Pingtung Academy

Date CapturedDecember 6th, 2018 at 02:22 UTCCameraNIKON D3100LensAF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR IIApertureƒ / 10Shutter Speed1/400 secFocal Length18.0 mmISO200Exposure Value15.3 EVOriginal Size3600 × 2400

Founded in 1815 by Fengshan County magistrate Wu Xingcheng (吳性誠) alongside local scholars Guo Cui (郭萃) and Lin Mengyang (林夢陽), this Confucian academy was originally located within what is now Pingtung Park (屏東公園). When Japanese city improvement plans threatened the structure in the 1930s Fujishima Gaijirō (藤島亥治郎) of Tokyo Imperial University intervened with a proposal to relocate rather than demolish it. The academy was dismantled and rebuilt at its present site by 1939. After its original function as a center of education became obsolete the building was repurposed as the Pingtung Confucian Temple (屏東孔廟), and it remains in use as such today. The site was designated a historic monument in 1985, and the original academy name was officially restored in 1988. This academy is actually what gives Pingtung its name; previously the settlement was known as Ahou (阿猴), but it was changed under Japanese rule.