The historical origins of Tongjiang Academy

"The Song Dynasty cleaned up the messy separatist situation of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, and was able to maintain relatively long-term unity and stability." It was not as powerful as during the Han and Tang Dynasties. The system of imperial examinations for selecting scholars was further improved, which greatly broadened the path for ordinary people to become officials. The huge bureaucracy has ushered in an unprecedented cultural era for both the government and the public. It can be said that "it is inherited from the Han and Tang dynasties, and from the Ming and Qing dynasties, it introduces creations and is unprepared." In particular, the prosperity of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty gradually began in temples. It has affected the public and received widespread response from the public. After ninety years of peaceful development by the Wuyue Kingdom, the two Zhejiang provinces have become economically and culturally prosperous, and this prosperity has had an extremely far-reaching impact on future generations. In the eighth year of Qingli in the Song Dynasty (AD 1048), Chen Xiang came to serve as the magistrate of Xianju County. He founded a school palace, expanded the Confucian Temple, and wrote "Essays to Encourage Learning" and "Essays to Encourage Folklore" to persuade the children of the villagers to study, and began to develop Confucianism. wind. According to the "Song and Yuan Dynasty Academic Cases", Chen Xiang personally taught his disciples such as Lu Fengshi and Chen Di. From then on, there were numerous talented people in Xianju's academic field, officials, scholars, and Confucian scholars. "In the Southern Song Dynasty, the couch shrank from an eight-foot square bed to a camp bed." After repeated defeats in the battles between the Song and Jin Dynasties, the Southern Song Dynasty regime could only settle in Lin'an (today's Hangzhou). Lin'an became the country's political, economic, and Cultural Center. This change is a fundamental change for the two Zhejiang regions. The relatively peaceful Southern Song Dynasty regime had no intention of the Northern Expedition and vigorously promoted civil rule. In addition to the state and county official academies founded by the government, private academies are constantly emerging in various places. The development of the printing industry made book publishing very convenient, and a large number of classic books flowed into the public. Among the folk gentry class, influential scholars Confucian scholars were the leaders of the intellectual community, forming the main channel for the dissemination of folk knowledge. The academy's school-running method shared the imperial court's responsibility for cultivating imperial examination talents. Its academic independence allowed the emerging Neo-Confucianism to be widely disseminated, and also enabled these intellectual leaders to gain respect from both the government and the public. The establishment of Tongjiang Academy further promoted the spread of Confucianism in Xianju and had a profound impact on the academic community in southeastern Zhejiang. Tongjiang Academy is two miles east of Haotan Ancient Town, east of Shanxia Village and west of Banqiao Village. The academy faces Yong'an River to the north, Jianhu Lake to the east, and Daoyuan Mountain, Mianshan Mountain, and Chishan Mountain to the southwest. "Three small mountains stand in front of it, shaped like tripod legs." The academy was first built during the Qiandao period of the Song Dynasty (1165-1173 AD), and was built by Sun Fangbo, the ninth generation poet Fang Qian of the late Tang Dynasty. Most of the villagers in Shanxia and Banqiao villages are descendants of Fang Gan. Fang Qian had excellent poetry and prose, but he was ugly and liked to tease people. He would bow three times to anyone he didn't like, and he was known as "Fang Three Bows". When he was young, his articles were appreciated by Yao He, the governor of Qiantang. The chaotic political situation in the late Tang Dynasty made him wander around the mountains and rivers all his life. Fang Qian was friendly with Sun He. "Having tasted Heli, he loved its beautiful mountains and rivers, so he moved his family to live there, and his descendants would live here." Fang Qian was nostalgic for the landscape of Sun He's hometown, Xianju, so he took his family to live in Banqiao, Banqiao. Fang Qian finally lived in seclusion in Kuaiji. After his death, Prime Minister Zhang Wenwei reported to the imperial court to confer Jinshi, and he was given the private posthumous title of "Mr. Xuanying". In fact, it was Fang Qian's eighth generation grandson who actually returned to the place where Fang Qian once lived and settled here. The name of the academy and the corresponding Jianhu Lake around it are named in memory of the ancestor Fang Qian, because Fang Qian was from Tonglu, Zhejiang. The founder of the academy, Fang Bo, whose courtesy name