Wansong Academy

Wansong Academy is located on Wansong Ridge, Phoenix Mountain, on the southern edge of West Lake. It was formerly known as Taihe Academy and Fuwen Academy, and was the largest, longest-lasting, and most influential gathering place for literati in Hangzhou during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Great scholars such as Wang Yangming in the Ming Dynasty and Qi Zhaonan in the Qing Dynasty lectured here, and "Suiyuan poet" Yuan Mei also studied here. During their southern tours, Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty respectively bestowed the plaques "Zheshui Fuwen" and "Hushan Cuixiu". Wansong Academy was first built during the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, named Bao'en Temple. In the eleventh year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, it was converted into Wansong Academy. Wang Yangming, a Neo-Confucian scholar of the Ming Dynasty, once lectured here. Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty inscribed the plaque "Zheshui Fuwen" for the academy, and it was then renamed Fuwen Academy. The existing ruins still include a memorial archway with the four characters "Wan Shi Shi Biao" (Teacher for Ten Thousand Generations) and a vaguely visible stone tablet of "Zhi Sheng Xian Shi Confucius" (Confucius, the Most Holy Teacher). In July 2001, Hangzhou City launched the reconstruction project of Wansong Academy, restoring it in the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty, with a planned area of over 50,000 square meters and a building area of 1,200 square meters. The main buildings of the academy include Yangsheng Gate, Mingdao Hall, Dacheng Hall, and Yuxiu Pavilion. Among them, Yuxiu Pavilion was originally a place to receive visiting scholars from various places, and now houses the "Liang Zhu Study", which depicts the scene of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai studying diligently and "sitting shoulder to shoulder without suspicion" in those years. Mingdao Hall serves as the academy's lecture hall, displaying the imperial examination culture of various dynasties in China. Dacheng Hall is where Confucius is worshipped, and features a mural of "Confucius Teaching".