Donglin Academy

• Founded: 1604
• Location: Wuxi, northeast of Suzhou

The Donglin Academy, founded in 1604 in Wuxi, just northeast of Suzhou, was a prominent center of political thought in the late Ming Dynasty. In particular, it became a center of so-called "pure criticism" of certain factions and policies at the Imperial Court; disputes between the supporters of the Donglin scholars, and their opponents, consumed much activity at court in the final decades of the dynasty.

References

• Conrad Schirokauer, et al, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 265.