While Fudan scholars brought academic resources to the village, local educators and cultural figures have sustained the same values through grassroots efforts.

Zhou Zhengwen, a retired art professor of Tongren University, returned to Loushang in 2015 to help establish the Yangzheng Academy, an institution providing training and cultural classes. He offers free after-school calligraphy, painting and, more recently, guqin lessons.

"It is less an extracurricular class than the subtle influence of dedicated teachers," says Zhou Qihong, the former head of the primary school who helps run the academy.

"The village motto is 'I do not wish my descendants official posts. I only wish them virtue'. The cultivation of scholarship is Loushang's greatest treasure," Zhou Zhengwen says.

He hopes the academy provides a place for left-behind children or those with only one parent at home, away from digital distractions. With donations, the academy has persisted for 10 years and sometimes attracts outside students who stay after a single class.

"Fudan's teachers have helped with scholarship and also by lighting children's imaginations," Zhou Zhengwen says. "Many want to be like them when they grow up and begin planning their futures."