Established by Zhang Zhidong, the San Jiang (Three Rivers) Normal Academy, then renamed Liang Jiang (Two Rivers) Normal Academy, was a large-scale modern institution with orderly facilities. Attracting teachers from Japan with high salaries and offering curricula in modern science, agricultural and industrial technology and educational pedagogy, the school built a solid foundation after only a few years. But the 1911 Revolution unfortunately decimated its vitality. After several years, the school gradually began to recover as the Nanjing Higher Normal School. This school became the forerunner to Southeast University, National Central University and Nanjing University.