黉

hóng is archaic. It named the village or county academies of antiquity (Han through Tang), where boys learned the Classics. Surviving compounds: 黉学 (the academy / its students), 黉门 (the academy gate — by metonym, the school itself), 黉舍 (school buildings). In modern Chinese the standard words are 学校 or 书院 (for academy); 黉 is used only in deliberately classical or literary register, often for poetic effect or in restoring period flavour.

黉门客 ('student of the academy gate') was a polite term for a graduate of the local school in imperial times, especially one who had attained the 秀才 degree. The phrase appears in the Ming play 《牡丹亭》 (Peony Pavilion): 黄门旧是黉门客 — 'the eunuch was once a school graduate'.