Songyang Academy

Songyang Academy is a historic centre of learning on the southern slope of Mount Song, north of Dengfeng city centre in Henan province, about 80 km from Zhengzhou. It is counted among the four great academies of the Song dynasty, when Neo-Confucian scholars such as Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi and later Sima Guang are associated with teaching in the Central Plains. The buildings originally formed a Buddhist temple, then a Taoist site and became an academy in the Five Dynasties and Song periods, and the layout reflects several stages of rebuilding. Visitors enter through courtyards lined with halls, pavilions and stone steles, and the strongest impression is the setting: enormous ancient cypresses, some said to be more than 4,000 years old, stand within the grounds, including trees with names and legends attached to them. Stone tablets, carved gateways and the Confucian lecture halls give a sense of the scholarly life once lived here, in contrast to the martial and monastic focus of nearby Shaolin. Admission is about CNY 20-30, with reduced fares for children, and the site opens daily from around 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. A visit takes one to one and a half hours, and it is often combined with Zhongyue Temple, which is a short drive away, and Shaolin Temple in the same day. Autumn is a particularly attractive season, when the cypresses and surrounding hills have clear light and mild temperatures. The academy is much quieter than Shaolin and rarely crowded, though tour groups pass through in the middle of the day. Photographers should look for low-angle views up the tree trunks and the courtyard axes framed by stone gateways. A taxi from Dengfeng bus station costs about CNY 20-30, and Dengfeng itself is reached by coach from Zhengzhou. Signs are mostly in Chinese with limited English, so a translation app can help decode the steles. Wear sturdy shoes, since paths can be uneven and slope gently uphill.