Address: the south foot of Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng, a suburb of Zhengzhou.
Transportation: Take bus No.2 or No.6, get off at Songyang Academy Station and walk there.
Introduction:
Songyang Academy, located in the north of Dengfeng City, is named after its location in the south of Songshan Mountain. Backed by Ji Junfeng, the main peak of Songshan Mountain, facing Shuangxi River with flowing water, surrounded by peaks on both sides, there are towering cypresses inside and outside the college, including plum, willow, pine, bamboo and ginkgo.
Songyang Academy, formerly known as Songyang Temple, was founded in the eighth year of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 484) as a Buddhist place, which was changed to a Taoist place in the year of Yang Di. In the second year of Jing Shou, Song Renzong (A.D. 1035), it was renamed Songyang Academy, and has been an educational place for celebrities to teach classics ever since. Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Sima Guang, Fan Zhongyan and the "Luo School" Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty all gave lectures here. The part of Zi Tong Zhi Jian written by Sima Guang is nearing completion. During Wang Anshi's political reform in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, he often argued with Sima Guang, Fan Zhongyan and others here.
The area of Songyang Academy is not very large. You can walk along the central axis after entering the gate. The layout of the buildings in the courtyard maintains the style of Qing Dynasty. After entering the scenic spot, you can first see the ancestral temple dedicated to the sages related to the academy, followed by the lecture hall, Taoist temple and finally the library. On both sides of the central axis are the original "Zhu Cheng Temple", book house and study room. In the west campus of the Academy, you can also see some buildings in the teaching examination room of Songyang Academy in Qing Dynasty.
Visiting Songyang Academy, there are several cultural relics that I have to see. After entering the gate, you can see a monument in the Tang Dynasty-"Ode to the Sage's Sense of Virtue in Song Yang Ji Guan", which was erected in the third year of Tang Tianbao (AD 744) and recorded the process of Taoist healing and alchemy for Tang Xuanzong at that time. In the courtyard, you can also see two "general cypresses", which are more than 4500 years old. It is said that they were named "generals" by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the first year of Yuanfeng in the Western Han Dynasty (BC 1 10).
In the Academy Library, you must not miss the Golden Slips of the Empress Wu. According to legend, after Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor, she followed the example of emperors in previous dynasties and came to Songshan Mountain to worship heaven, leaving a handwritten golden note, begging the God of Heaven for blessing, and begging the God of Songshan in Zhongyue to exempt Wu Zetian from all charges, so that Zhou Jiangshan could last for thousands of years. What is now preserved in Songyang College is a replica.