Wang Chuanshan, a philosopher in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, is a synthesizer of China’s simple materialist thinking. His former residence, with grey walls and black tiles, is located at Xiangxi Thatched Cottage in Qulan Town, Hengyang County, Hengyang City, surrounded by a large area of lotus ponds. In front of the courtyard stand two tall and vigorous cypress trees.

    After experiencing turmoil of dynasty change, Wang Chuanshan retired and wrote more than 400 volumes in this quaint residential building, leaving behind the treasures of traditional Chinese philosophy and Hunan culture.

    He proposed the concept of “Humanistic Pragmatism”, advocated for the integration of knowledge and action, emphasized the academic research should serve the reality and sought to inherit and carry forward the traditional Chinese culture. His thoughts still have important contemporary value in various fields such as philosophy, history, and politics.

    Wang Chuanshan’s Hometown Ecological and Cultural Tourism Area is built based on Xiangxi Thatched Cottage. With Chuanshan Cultural Park, Chuanshan Modern Agriculture Demonstration Park, Fuzhi Riverside Ecological Cultural Park, Shichuanshan Site and other scenic spots, it aims to create a Hunan cultural spiritual source and Chuanshan cultural memorial highland that integrates such functions as Chinese and foreign cultural exhibition and exchange, Chuanshan cultural research, training and study tour. It attracts a large number of tourists to come for tourism and study tours every year.

    Hengyang City, as the hometown of Wang Chuanshan, has many precious historical sites. Fuzhi Lane, located in Yanfeng District, is one of them.

    “Fuzhi Lane used to be an unnamed alley about 40 meters long and 2 meters wide. At its end stands the statue of Wang Chuanshan in Wangyaping,” said Long Bin, Party secretary of Yanjiang Community in Yanfeng District.

   Wangyaping, located at the foot of Huiyan Peak, is the birthplace of Wang Chuanshan. Now, after it has been reconstructed, Fuzhi Lane appears with a new look. Relying on cultural landscapes such as the exhibition hall, statue, and cultural walls, they are endowed with practical ideological connotations, integrating Chuanshan culture into daily life.

    The Chuanshan Academy, located on Dongzhou Isle, is a popular destination for the study of Chuanshan culture and an important cultural context of Hunan.

Zhang Xianhe, the magistrate of Hengyang County, built the Chuanshan Academy at the Wang Family’s Ancestral Hall in Wangyaping in 1878.

    The academy moved to Dongzhou Isle in 1885, and Wang Kaiyun, the master of Chinese culture, was appointed as the head of the academy. Many talented individuals such as Yang Du, Qi Baishi, and Zeng Xi also came from this school.

    From then on, the Chuanshan Academy became the most prestigious academy in the late Qing Dynasty and continued to play an educational and teaching role until the end of the 20th century. Relying on the academy, Chuanshan Thought has become an important force in promoting modern Hunan culture to the historical stage.

   In 2019, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Wang Chuanshan’s birth, Hengyang City held a series of activities with the theme of “promoting Chuanshan spirit and enhancing cultural confidence”, including the Wang Chuanshan Thought International Academic Seminar and the first China (Hengyang) Chuanshan Academy Cultural Tourism Festival. Every year thereafter, there is an event to celebrate Wang Chuanshan’s birth, which has exerted extensive influence on the commemoration of Wang Chuanshan and the dissemination of Hunan culture.

    Since 2020, the “Chuanshan Forum” for enterprise development in Hengyang City has been regularly held at Chuanshan Academy, building a platform for enterprise exchange and lectures.

   Relying on the Chuanshan culture, schools in Hengyang City regularly organize study and practice activities. A large number of seminars on traditional Chinese culture, cultural lectures, and themed reading activities are held in Hengyang. Chuanshan culture has become a valuable brand of Hengyang to promote the development of its cultural and tourism industry.