Changsha, 4 April (ZXS) -- Hunan Yuelu Academy: A thousand-year-old institution that has always been new
Written by Liu Man
"Yuelu Academy is not only a thousand-year institution full of talents, but also an important landmark of Huxiang culture." In order to successfully pass the part-time bilingual docent assessment of Yuelu College, Zheng Yaling, a student from the School of Foreign Chinese of Hunan University in Taiwan, recently walked into the college whenever she had free time to help tourists guide for free, so as to strengthen her courage and explore how to interact with tourists.
With the yearning for Yuelu Academy, 3 years ago, Zheng Yaling from Chiayi, Taiwan, received an admission notice from Hunan University as she wished. After enrolling, she would go to Yuelu Academy every two weeks on average.
"Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, strolling through the elegant and quiet courtyard is like entering the depth of history and culture, which can calm the anxiety in the heart." Zheng Yaling has seen the spring, summer, autumn and winter of the academy, early morning and twilight, "Her beauty is endless, and she will have a different feeling every time she comes." ”
There is a set of sentence links at the gate of Yuelu Academy, and the upper link is "only Chu has talent", derived from "Zuo Chuan"; The lower link is "Yusi is prosperous", from the Analects. The picture shows that on March 3, Yuelu Academy was full of people. Photo by Yang Huafeng, reporter of China News Agency
On the west bank of the Xiang River, under the Yuelu Mountain, Yuelu Academy, founded in the ninth year of Kaibao of the Northern Song Dynasty (976 AD), is located in the shadow of ancient trees and thick shade, and is one of the four great academies in ancient China.
In the Song Dynasty, the folk song "Three hundred people in Daolin, one thousand disciples in the academy" was circulated, reflecting the grandeur of the students of Yuelu Academy; During the Southern Song Dynasty, the academy became the academic base of the Huxiang School and an important city of science in the country; At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Fuzhi, who pushed classical Chinese philosophy to its peak, studied here; After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Wei Yuan, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Yang Changji, etc., also walked out of Yuelu Academy.
In 1903, Yuelu Academy was changed to Hunan Higher School; In 1912, the school was discontinued, and later Hunan Higher Normal School and Hunan Public Industrial College successively ran schools here; In 1926, Hunan University was founded here.
Today, Yuelu Academy has become part of Hunan University, the only second-level college in China that continues the name of traditional college, with more than 400 first-level students in philosophy and history.
Walking through the academy, the sound of books in the courtyard is still the same, and classmates and teenagers pass by from time to time. The exquisite pavilion pavilion, against the background of mulberry locust pine bamboo, is more dignified and elegant, and tourists are like weaving.
"Both the architectural style and the set are very special, and as soon as you step in, you are infected by the cultural atmosphere that comes to your face, which makes people feel like a spring breeze." Anhui tourist He Wenting specially brought parents and children to "check in" on weekends.
The academy adopts the traditional central axis symmetrical and multi-depth architectural pattern, the main building is divided into three parts: lectures, book collection, and sacrifice, and the front gate, Hexi Terrace, gate, second gate, lecture hall, and imperial study building are concentrated on the central axis; Shrines and shrines are lined up on both sides, and the complex has been completely preserved to this day.
There is a set of sentence links at the gate of the college, and the upper link is "only Chu has materials", which comes from the "Zuo Chuan"; Xia Lian is "Yusi is prosperous", from the Analects, which means that there are many talents in Chudi, and this (academy) is particularly prosperous.
Walking up the stone steps, passing through the gate and the second gate, is the core part of Yuelu Academy - the lecture hall. It is the main place for lectures and the oldest building of the college, with three walls, one side open, no door, conveying the concept of "opening the door to running a school" to the outside world.
Outside the lecture hall of Yuelu Academy, there is a plaque of "seeking truth from facts". The picture shows that on March 3, people came and went outside the lecture hall of Yuelu Academy. Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Huafeng
In the middle of the lecture hall is a rectangular pulpit about one meter high, which is a place for ancient teachers to teach. Today, there are still two wenge wooden chairs on it, set up to commemorate the two masters Zhu Xi and Zhang Lu speaking together.
According to historical records, more than 800 years ago, Zhu Xi traveled a long distance from Fujian to Changsha to give lectures and debates with Zhang Wei, then bishop of Yuelu Academy. This two-month-long "Zhu Zhang Lecture" created a style of free lectures by different schools in Yuelu Academy, which moved the world and became a model of exchange, dialogue, and seeking common ground while reserving differences.
Deng Hongbo, professor of Yuelu College of Hunan University and director of the Research Center of China Academy, said that the lecture allowed different schools to debate on the same stage, promoted the exchange and collision of ideas, and this novel way of lecturing injected new vitality into the academic development and talent training of the college.
A plaque "Seeking Truth from Facts" hangs outside the lecture hall. "Seeking truth from facts was first seen in the "Hanshu Hejian King De Biography", 'study the ancient well, seek truth from facts', praising Liu De for his academic style of focusing on facts and empirical evidence." Li Zhongyuan, a docent of Yuelu College, introduced that when Hunan Technical College moved into Yuelu College in 1917, the then president Bin Bucheng personally wrote this plaque and took it as the school motto to guide students to start from facts, advocate science and pursue truth.
The spirit of seeking truth from facts advocated by Yuelu Academy has cultivated a group of figures who have influenced modern Chinese history. The essence of Huxiang culture such as "worrying about the world, perseverance, daring to be the first, and being inclusive" has been passed down from generation to generation and has endured.
Yuelu Academy aerial photograph on December 2018, 12. Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Huafeng
Wu Lili, president of the British Hunan Hometown Association and president of the British Hunan Experts and Scholars Association, is a native of Changsha and has been studying and working in the UK since 1990. Being able to read and study under the corridor of Yuelu Academy in college is the best memory in her mind.
"Later, I was elected president of the British Hunan Hometown Association, and the first thing I did when I took office was to establish the British Hunan Alumni Association. This is the most precious thing left to us by Yuelu Academy. Wu Lili said.
To this day, Yuelu Academy still undertakes the tasks of academic research, talent training and cultural dissemination. In view of the pain points of modern education, the college explores the undergraduate tutor system, that is, each student is equipped with academic tutors, life tutors, class tutors and academic interest tutors, organically combining the excellent concepts of traditional college education with the modern higher education system to accompany students' growth in an all-round way.
The famous experts of the Yuelu Academy Pulpit, who have been insisting for more than 10 years, gathered. Now, this influential "talking" and "famous scene" has been shared globally through webcasting. "We often take 'mobile' ideological and political classes here, and students can sometimes be the main lecturers." Zheng Yaling said that Qinrun is full of infinite possibilities in an open, free and inclusive university environment. (End)