Shàngráo

Shangrao stands on the Xin River in northeastern Jiangxi, among routes leading east toward Zhejiang and north toward the Yangtze basin. As the seat of Guangxin Prefecture, the town administered a district of river valleys and mountains. On the south bank of the Xin stood an academy dedicated to learning and the memory of the Song philosopher Zhu Xi.

In 1360 Hu Dahai, a general serving Zhu Yuanzhang, captured Xinzhou and renamed it Guangxin Prefecture. Under the Qing, the academy was repaired in 1743 and named Ziyang in honour of Zhu Xi. A prefect enlarged it in 1781, when it took the name Xinjiang Academy. Its halls became a place for students to gather beside the river.