白沙書院，乃淡水同知曾曰瑛(1708-1753)，「以彰化設治二十餘年，尚無書院，慮無以為培養人材地，遂捐俸建書院於文廟之西偏」。創建時間是乾隆十年(1745)，迄光緒廿一年(1895)後為日人所毀，前後150餘年，彰化文教因之而起。白沙書院的特色，其一是知縣楊桂森於嘉慶十六年(1811)頒部學規，強調讀書「以力行為先」、「以立品為重」，以及「以成物為急」，顯見書院是以成就高尚人格為首要標的，且學規文字十分白話淺顯；其二，書院山長多以地方具有科考功名的士人擔任，呈顯了在地化的特色；其三，書院負有啟蒙教育之責，在有清正式書院中顯得頗為特別。彰化一地之教化，自白沙書院創建後方大為遷善，文士受其薰陶者不計其數，開創了彰化一地的文教之風，此從其培育出甚多的進士、舉人即可略知一二，顯見白沙書院教育功能。乙未之變，白沙書院成為抗日中心，亦呈顯書院承荷的民族精神。本文區分三部分陳述，一察考白沙書院的創建始末，二從白沙書院學規探討其承荷的基本精神為何，三藉由與白沙書院相關先輩理解書院遺存的意義何在。最後作一結論。

The Baisha academy 白沙書院was founded by Ceng Riying 曾曰瑛 to contribute to the education in the vicinity to further local talent in the Zhanghua 彰化 area. Thus he founded the academy in 1745. The academy existed until 1895 when the Japanese destroyed it. During its 150 years of existence the academy greatly contributed to education in the Zhanghua district. The Baisha academy developed its own educational ideals: The goal of the academy was to shape the character of its students. Its teachers were local literati and it understood itself as standing in a humanistic tradition. Its success can be measured by the number of literati that passed the government examinations. The Baisha academy later also played an important role in resisting the Japanese invasion. The paper is divided in three parts. In the first part the history of the Baisha academy will be described, in the second part the study rules of the academy will be analyzed; in the third part will explore the role of academies in forging Taiwanese culture in general.