The Confucian Academy at Qingyan was founded during the Ming Dynasty as the educational centre for the garrison town and its surrounding region. The imperial examination system made education not just a cultural value but an economic one — a successful candidate could lift a family from poverty to the gentry class in a single generation, and even in a small frontier town like Qingyan, families saved for years to give their sons the education that might make that possible.
The academy building has been restored and now functions as a small museum of local history and education. The layout follows the standard pattern of Confucian educational institutions: a main hall with a shrine to Confucius, side halls for study, and a courtyard designed to separate the intellectual life inside from the commercial life of the town outside. The examination alcoves, where candidates sat for the local qualifying rounds, are visible in the rear section.