was Zongpu, Hao Zimu, also known as Mr. Wei Xi, was a Jinshi in Special Science in the eighth year of Qiandao in the Song Dynasty (1172 AD). Fang Bo used the property of the Fang family to establish Tongjiang Academy, "with dozens of acres of charity land nearby to prepare for tuition fees from all over the world, and there was a gathering of literati at that time." Zheng Gongli's "Mr. Wei Xi's Ancestral Hall Notes" said that "in Shaoxing, he became a leader of Confucianism, and scholars respected him, and he was called Mr. Wei Xi." When he woke up alone, he became the mentor of Southeast scholars. "Fang Bo had many disciples, such as Fang Gang, Zhang Bu, Huang Yi, etc. There was no shortage of officials and Confucian scholars who came from the academies, such as Fang Yixin, a Jinshi in special subjects in the second year of Duanping (1235 AD); Fang Chu, a Jinshi in martial arts in the third year of Jingding (1262 AD); Year) Fang Yu, a Jinshi in martial arts, and others. At that time, the emergence of Tongjiang Academy as a private academic institution not only promoted the achievements of local imperial examinations and cultivated many literati and Confucian scholars, but more importantly, with Tongjiang Academy as a carrier, Fang Li used his personal charm and academic accomplishments , attracted the first-class scholars of the Southern Song Dynasty. The interactions between Zhu Xi, Wu Fu, Wang Shipeng, Chen Yong, etc. and Fang Bo formed a relatively fixed academic circle, and they strengthened each other, which can be described as an eternal legend. In the ninth year of Chunxi (AD 1182), Zhu Xi promoted the official affairs of tea and salt in eastern Zhejiang and was in charge of Taizhou Chongdao Temple. He sent his son to study at Tongjiang Academy and wrote two plaques "Tongjiang Academy" and "Dingshan Hall" in his handwriting. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, the "Genealogy of the Fang Family in Banqiao" also included a poem said to be Zhu Xi's "Poetry for Sending His Son to Tongjiang Academy in Banqiao to Encourage Learning": "Back then, Han Yu sent Afu, and the lights in the south of the city were bright in the cool autumn. Today I send Lang Tong to send him off. On the river, the willow branches are blowing in the water, and fish are born in spring. If you ask about Confucianism, you are working hard on the snow table in the clouds. If you are working hard in the morning mist, I will look at your Yao family and study hard. " "Banqiao Fang Family Genealogy" records that Wang Shipeng also wrote two plaques in his handwriting: "Southeast Taoist Family" and "Neo-Confucianism Ming Sect". In the twenty-seventh year of Shaoxing (AD 1157), Wang Shipeng personally commented with the imperial pen of Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, that "he has a thorough knowledge of the Confucian classics and a mellow and upright discussion, and he can be the first person" and became the top scholar.

In the 31st year of Shaoxing (AD 1161), Wang Shipeng implored Gaozong to send troops to fight against the Jin Dynasty, and strongly recommended Zhang Jun and Liu Qi. Gaozong adopted Wang Shipeng's suggestion. Because of the pressure from the Zhuhe faction, he had no choice but to ask to step down. Emperor Gaozong finally asked him to be in charge of Taizhou Chongdao Temple. Before Wang Shipeng met Fang Bo and became an official, the two admired each other. At the beginning of the relationship, Tongjiang Academy had not yet been built, and the two plaques were inscribed on the person in charge of Taizhou Chongdao Temple. Wang Shipeng met Fang Bo and Chen Yong through Wu Fu, and so did Zhu Xi. Wu Fu was first appointed Yueqing County Lieutenant in the second year of Shaoxing (1132 AD). During his tenure, he "regarded official property as his own property and treated official affairs as private matters. He must not do this. Rather than offend the common people, he would rather offend the superior officials." There were many talented people in the academic palace, and later in Yueqing. Wang Shipeng praised him as "Wu Gong is the best in governance today". Similar to Wang Shipeng, when Wu Fu was serving as the supervisory censor, the Song army failed to fight the Jin in Huaihei and the Jin soldiers invaded the Yangtze River. He repeatedly reported that Gaozong was stationed in Jiankang (now Nanjing) and actively resisted the Jin to boost the morale of the Song army. Wang and Wu had a good personal relationship, and their poems and essays were passed down to later generations. Wu Fu also recommended his protégé Chen Yong to Wang Shipeng. Wang Shipeng and Chen Yong were very attracted to each other. In the ninth year of Chunxi's reign, Chen Yong, who was in charge of punishment in Jiangxi Province at that time, heard that Zhu Xi was appointed to Taizhou and made a special trip to "send him to Zhejiang Pavilion". When Zhu Xi came to Xianju, he also made a special trip to visit Wu Fu, who was living in seclusion in Guanlu Hua Meitan. When