Liang Zuowen, aiming to promote education and cultivate talent, built this academy in the southwest corner of the county town. Covering an area of 5,000 square meters, it included around seventy to eighty rooms such as lecture halls, study rooms, and dormitories.” “The presence of an academy in the county was considered as important as local schools. All the talented and educated individuals from the villages, from adults to children, were able to study poetry and literature, practice rituals and music, and mutually encourage one another within its walls.” “The academy was named Lianxi because there had been an auspicious omen of lotus flowers on the nearby Hong River. The academy was surrounded by branches of the Hong River, where lotuses (another name for water lilies) were planted in the water, and the surrounding embankments were lined with willows and locust trees. The red blossoms and fragrant greenery complemented each other, creating a setting that inspired students to broaden their horizons and elevate their literary creativity and poetic inspiration.” In the late Qing Dynasty, following the Hundred Days’ Reform, it was converted into a higher primary school in the 30th year of the Guangxu reign. During the Republican era, Xiangcheng County Middle School and Xiangcheng County Normal School were located here. It is now the site of Moling High School, where five original lecture halls are still preserved.

　　Lianxi Academy was once one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Xiangcheng. The Qing poet Liu Tang wrote a poem in its praise: “After a light rain clears, the view is vast and bright; I stand at Lianxi’s gate in the spring breeze’s light. A crescent bay is fringed with deep green grass so fair; Along both banks, pink peach blooms bloom here and there. Two ducks float up and down on the water’s face; A fisherman drifts alone on his boat’s lone place. A scene both poetic and pictorial by nature’s hand; To learn from Vimalakirti, my skill is at a stand.”