Academy of culture on Tianma Hill
Tianma Academy
The opening ceremony of Tianma Academy of Sheshan Town was held on January 19. The ceremony was part of a three-year culture promotion project of the Sheshan township government.
Tianma Academy is on Tianma Hill. Its cultural atmosphere can be felt once people enter its east gate.
On a path behind the gate that leads toward the academy’s main building there are displays of the cultural treasures of Sheshan Town — root carvings and palm fibre woven handcrafts. Some of the root carvings are works by Songjiang intangible cultural inheritor Qi Laifa, whereas palm fibre woven handcrafts of various shapes are also eye-catching.
Inside the main building writings on the culture and history of the academy are hung on the wall.
Tianma Academy is in three parts. Besides the academy buildings at the foot of Tianma Hill, it also includes Liuyun Pavilion at the middle of the hill and Huzhu Pagoda around the west gate of the academy buildings.
The academy, a good place for children to study ancient Chinese civilization and adults to relax, is open to the public.
Children, especially children from poor families, are invited to the academy to study Chinese culture for free.
According to the cultural promotion project which was signed during the ceremony, the academy, together with six other institutes including Songjiang Library, Songjiang Museum and Cheng Shifa Art Gallery, will hold culture-related activities and courses for Sheshan citizens in the future.
“In the past, residents of Sheshan Town had to go downtown or the neighborhood communities when they felt like studying Chinese culture, writing calligraphy or doing traditional Chinese painting. Facilities at the neighborhood communities are simple and crude, whereas downtown is a bit far away from Sheshan. Now Sheshan people have their own academy and plenty of studying resources. They will live and study with a sense of ritual,” said an official in charge of the project.
Address: At the foot of Tianma Hill
How to get there: Sheshan Station, Metro Line 9; then take Songjiang No. 90 Bus to Tianma Hill Station
People visit the newly opened Tianma Academy of Sheshan Town. Among items exhibited at the academy are calligraphy and painting works.
