Tongxiang Academy

The site of Tongxiang Academy is located on Zhong Street in Kongcheng Town, thirty li east of Tongcheng City, Anhui Province. Kongcheng, named for being part of Tongxiang during the Han Dynasty, is famous throughout the country. The academy's prominence is well-documented, including Dai Junheng's 'Four Deliberations of Tongxiang Academy' (namely, selecting a mountain chief, honoring local sages, studying the classics, and collecting books), which the Qing court ordered to be emulated nationwide and included in the 'Imperial Canon of the Dynasty'. Due to war and years of neglect, only the Chaoyang Tower and the 'Tongxiang Academy Stele' remain. The stele was written by Luo Dunyan, a Qing scholar and senior official. Tongxiang Academy consisted of several parts: Chaoyang Tower, Saifang Retreat, lecture hall, inner hall, rear hall, classroom, granary, and accounting room, with an additional 'Kuanghuai Garden' planted with a variety of exotic trees and flowers. On both sides of the academy's main gate, there are relief stone drums and stone lions, and the gate is adorned with a stone plaque inscribed with 'Tongxiang Academy' by Dai Junheng. Today, only the 'Chaoyang Tower' remains, facing east-west, 8 meters high, 12 meters long, and 7 meters wide, with a brick and wood structure, gabled roof, three bays on each of the two floors, wooden beams decorated with floral wood carvings, and wooden railings on the east and west corridors. It is an elegant and generous space for scholars to express their feelings.