Objective Chinese academies represent a unique cultural form integrating pedagogical practice, philosophical thought, and spatial design, which flourished from the Tang to Qing dynasties. Typically situated within natural landscapes, they served not only as educational institutions but also evolved into rich cultural landscapes. Through sustained literary and ritual practices, natural topography was deliberately transformed into symbolic space. This process of “literary inscription”, where poetry, naming, and philosophical discourse imbued physical features with allegorical meaning, reconfigured wilderness into conceptually layered “academy gardens.”Although UNESCO has recognized academies as a significant World Heritage category, critical gaps remain in their interpretation. Major sites, such as the academy clusters in Zhejiang, still suffer from fragmented conservation approaches that fail to address the dynamic relationship between tangible heritage and intangible dimensions. This disconnect underscores an urgent need to clarify the ontological processes through which academy gardens were historically created, accumulated, and conveyed meaning—thereby providing a stronger theoretical and methodological foundation for their conservation and interpretation.

Methods This study takes Wufeng Academy in Jinhua, Zhejiang, as a key case, chosen for its historical importance and well-preserved archival records. A multilayered methodology was applied. First, spatial restoration and historical scene reconstruction were used to recover the academy’s layout and atmosphere during its Song and Ming dynasties peaks, situating it within its natural and cultural setting. Second, textual analysis traced literary representations of the site—particularly through 94 poems, 18 prefaces, and 43 letters—treating them as cultural acts that transformed scenery into symbolic landscape. Third, the academy chronicle was examined to show how generations of scholars inscribed meaning through ritual, discourse, and aesthetic practices. Combining qualitative interpretation with word-frequency analysis, the study reveals both continuity and change in cultural meaning over time.

Results The findings demonstrate that Wufeng Academy Garden was not a passive occupation of scenic terrain, but an active and evolving cultural production. Its transformation was propelled by a range of scholarly practices—including intellectual inquiry, debate, poetic expression, and ritual performance. The study identifies three cumulative modes of landscape shaping: 1) Causal Exploration, where scholars examined the inherent qualities and symbolic potential of natural features to ground the academy’s intellectual and spatial orientation; 2) Metaphorical Association, aligning natural elements with cultural ideals, moral virtues, or historical precedents to embed philosophy into the landscape; and 3) Poetic Inspiration and Inscription, through which meaning was crystallized and enduringly encoded into the scenery. Together, these formed a recursive mechanism that intertwined nature and culture. Beyond this internal dynamic, the mature conception of Wufeng Academy Garden extended past its physical site. It served as a hub for disseminating Neo-Confucian and later Yangming philosophy, while its poetic landscape became emblematic of local identity. This symbolic landscape reinforced scholarly networks within Zhejiang and permeated regional culture through commemorations, rituals, and collective memory. By the late Ming and Qing, the site had shifted from an educational center to a commemorative and ritual landscape—illustrating how academy gardens continued to function as cultural symbols even as their pedagogical role declined.

Conclusion This study makes several key contributions. First, it reconstructs Wufeng Academy’s history by integrating spatial, textual, and ritual dimensions. Second, it theorizes the dynamic relationship between material space and literary inscription, framing academy gardens as living cultural landscapes. Third, through the concept of “localized generation,” it explains how natural scenery was continually reinterpreted through cultural engagement—a paradigm that enriches heritage studies broadly. Practically, the findings call for conservation that moves beyond architecture to include intangible heritage preserved in texts, rituals, and discourse. By highlighting the interplay of space, text, and memory, the study advocates integrated protection of both physical and intellectual-spiritual heritage. Ultimately, Wufeng shows how academy gardens function not as static monuments, but as dynamic cultural processes that remain relevant to regional and global heritage discourse.