Cicheng Academy

Cicheng Academy

The imperial examination hall in Cicheng was originally the place for students to take examinations. It was built in 1835 and covers an area of 8000 square meters. Now it is mainly for display. It introduces the imperial examination system in ancient times. The examination room is divided into two parts: Heaven and earth. During the examination, candidates have to stay in the examination room no matter day or night. The backyard is the invigilator There are all kinds of places for officials to stay and check examination papers, which is very convenient.

Historical evolution

Since it was founded in 1835, Cicheng academy has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. At present, the school scholar hall in Cicheng covers an area of more than 8000 square meters, with a construction area of about 2000 square meters. According to the "school scholar hall" in the Qing Dynasty's "Cixi County annals of Guangxu", it was rebuilt in the original site in 2003.

Introduction to scenic spots

The Academy, also known as the examination academy and the examination shed, was the most basic place to select talents in the feudal imperial examination system. Since ancient times, Cicheng Town has a quiet landscape and beautiful humanities, which is cherished by students. In 1835, Zheng tingrong and his son donated 24000 silver dollars to build Cixi Academy.

The whole building faces south from the north and consists of 117 houses, such as gate, instrument gate, hall, gallery and side room. From the perspective of layout design, it is divided into front yard and back yard, which is a typical building with three entrances and two courtyards in Qing Dynasty. In front of the gate, there is a Zhaobi gate and two yuans in the East and the West; on the right side of the gate, there are four cottages, and on the left side, there is a land temple, which is a place dedicated to the land lord. There are six gatehouses on the right side of the gate. Second entrance as like as two peas, two as a test room, the entrance of the test room into the entrance of the apartment. The door and window structure commonly used as "Longmen" are identical. There are sixty-nine rooms, each three building walls, leaving a small courtyard, just south entrance and lighting and ventilation. The whole examination room can ensure that there is sufficient light source, but also can avoid the pain of wind and rain. Each examination room has four tables and four stools. During the examination, the space of about ten square meters should be divided into four spaces, with one person sitting in each space. It looks like a row of birdcage like buildings, the title house. It can be imagined that many students gathered here in the narrow examination shed to write and present their papers in order to gain fame. The main hall has five lobbies, four side rooms on the left and right, one patio and five main rooms on the third entrance, and five rooms facing south. It is the place for examinees to hand in papers and examiners to seal papers. In the west, there are three Han (Yu) Changli ancestral halls, and in the East, there are three Huang (Zhen) Wenjie ancestral halls. There are five kitchens in the northeast corner. The construction project was completed and put into use after one year. All the items (test cases, screen tables, etc.) needed for the examination hall in the examination shed are all ready, which is known as the "unprecedented" grand event of Cixi imperial examination scholars.

address

Jiangbei Cicheng, Jiangbei District, Ningbo City

Architectural pattern

The Academy, facing south from north, has a plaque on it. Just opposite the gate is a screen wall with a dragon pattern on it, implying that the examinee can accompany the real dragon emperor (emperor) when he becomes an official. The East and the West are two gates. On the left side of the gate is the land temple, in which the "God of land" is worshipped, who can protect the peace of one side. The land temple is set up in the scholar's hall. Naturally, it is to let the "land God" bless the examination room and the examinees to get good results.

After passing through the gate, it is called "Yimen", which is written with the word "Mingjing selects scholars". It is the place where the examiners meet the superior officials. Next to it is the place where the examinee list is published.

Through the "Yimen" is the "Hall", which is written with the word "hengjiantang". "Hengjiantang" is a place for examiners to review examination papers, interview examinees and receive senior officials. The front left of the "lobby" is the "East Wenchang", and the front right is the "West Wenchang". The East and West Wenchang is the place for examinees to take exams. Generally, there are five examinations, one every day. The contents of the examination are eight part essay, trial pasted poem, classic theory, law and Fu, and strategy theory.

There are four characters "heaven, earth, mystery and yellow" in the buildings of the East and the West. "Heaven and earth are mysterious and yellow" is the first sentence in the thousand character essay, which comes from the book of changes. The meaning of this sentence is: the color of the sky is black, and the color of the earth is yellow, which means "the way of heaven is high and deep".

After the "Hall", it is the "second Hall", where the examiners, invigilators and promoted officials are located. During the examination, in order to prevent leakage and fraud, examiners cut off contact with the outside world.

On the left side of "Er Tang" is "Han Changli Temple", in which there is a statue of Han Changli. Han Changli is the Tang Dynasty writer Han Yu, now from Mengxian County, Henan Province. His ancestral home is Changli, so he was called "Han Changli". This temple is set up in the scholar's hall, hoping that candidates can become talents with high literary achievements like Han Yu in the future.

On the right side of the second hall is Huang Wenjie's ancestral hall, in which there is a statue of Wang Wenjie. Huang Wenjie (1213-1281), a famous scholar of Southern Song Dynasty, was born in Cicheng. Huang Wenjie was innocent and respected Zhu Xi's contribution to Neo Confucianism, so he was called "Mr. Wenjie". He went to Fuzhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Province as an official, tried cases fairly, despised the rich and helped the poor, and then demoted to Shaoxing. In his later years, he resigned and returned to his hometown and lived in seclusion in zhangxishan. Setting up this temple naturally tells candidates to be indifferent to fame and wealth and do more good for the common people.

Finally, it is the "test institute". The "selective examination institute" is the place where the examiners send, return and seal papers.

Address: Cicheng ancient town, Cicheng Town, Jiangbei District, Ningbo City

Longitude: 121.462277

Latitude: 29.942833

Ticket information: no ticket required. Included in the ticket of Cicheng ancient town.

Chinese PinYin : Ci Cheng Xiao Shi Guan