書院對清代學術影響極大，對文學的發展亦有推助之功。桐城文派能綿延二百餘年，有諸多原因，其中較為重要的一條是靠書院講學來傳衍。包括姚鼐在內的眾多名家都曾主持書院講席，且歷時較長，培養出眾多弟子，幾乎代有傳人。依此傳衍途徑，桐城文派在廣西形成包括呂璜、朱琦、彭星堯、龍啟瑞、王拯在內的「嶺西五家」；在河北，經過張裕釗、吳汝綸、王樹柟等人的努力也形成風氣。桐城文派因此以東南一隅為中心擴展開來，在地域上獲得一種平衡，形成既有時間長度又有空間廣度的全國性文派。文學流派的傳衍方式有多種多樣，然而像桐城文派這樣以書院為媒介頗有規模地傳衍，則前所未有，從中亦可稍見教育與文學之間的密切關係。

Academies had a great effect on the scholarship of the Qing dynasty and gave the literature of the period a great boost as well. There may have been a number of reasons why the Tongcheng School 桐城文派 was able to survive for more than two hundred years, but a relatively important one was the lectures and studies that took place in those academies. Many masters of this school, including Yao Nai 姚鼐 (1732-1815), served for long periods as deans or teachers in the academies. While there, they educated many students, which in turn allowed them to produce successors to the Tongcheng School tradition in almost every subsequent generation. In this way, the Tongcheng School was carried on in Guangxi by the LingXi Wu Jia 嶺西五家 of Lü Huang 呂璜 (1777-1839), Zhu Qi 朱琦 (1803-1861), Peng Yuyao 彭昱堯 (1809-1851), Long Qirui 龍啟瑞 (1814-1859) and Wang Zheng 王拯 (1815-1876) . In Hebei, the efforts of Zhang Yuzhao 張裕釗 (1823-1894), Wu Rulun吳汝綸 (1840-1903) and Wang Shunan 王樹柟 (1851-1936) made the Tongcheng School influential in that area. Expanding from the southeast of China to attain a regional balance, the Tongcheng School became a nationwide literary school with a long history. There are a number of ways for a literary school to spread, but the example of the Tongcheng School was the first time large-scale expansion was seen using the medium of academies. As a result, this example can be used to explore the close relation between education and literature.