In the third year of the Southern Song Dynasty (1 167), in August, Zhu Yingzhang, a master of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, came to Yuelu Academy at the invitation of Bishop Zhang, and told Zhang that thousands of people came to attend classes all over the country. "Drinking water from the source, once dried up" has made a beautiful talk in history-Zhu said that this is a famous article in the academic history and education history of China. It is said that Zhu and Zhang Qian had different opinions at that time, and they discussed the issue of Neo-Confucianism here for three days and three nights.

After Zhu gave lectures, the reputation of Yuelu Academy spread further.

Yuelu Academy was named after it was built at the foot of Yuelu Mountain on the west bank of Xiangjiang River in Changsha. Yuelu Academy was formally founded in the ninth year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (976). It was one of the four major academies at that time, with lecture halls, dormitories and library buildings.

In Song Dynasty, with the shift of economic and cultural center of gravity to the south, the development of Huxiang culture made remarkable achievements. The establishment of Yuelu Academy also promoted the development of Huxiang culture to a great extent.

The elite part of Huxiang culture is Huxiang School, or Xiangxue. Refers to the academic thoughts produced in Hunan, including those created by Hunan people in past dynasties and those formed and put forward by foreign scholars in Hunan. It originated from Zhou Dunyi, a native of Daozhou, Hunan Province in the Song Dynasty, and was formally formed by Hu Anguo and Hu Hong, sons living in Hengshan, Hunan Province, in the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhang Wei is a disciple of Hu Hong and a master of Huxiang School. It is precisely because Zhang Zhang taught Yuelu Academy that the focus of Huxiang School shifted from Hengshan to Changsha. Changsha once again became the cultural center of Hunan, and Huxiang School reached its peak.

The "Yuelu giants" mentioned in the case of Yuelu Confucianism in Huang Zongxi's Song and Yuan Studies, such as Master Hu, Wu Lie, Peng Guinian and Lu Jiuyuan, are all famous students trained by Zhang Wei when he presided over Yuelu Academy.