Kaohsiung: Fongyi Academy

I first learnt about this place was from a well-known Writer- Selena, through her blog. It was a place after years of restoration and renovation to retain and repair the Academy's origin and uniqueness. Those funny figures scattered around the Academy sure attracted me to put it into our itinerary. Good place to introduce a brief history of the ancient Chinese Education and its civil examination system to the girls, I thought.

First built in 1814, the 19th year of Qing emperor Jiaqing (嘉慶), the Fongyi Academy is considered a third-grade heritage site. It has 37 rooms and the academy's internal altars, as well as desks and chairs; it was a place where prospective examinees took the initial exams and the largest Confucian academy preserved in Taiwan. (source)

Note: We adults were charged NT$49 per admission; looking at jiejie's height and look, she entitled NT$39 and Bomber, below 6 got the cheapest deal: NT$25. 4 tiickets = total of NT$162.

 

I truly admire the spirit of the local people in keeping the history of the Academy and conserving the building to its best original form . There was a lot of reading in the exhibition and at the same time, making the learning/reading in a fun way.

According to this official site, such Academies were the primary educational institutes before the national education system was put in place, hence, they played very important role in public instruction. The privately funded Pingshan Tutorial Academy, founded during the Qing Dynasty, was the first in the Fongshan area. It was destroyed during in a revolt but the Fongshan Magistrate called for its reconstruction.

In  the old days of China (including Taiwan), children, mainly boys (In imperial times educational opportunities were far more restricted for girls and women than were for boys) went to school simply meant the beginning of the early part of the curriculum not just the basic literacy, but also into the examination system. Similarly, the civil service examinations were conducted at every level of the Chinese administrative hierarchy. 

The lowest level of the Chinese imperial administration was the county seat, and in the county seat one took the preliminary examination, which, if passed, qualified one to take the examination at the second level, which was at the prefectoral (district) seat. The third-level examinations were given in the provincial capitol, and the forth and highest level of examinations were given in the imperial palace itself. Those who only passed at the prefectoral level (秀才) had the most common imperial degree. The holders of this degree took positions of leadership in their villages and towns and also became school teachers, maintaining the very educational system in which they themselves had achieved success. (excerpted from here) 

There was a temple abutting the Academy, dedicated to the worship of Wenchang Dijun (文昌帝君), a Taoist god of culture and literature who was believed to handle all affairs regarding exams. Well, including bringing lucks to scholars and students.

We took train to Fongshan Station, walked through Zhonghua Street( 中華街) → Xinyi Street(信義街), then turned right into Caogong Road(曹公路), passed by Kaohsiung Public Library and crossed the road into Fengming Street(鳳明街). Once you see an old temple on your left, you are reaching Fongyi Academy.

After exited from the Fongshan Station, we passed through Zhonghua Street and very much attracted by the variety of the food. I told SC that we should grab lunch here by the end of our visit to Academy.

Note: I skipped embedding google map here as it shows different route and I don't recommend it at all, as it skips Zhonghua Street entirely! Can not!

It turned out to be one of the most scrumptious meals we had in Kaohsiung. We were simply random picked a stall and ordered a bowl of beef noodle and some desserts from next stall. I am not expert to beef-related soup or noodle, but this clear beef soup with noodle was unusual kind of kids-friendly as the intestine taste was kept to its minimal and yet was amazingly tender and genuine. The soup was refreshing. It was the girls very first try for intestine soup and they enjoyed it very much.

Back to Fongyi Academy:

Opening hour:
Tue to Fri: 1030 to 1730 (last admission: 1700)
Sat, Sun and Public Holiday: 1030 to 1830 (last admission: 1800)
Academy closed on Monday, as well as any non-working day of the the City Government of Kaohsiung.

Official site: 凤仪书院 | Facebook

Recommended spending time: 2 to 3 hours, preferably in the morning [so that you get to eat the yummiest beef noodle as lunch thereafter;)]