As one of the four most prestigious academies in China, with a history of 1000 years,
Yuelu Academy is a famous institution of higher learning as well as a center of academic activities and upholding cultures since it was formally set up in the ninth year of the Kai Bao Reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (976).
Yuelu Academy, surviving the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, was converted into Hunan Institute of Higher Learning in 1903, and Hunan Normal College, Hunan Public Polytechnic School in succession, and was finally named Hunan University in 1926.