he heard about Zhu Xi's visit, Wu Fu "went out to meet him in the wild, and invited him to the lake to live and drink. He talked about his life and expressed his admiration and emotion." Not only did they have similar interests in politics and academics, but it was even more rare to maintain a lifelong relationship. After Chen Yong's death, Zhu Xi wrote two elegy poems, "One farewell to the current situation, and I have been thinking about his praise for three years. I only shed tears now, and it is rare for the muddy river to be clear" to commemorate his close friend. Wang Shipeng said in "Chen Ti Xing's Elegy" that "Di Hua and Yurun are all outstanding writers, and their latent virtues and gleaming light produce wonderful words". In the seventh year of Qiandao (1171 AD), Wang Shipeng became an official as a bachelor of Longtuge and died in his hometown of Yueqing. When Zhu Xi visited Fang Bo, Wang Shipeng had already gone by Hexian. In Zhu Xi's writing, Wang Shipeng was "the so-called man with broad and brilliant virtues, who must be prepared to learn new things, and the so-called man who has subtle knowledge and the golden mean and respects etiquette." The next year, Wu Fu gave up and returned to the west. Zhu Xi wrote three elegy poems, and a handwritten Shinto stele was erected in front of Wu Fu's tomb. In the elegy, Zhu Xi said that Wu Fu "went to Taiwan to look forward to it, and went to the rivers and lakes." "Tongjiang Academy has been destroyed and built many times in the past dynasties, and Confucianism has been recited in Xianju ever since. The Confucian scholars who came out of Tongjiang Academy "helped the world with great virtues, and left the poor alone", or expressed their feelings. Landscapes or farming and studying in the countryside. In the middle of the Emperor's reign of the Yuan Dynasty, Fang Zhidao rebuilt Tongjiang Academy to revitalize his family's reputation and carry forward the tradition of running a school for his ancestors. On Xikeng Ridge, south of Shanxia Village, there is a poem carved on a cliff by Fang Zhidao. The handwriting is strong and thick, inscribed in regular script. The poem reads: "The green forest locks the fog and subsides, and the iron cavalry chasing the wind will dominate." Nostalgic for the past, I went to Tonglu for nine days to reminisce about the past. The poet Fang Lanting was from Banqiao, his name was Zhidao, and his nickname was Lanting. There are no more texts to verify the author's life story. Celebrities such as Fang Zhidao wandered among the rivers, lakes and temples. Confucian scholars' life was more hermit and free and easy. For later generations of Confucian scholars, Tongjiang Academy was more of a spiritual destination. They often come here with the mentality of pilgrims to visit Tongjiang Academy, which may be in ruins. They come here to reflect on the past and recall the glorious history of Tongjiang Academy. According to Lin Sunzhi of the Qing Dynasty, "The Song of Tongjiang Academy Remaining Tile is a Poem for Abbot Guyin", in the year of Qianlong and Xinhai (AD 1791), local farmers hoeed their fields and found a piece of relic tiles from the academy during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. From the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the political power of the past dynasties changed, and the temple was destroyed and rebuilt many times. The surrounding bitter oak trees bear witness to the vicissitudes of time and the moon. There are many songs and poems in the past dynasties. Zhang Longqi's "Looking at the Lake Reflecting the Moon" during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty: "When the eyes are full of glass and the night is quiet, the sky and the water are both suitable. The water chestnut flowers look towards the waves falling, and the osmanthus shadow moves from the mirror. Magpie knots on the willow branches The cicadas are frightened, and the fish lurking on the carpet are afraid of the hanging silk. In those days, miracles were everywhere, and I admired my teacher for generations." The poem describes the scene when Zhang Longqi visited the ruins of Tongjiang Academy. In the ninth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1870), Fang Songting, the candidate magistrate, rebuilt it on its ruins. During the Republic of China, the academy was converted into an ancestral hall, and after liberation, Shanxia Primary School was established. The Cultural Revolution left the academy in a state of disarray. The plaque "Dingshan Hall" written by Zhu Xi was hidden in Fangzhai Village, Qiushan Township. Two plaques written by Wang Shipeng "Southeast Taoist Family" and "Neo-Confucianism Mingzong" were destroyed, and the couplets on the pillars may have been destroyed. It was hollowed out or painted with lime to preserve it. In spring, the front of the academy is covered with rapeseed flowers, which are golden and brilliant. Behind the academy, there are endless green hills, and the ancient sorrel trees are still lush.