Beijing imperial academy was founded in the decade of Yuan Dade. Destroyed and rebuilt in the early Ming Dynasty, it became the highest institution of learning in Beijing. Emperor Yongle moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, changed Beiping to imperial academy in Beijing, and kept imperial academy in Nanjing. Due to the war at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, there are few architectural remains of Yuan Dynasty in imperial academy, and most of them were built in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

After 1949, Beijing imperial academy was once the capital library, Yilun Hall was converted into a reading room, and Liutang became a stack room. With the completion and commissioning of the new Capital Library, the first painting was moved out of imperial academy in 2003. Now imperial academy is the seat of China Education Museum. As the capital library, Beijing imperial academy was once open to the public free of charge, but now as a museum, you have to buy a ticket to enter.