Yuelu Academy is one of the four most famous academies in Chinese history. It is located at the foot of Yuelu Mountain on the west bank of the Xiang River in Changsha, a famous historical and cultural city in China, and is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the world.
In the ninth year of the Kaibao era of the Northern Song Dynasty (976), Zhu Dong, the prefect of Tanzhou, officially founded Yuelu Academy with government donations on the basis of a school established by monks. In the eighth year of the Xiangfu era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1015), Emperor Zhenzong of Song summoned Zhou Shi, the head of Yuelu Academy, and bestowed with his imperial brush the four-character door plaque "Yuelu Academy." Thereafter, the academy went through the Southern Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. In the 29th year of the Guangxu era at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1903), Yuelu Academy was merged with the Hunan Provincial Capital University Hall and reorganized into the Hunan Higher School, continuing to use the original site of the academy. In the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926), the Hunan Higher School was officially named Hunan University, and it has continued to expand on the original site of the academy to this day.
The main body of Yuelu Academy covers an area of more than 31,000 square meters and is divided into the main academy, the affiliated Confucian Temple, and the newly built China Academy Museum. The building area of Yuelu Academy is about 11,000 square meters. Most of the existing buildings are relics from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its ancient architecture adopts a courtyard layout featuring central axis symmetry and multiple successive depths. Yuelu Academy is the largest and best-preserved academy architectural complex existing in China.
In 1986, Hunan University completed the restoration of Yuelu Academy and officially opened it to the public. In 1988, Yuelu Academy was approved by the State Council as a cultural relic under national key protection in the third batch. In 2005, Hunan University Yuelu Academy was officially restored, with several departments established under it, including the Institute of Chinese Philosophy, the Institute of History, the Institute of Chinese Thought and Culture, the Chinese Academy Research Center, and the Chinese Soft Power Culture Research Center. By 2009, Yuelu Academy had established a complete framework of disciplines ranging from undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs to postdoctoral research stations, officially becoming an entity for teaching and research and a research base of Hunan University.