Songyang Academy, located in the north of Dengfeng city, is named because it is located in the Yang (south) of Songshan Mountain.
Songyang Academy, originally named Songyang Temple, was founded in the eighth year of Emperor Xiaowen's Taihe in Northern Wei Dynasty (484 A.D.) as a Buddhist place, and was changed to a Taoist place in the period of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. It was renamed Songyang Academy in the second year of King Hu of Song Renzong (1035 AD), and since then it has been a place of education where celebrities have taught the classics. In the Song Dynasty, the “Luo School” scholars, such as Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Sima Guang, and Fan Zhongyan, all lectured and taught here; part of Sima Guang's book, “The Great Encyclopedia of Governance”, was completed here. In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, when Wang Anshi changed the law, he often argued with Sima Guang and Fan Zhongyan here.
After entering the main gate, you can see a stele from the Tang Dynasty - “Ode to the Sacred Virtue Induction of the Songyang Guan Ji of the Great Tang Dynasty”, which was erected in the third year of Tianbao of the Tang Dynasty (744 A.D.), and recorded that Taoist priests at that time made pills for Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. In the courtyard, you can also see two “General Cypresses”, which are over 4,500 years old and are said to have been given the title of “General” by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the first year of Yuanfeng of the Western Han Dynasty (110 B.C.).
Travel Tips
Address: Taimuro Road and Songyang Road in Dengfeng City, Zhengzhou City
Phone number: 0371-628305 0371-62830518
Opening Hours: 7:30-17:30 7:30-17:30
Entrance Fees: CNY 30