Yuelu Academy

The Yuelu Academy, also known as Yuelu Academy of Classical Studies, is located next to the Yuelu Mountains, in the city of Changsha, in the Chinese province of Hunan.

It was founded in 976, the ninth year of the reign of the Song dynasty, and was one of the four imperial academies of higher learning. It is postulated as the oldest existing university in the world. Confucius' disciples Zhu Xi and Zhang Shi studied at this institution.

In 1903 the academy became a university and in 1925 Hunan University was established on the site. Since its founding, Yuelu Academy has enjoyed high prestige as a cultural institution and center of academic activities.

It has witnessed more than a thousand consecutive years of history and is the only one of the ancient Chinese academies of classical studies to have become a modern institution of higher learning. As an integral part of Hunan University, the academy has established itself as a Han language research center and is one of the country's leading academic and cultural centers.