The heat at 35 degrees centigrade and noise of Changsha diminished abruptly before a small gate in the suburb of this capital city of central China's Hunan Province.
Through the gate, young people read in delicately ornamented houses built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in the shadows of camphor trees more than 100 years old.
Grand wooden lecture halls stand one after another, with red carved eaves, solemn black doors and couplets written by ancient scholars.
The gate leads to the Yuelu Shuyuan (today's Hunan University), one of the oldest private institutes of higher learning in the world.
Historic site
Founded in AD 976, the shuyuan (special Chinese private academy) is about two centuries older than Oxford University (founded in 1176) and the University of Paris (founded in 1150), according to Peng Aixue, deputy director of the Yuelu Shuyuan Culture Research Center.
Where philosophers of 1,000 years ago preached, lectures are still held but are broadcast live to the whole country via satellite television and the Internet, breaking the geographical limits of education.
"The evolvement of the Yuelu Shuyuan illustrates the breaking of limits of education in China over a thousand years with the development of ideas and techniques," said Zhu Hanmin, now director of the academy.
In that time, Yuelu Shuyuan has cradled numerous celebrated philosophers, scholars, politicians, diplomats, generals, economists, writers and artists, including Peng Guinian (1142-1206), Wu Lie (1142-1213), Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), Wei Yuan (1794-1857) and Zeng Guofan (1811-1872).
The academy, which covers 21,000 square meters and became the most important educational center of Confucianism, was founded by two Buddhist monks in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), with donations from local residents. It was one of the first private institutes of higher learning in China.
Education at private shuyuan, which were unique in China, was free to all, with expenses covered by rent from donated farm land. Anyone with a desire to learn could apply for admission. Yuelu Shuyuan broke away from the rigid curricula and research atmosphere in the government-run universities at that time.
"The government-run universities of the feudal age, like the Hanxue of Han Dynasty and the Guozixue of Tang Dynasty, became servants of the imperial exams and lost the independence of education," wrote Yu Qiuyu, essayist and professor of Shanghai Drama Institute, in his prose selection "Fragments of Culture."
Officials serving the dynastic empires were, from the beginning of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) to the end of the Qing Dynasty, selected by imperial exams. Passing the exam gave students a fast-track ticket up the social ladder.
"The appearance of shuyuan in the Song Dynasty provided independence from and transcendence over worldly affairs, which are necessary for education and research," wrote Yu.
Besides Yuelu Shuyuan, other well-known shuyuan in the Song Dynasty included the Yingtianfu (Suiyang) Shuyuan and Songyang Shuyuan of central China's Henan Province, and the Bailudong Shuyuan of east China's Jiangxi Province.
These shuyuan were all hidden in famous mountains with beautiful sceneries, away from the government-run institutions of higher learning in big cities.
Yuelu Shuyuan, for example, was built on the Yuelu Mountain, which has long been famous for red maple leaves in autumn.
The academy, circled in carved stone walls, boasts well-designed architects, red lotuses, graceful willows and a number of inscriptions by scholars and calligraphers throughout Chinese history.
Free scholarship
Away from cities, the shuyuan offered a relatively free atmosphere for students and teachers to expound and even debate on philosophy and current social affairs, like the legendary Academy of Athens, according to Peng.
The philosophy dominating Yuelu Shuyuan in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), renowned at the academy, was the lixue philosophy of Zhu Xi (1130-1200) and Zhang Shi (1132-1180).
"As a teacher, I cannot hold my feelings when I see the lecture hall of the academy, and imagine the lecture given jointly by Zhu and Zhang," said Chen Xinyi, a teacher at Hunan University.
The mentioned lecture, which stands out in Chinese history, attracted more than 1,000 students from around China when it was given in 1167.
"So many young people came from across the country, their horses drunk up the water in the pond," as is documented in the "History of the Song Dynasty" published in the 15th century.
The students sat on the ground of the lecture hall in respect during the two-month lecture. In the center of the 500-square-metre lecture hall, two wooden chairs stood arm to arm on the platform, seldom seen in common lecture halls.
Documents say Zhu and Zhang were seated in the chairs at the same time, lecturing and debating with students on their different opinions about lixue.
"The two chairs indicated Yuelu Shuyuan's emphasis on the co-existence and clash of different ideas," said Zhu Hanmin.
Though Zhu Xi's philosophy was praised at that time, his books were forbidden and his students killed 30 years later.
Years after the philosopher's death, his theory was adored by the then emperor, and regarded as the orthodox school of Confucianism.
Despite the tragedy of Zhu Xi, the shuyuan got strong support from dynastic rulers throughout the Chinese feudal history, and this support has been "vital to its continuation for another millennium," according to Peng Aixue.
Today, the museum of the academy displays the plaque "Yuelu Shuyuan" inscribed by Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty. It was sent to the academy in 1015 together with classics in the emperor's collection.
Yuelu Shuyuan broke away from its lixue traditions and changed to yangming philosophy in the early 16th century, when philosopher Wang Shouren (1472-1529) lectured here.
Four centuries after Wang Shouren, the shuyuan system came to its end in the turbulences of the late 19th century when the traditional education system was challenged by the emergence of Western-style schools and universities.
Yuelu Shuyuan was among the first to leave this shuyuan tradition. It changed to the Hunan Institute of Higher Learning in 1903, Hunan Institute of Industry in 1917 and Hunan University in 1926, and offered modern education.
Famous alumni
Graduates of Yuelu Shuyuan played important roles in the turbulent Chinese politics of this time. Among them were Zeng Guofan (1811-1872), a controversial politician and militant who was also an avid advocate of modernist reforms; Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885), one of the most important court officials in the late Qing Dynasty; Cai E (1882-1916), an army general who led the battles against the Northern Warlords; and Xie Juezai (1883-1971), a veteran revolutionary.
Today Yuelu Shuyuan, now part of Hunan University, is an important base of humanity and social science studies in China, according to Zhu Hanmin. It enrolls postgraduates in the History of Chinese Ideology, History of Chinese Culture, History of Confucianism and Human Scholastic History.
Where Zhu Xi and Zhang Shi used to discuss lixue has become a meeting place of leading modern scholars from around the world.
New era
Lectures take place in the academy twice a month, from social science and literature to information technology, bio-chemistry, enterprise management and kungfu stories.
The lecturers have included Taiwan poet Yu Guangzhong, Harvard professor Du Weiming, Hong Kong writer Louis Chan, Internet mogul Zhang Chaoyang and renowned painter Huang Yongyu. Via the Hunan Satellite TV, Yuelu Shuyuan was the first institute in the country to broadcast live the lectures, so that "anyone can listen to them," Zhu Hanmin noted. "That is exactly the guideline of shuyuan."
Professor Yu Qiuyu once lectured in the academy, and was strongly criticized by other scholars and the mass media for his academic views.
"They all say which branch of studies and which academic views can or cannot be lectured in Yuelu Academy, but we will go on with this variety because tolerance is the essence of shuyuan culture and of education," remarked Zhu Hanmin.
(China Daily June 7, 2002)
