Academy System of the Song Dynasty

Timeline

1. 1001–1003Yuelu Academy · HunanYuelu Academy continued to develop under mountain master Zhou Shi from the ninth year of Kaibao; in the early Zhenzong era students gathered in large numbers, with scholars from Tanzhou Circuit and the prefectures of Jing and Xiang studying classics and history and preparing for the imperial examination, and the academy became renowned in Jiangnan for its rich book collection and free lecturing.
2. 1004–1005Kaifeng · HenanThe Zhenzong court continued Taizong's policy, granting inscribed plaques and estates to academies with outstanding educational work, officially recognizing their educational function; academies gradually moved from private schools into the imperial cultural-educational system, forming a complementary pattern with prefectural and county official schools.
3. 1008–1010Bailudong Academy · JiangxiBailudong Academy on Mount Lu was restored to lecturing after repairs by local officials and gentry, and together with Yuelu in Tanzhou and Suiyang in Yingtian Prefecture formed a network of academies in Jiangnan and the Central Plains in the early Northern Song, laying the foundation for later Neo-Confucian education and the institutionalization of the academy system.