Changsha Part 3: Museum of Chinese Academies 中國書院博物館

Museum of Chinese Academies 中國書院博物館 is the country’s only museum focused on the history of Chinese academies for classic learning.

進士 科舉功名的最高等級

翰林 皇帝的文學侍從官 Member of the Imperial Academy

元魁 殿試第一名，即狀元 Valedictorian or Top Scholar

Chinese academies （書院） originated in 725 during the Tang Dynasty. They were places where scholars could teach and study the classics, and where books collected from around the country could be preserved.

Sample of an academic article

Academy rules given by the government

Ancient printing board

During the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), many academies were established with government support. Each academy had its own teaching and administrative structure and was economically independent. This type of Chinese school ended in the late Qing Dynasty.

Zhang Shi 張拭, Principal of Yuelu Academy

Philosopher Zhu Xi 朱熹 giving a lecture

Original plaque of the Yuelu Academy 嶽麓書院

The China Academy Museum was established in Yuelu Academy, which has witnessed more than a thousand years of history and is the only ancient Chinese academy to have evolved into a modern institution of higher learning.

The floor area of the museum covers 4,768 square meters, with an exhibition area of 3,180 square meters. It costs over 50 million yuan, some of which is donated by Master Hsing Yun 星雲法師 from Taiwan. It is made up of millennium hall of music (sing to the accompaniment of stringed instruments), academic education hall, academic study hall, and hall of academy worship, books, and engraved books.

Main Entrance

Emblem in Zhuan calligraphy

Date Visited : Feb 2014