Shanyang Academy was originally located on the north bank of the Shou River in Jinxiang County. In the 26th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1761), Magistrate Mai established the academy on the former site of the free school founded by the previous magistrate Shen Gongyuan.

The construction included three main gate rooms, three lecture halls, three rear halls, and twenty-nine east and west wing rooms on the front and rear courtyards. A total of 189 mu of farmland was purchased as endowment.

In the seventh year of the Tongzhi reign (1868), Magistrate Jiang Qing renovated the academy and launched a fundraising campaign. The school farmland was expanded to 2,017 mu. The land income was entrusted to local gentry and deposited in pawnshops to accrue interest. The proceeds covered the stipend for the academy principal, building maintenance, and study grants for students. Together with Chen Wen, he also built 18 examination booths. Afterwards, invited scholars tutored students monthly for more than thirty years.

Classes were held at Shanyang Academy from the second to the fourth lunar month and the sixth to the ninth lunar month every year. Monthly examinations consisted of official tests and private school tests. For official examinations, study grants were funded by the academy farmland, and prizes were covered by government funds. For private school tests, only prizes were offered, paid from farm revenue. The amount of grants and rewards was determined by ranking.

Essays written by scholar students were graded into three tiers: Excellent, Distinguished and Good. There were 12 grant quotas:

Essays written by juvenile students fell into three grades: Upper, Middle and Lower. There were 20 grant quotas:

Fixed budgets were set for printing examination papers, purchasing teaching equipment, subsidizing ritual clerks, and covering the board wages of academy servants.

In the 29th year of the Guangxu reign (1903), Shanyang Academy was ordered to be reorganized into a branch civil examination school, and the academy was then abolished.