The academy (the predecessor or today's Zhejiang University) was set up in the 23rd year(1897) of the Guangxu Reign in the Qing Dynasty by Lin Qi, prefect of Hangzhou. On the original site of the academy was Puci Temple (Temple of Universal Tranquilitv). the main hall of which was an office of the academy, while the classroom and dormitory were located in the east and west rooms in the rear of the main hall. Qiushi (Learning) Academy is the first new-type high-learning institutionin Zhejiang Province, bringing up the first group of talents with modern scientific knowledge ana democratic ideology in the province thus occupying a certain status in China Modern educational history. On the site, only the main hall and side halls of the former Puci Temple remain nowadays.The main hall faces south; it has five bays with single eave and hip-and-gable roof, it's a typical architecture in the late Qing Dynasty.