Shigu Academy (石鼓书院) stands on Shigu Hill, a stone outcrop in the north of Hengyang where the Zheng, Xiang and Lei rivers meet, surrounded by water on three sides. Founded in 810 during the Tang dynasty, it became the foremost of the four great academies of the Song and a cradle of the scholarly culture of Hunan, with masters such as Zhu Xi, Zhang Shi and Zhou Dunyi lecturing there across the centuries. For more than a thousand years it trained generations of examination candidates until it was converted into a modern school in the early twentieth century. Japanese aircraft flattened the compound in 1939, and the academy was rebuilt from 2006 on the Qing-dynasty layout. Today the restored halls, the Great View Tower, the Hejiang Pavilion and the shrine of the seven worthies, open again onto the river.
Shigu Academy was founded on a rock island where three rivers meet in Hengyang and became one of the great academies of the south. Zhu Xi and Zhang Shi lectured there, Japanese bombs levelled it in 1939, and it was rebuilt from 2006 on its Qing layout.