Yingtian Academy 应天书院

About Yingtian Academy

The academy traces its origins to a private school, the Nandu Xueshe, founded in 941 by the local scholar Yang Que during the Later Jin dynasty. Shangqiu, then called Suiyang, was raised to Yingtian Prefecture in 1006 and became the Southern Capital, one of the four Northern Song capitals, in 1014; in 1009 Emperor Zhenzong granted the school the name Yingtian Prefecture Academy. The statesman Fan Zhongyan studied here, settled in Shangqiu and later ran its teaching. In 1034 the academy became a prefectural school and in 1043 it was elevated to the Southern Capital Directorate of Education, ranking with the directorates in Kaifeng and Luoyang. It is conventionally grouped with the Songyang, Yuelu and Bailudong academies as the four great academies of the Northern Song.

Later names included Suiyang Academy in the Yuan, the Fan Wenzheng Gong Lecture Hall in the Ming and Wenzheng Academy in the Qing; the institution was converted into a prefectural middle school in 1905. None of the historic fabric survives. The present red-walled compound, surrounded by water on three sides, was rebuilt near the Song-era site with provincial approval from 2003 and opened in October 2007; its first phase produced the enclosure wall, main gate, Chongsheng Hall, front plaza and Zhuangyuan Bridge.

What to look for

• Chongsheng Hall, a south-facing five-bay hall at the heart of the compound, with statues of Confucius and his disciples
• The side halls, which house an exhibition on the life and career of Fan Zhongyan
• The Zhuangyuan Bridge and front plaza leading to the main gate, part of the first reconstruction phase
• The lakeside setting on the South Lake of Shangqiu Ancient City, with water on three sides of the compound

Location & getting there

Getting to Yingtian Academy

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 应天书院 with 商丘市 and 睢阳区.