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Fengyi College
Text/Peer Jun
Last night, I decided to go to Fengyi Academy, immerse myself in the teaching situation in ancient times, and imagine how those incomplete buildings carry the mission of educating people.
Early this morning, due to the remnants of last night's obscene rain, the sky was dark, and the air was full of cold breath. At this moment, the sky was still drifting with rain, and it did not stop until before lunch.
After taking a nap, I rode my bicycle to Pingtung Railway Station, caught the train at 14:32, and drove for ten minutes to Fengshan. After getting off the bus, according to the map guide, it took a few minutes to walk to the "Fengyi Academy" that was firmly rooted in the soil of education. I went to the ticket office and bought a student ticket, which costs NT$39.
After checking the tickets in, I was attracted by this ancient academy with ancient meaning and ancient charm, and I stood on my feet and raised my head to stare at the head door. Its roof trusses are made of wood with dovetail ridges, and the eaves are surrounded by red brick tiles; its doors, also made of wood, are similar to the color of red brick tiles, and the original appearance of these things has been dimmed by time and space, covered with a layer of withered hues. In front of the courtyard, there are group portrait dolls of the Qing Dynasty Fengshan Zhixian Cao Jinyuan to investigate the teaching situation of the academy. Among them were small officials holding avoidance cards and solemnity cards, and there were also small officials carrying large gongs that opened the way, and finally they rode a horse for Cao Jin and prepared to return to the palace. They would not have imagined that hundreds of years later, today, or yesterday, their visit would be shown to people in the form of dolls, not just words.
Entering the academy from the wall gate with the forehead of "Dun Shi Shu" on the right side, I walked through the path to the side of the lecture hall, and the director of the academy in front of me on the left side was accompanying Cao Jin of Zhixian to test the teaching status in the lecture hall, and the mountain chief was holding a book and reading the article. Some of the students sat with books, some stood, some sat and dragged their cheeks, and some lay on their stomachs. Among them, there are young people who are full of vigor and spirits, and there are also old children who are twilight and pale. Once the ancient Han warriors embarked on the path of career, most people never looked back and kept moving forward, and the two-sided nature of the imperial examination was self-evident in this teaching situation.
Dun Poetry Book
Classroom
Out of the lecture hall, from the left door next to the lecture hall, the two huts in the left corridor are the students' school buildings at that time, the plaques on the top are "There is a Fenglaiyi" and "The West Wind is Gradually Moving", there are Chinese classical objects in the display area of the Fenglaiyi, and there are two Western-style armchairs and a Western camera in the room of the West Wind. Walking here, the building of the college as a whole is basically the same, wooden doors and roof trusses, the walls are mostly red brick and white powder walls, the style of the interior is simple and simple, and some unknown places are painted with some patterns, which have a Confucian elegance.
I continued to move forward, entered the sacrificial space of the academy, the hall affairs, took an incense on the left desk, prayed three prayers reverently in front of the ding, and solemnly inserted this incense into the incense ash in the ding. After finishing, I turned right and walked a few steps into the examination exhibition area, there was one in it and one outside. On the left side of the outer room is a brief introduction to the Eight Strands of Text, as well as a list of the Wind Mountain's Lifters and Jinshi. In the glass box in front of it are the articles of the Qing Dynasty examination candidates, as well as some people's pocket copies. Inside, there is a room for the candidates' examination room, the number house, one for each person, and it is also the place where they sleep during the examination. On the wall opposite the small room is pasted a flow chart of the "township examination", and the township examination has three examinations, each for three days, one of which is specially used for roll call, and the three examinations are four books, scriptures and questions. The first two sessions are the eight strands of text that we are familiar with. After reading this flow chart, I can't help but feel happy in today's era, there is no worry of eight strands, and the pain of learning tongue. After the sneaking joy, I can't help but sympathize with the readers at that time, but think about it carefully, is today's era really suitable for the readers? I lowered my head and muttered, "I'm just a fool, how can I understand the latent dimension of this era?"
Housekeeping
Out of the door, I walked into the hut on the right side of the worship area, where the films, models and texts expounded the history of Fengshan and the history of the academy. In the Qing Dynasty, Fengshan originally had a new city and an old city, but due to the Lin Shuangwen incident, the old city was devastated and the Pingshan Academy was destroyed. If a county town does not have a academy, it is equivalent to having no carrier to nourish the soul, and it also loses the spiritual charm of a city. So under the initiative of the local Zhi County and the donation of the local squire, Fengyi Academy was born. No one expected that after experiencing historical changes such as the Japanese occupation era and the Period of World War II, it stood resolutely here with the support of people adding a brick and a tile, although it became the sunset at dusk, it was also completely gone like a rainbow, but it never forgot its mission - to nourish the soul of the city.
With a solemn mood, looking at the old man who is late in age, it is inevitable that the energy will pass quickly. At this time, the eyes are a little sleepy, the stomach has been flattened, and it is waiting to be fed. I found the former college's test house, now the Hanlin Tea Garden. As soon as I walked in, the scent of tea eggs filled the surroundings, and on the left and right were some special goods related to Guan Fengyi Academy, and I picked a lecture hall on the shelf full of postcards and bought it. Of course, I also bought a Pu'er tea egg that I smelled just after entering the door, plus a cup of Pu'er milk tea.
Drinking tea and eating eggs, a Zen breath slowly generated around the table, and then slowly spread out, I closed my eyes and felt the surprise. When I woke up, I wrote this travelogue.
Written in 2017
Revised in 2021
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