History The Restoration of Fongyi Academy, a Municipal Heritage Site

During the Qing dynasty, Fengshan County consisted of new and old towns. The construction of the Fongyi Academy was a result of the Lin Shuang-wen Rebellion, which destroyed the old town at Singlongjhuang (now Zuoying), and the Pingshan Academy there was also ravaged in the event. Fongyi Academy was therefore established in the new town (now Fengshan) in 1814.
The construction of the Fongyi Academy began with the county magistrate Wu Sing-cheng’s proposition and proceeded after the donation from a local gentry group, called Fenshe. Chang Ting-cin, a candidate for the Imperial Exams, was in charge of the construction. Fongyi Academy housed a Wenchang Temple, a Jing Zih Ting (a furnace where paper bearing writing was burned), an Examination Hall, a Yi Cang (food bank), Cao Gong Temple, Wuzih Temple and a free private school. It once served as a seat for the mediation of lawsuits. In 1853, it was temporarily converted into an “Office of Military Strategy” during the Lin Kung-chi Uprising. The only documented refurbishment took place in 1891 by Lu De-siang.
During the Japanese rule, it served as the Fengshan branch of the Japanese Army Hospital. It was also used as a sericulture farm and a dormitory for officers. After the Second World War, the Ministry of Education took over the Academy and leased it to local residents. The Academy was made a heritage site by the Ministry of the Interior in 1985. In 2005, the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government, acquired the management of the site. For the next three years, it helped resettle tenants before demolishing illegal additions. In 2009, it carried out an overall restoration of the Academy. It was completed in 2013.
The heritage site has been restored to its original form. As the oldest, largest and most complete of all the existing academies in Taiwan, it features various exhibitions about imperial examinations and the history of Fengshan and the Academy.