Keelung Chongji Academy

The only official Confucian academy founded in Keelung and the last of its kind founded anywhere in Taiwan. It was raised in 1893 by the juren scholar Jiang Chenghui (江呈輝) with contributions from local gentry and a sizable endowment from subprefect Zhang Ruitan (章瑞坦). The buildings were not completed until 1895, the same year Taiwan was ceded to Japan, and within months of opening the academy was requisitioned for use as a hospital by the Japanese military garrison, with the Confucius, Cangjie, and Taishang Laojun (太上老君) tablets secreted away to Qing’an Temple by Jiang’s disciple Xu Zisang (許梓桑). Nothing remains at the foot of Shiqiuling Ridge (獅球嶺) where the academy once stood, but the surrounding area is administratively still known as Shuyuan Village (書院里).