Nanchang >> Academy of White Deer Cave

Attraction Typ: Historic Site

Location: about 140 km from city

Recommend: 3 Star

Academy of White Deer Cave

Academy of White Deer Cave, the first centered on the teachings of Confucius, is one of the Four Great Academies in China, along with the Yuelu Academy of Classical Education, the Shigu and the Suiyang Academy.

Academy of White Deer Cave (Chinese: 白鹿洞书院; pinyin: Báilù Shūyuàn) is one of the Four Great Academies of China, along with the Yuelu Academy of Classical Education in Hunan and other two academies. More over, it ranks as one of the oldest institutions for higher learning in China.

The Academy of White Deer Cave is in a valley at the foot of the Five Old Men Peak of Lushan Mountain in Jiujiang City and it was establish on A.D.940. The academy had its beginnings as a place for the pursuit of learning by the poet Li Bo in Tang Dynasty when ht was living in retirement. As Li Bo raised a white deer, the academy got its name as Academy of White Deer Cave and he was known as the White Deer Teacher.

The academy was the recipient of imperial favor from the Emperor Taizong (r. 976-997), who bestowed on it books and awarded official rank to the academy's head.
However, it later fell into disrepair. Later during the Southern Song Dynasty, the academy was rebuilt and expanded by Zhu Xi and became the most preeminent of the neo- Confucianists. Zhu Xi was serving as prefect of Nankang Prefecture at that time. The new academy opened its doors to students and scholars in 1180. It was involved in instruction, the collection and preservation of books as well as religious sacrifices. The rules of the Academy as set down by Zhu Xi had a profound and lasting influence on the subsequent development of Confucianism.

Now in the courtyard, there is tablet corridor, sacred gate of Ceremony and white deer cave.