Relics of Wuyi Jingshe Academy

Wuyi Jingshe Academy was planned and constructed by Zhu Xi in the 10th year of Emperor Chunxi in the Southern Song Dynasty (1183). At the very inception, it covered such buildings as Renzhi Hall, Yinqiu Room, Shimen Dock, Zhisu Hut, Guanshan Room, Hanqi House, Wandui Pavilion and Tiedi Pavilion. Cai Yuanding, Liu Yue, Huang Gan, You Jiuyan, Zhan Tiren, Li Hongzu, Li Fangzi, Ye Weidao and other great Confucian scholars used to be trained here. In Preface to Miscellaneous Poems at Wuyi Jingshe Academy, Zhu Xi noted down “scholars from all around are amazed by its attainments”. It has become a major building in Mount Wuyi.Wuyi Jingshe Academy was highly valued by feudal rulers and was restored and expanded throughout dynasties. At the end of Southern Song Dynasty, it was renamed Ziyang Academy after expansion, and the government allocated official field to support its scholars. The title of Mountain Chief was set up to preside over the teaching affairs. In early Yuan Dynasty, Mountain Chief was renamed Professor, and the academy was rebuilt again. In the 25th year of Emperor Zhizheng of the Yuan Dynasty (1365), it was destroyed in wars. In the 13th year of Zhengtong in the Ming Dynasty (1448), Zhu Xun and Zhu Shu, 8th-generation grandsons of Zhu Xi, co-invested in the reconstruction and renamed it “Zhu Wen Gong Ci”. During the period under the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, a plaque that goes “Xue Da Xing Tian” (Education is for the unity of man and nature.) In 1768 or the 56th year of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Jue Luo Manbao, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, donated salaries and promoted its renovation. In December 1992, the People’s Government of Wuyishan City announced it as among the fourth batch of cultural relics protection sites. It was incorporated in the World Cultural Heritage List in 1999.