Tianyi Pavilion is a national key cultural relics protection unit, located in Tianyi Street on the west side of Yuehu Lake in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Tianyi Pavilion is the oldest private library in China, the oldest library in Asia and one of the three oldest family libraries in the world. Founded in the 40th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (A.D. 156 1), it was presided over by Fan Qin, the retired right assistant minister of the Ministry of War. Fan Qin liked to collect ancient books all his life, and later he got the only remaining collection of Li Wanjuan Building in Yinxian, which reached more than 70,000 volumes, among which local chronicles and Dengkelu were the most rare. In the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong (A.D. 1772), imperial edicts began to compile The Complete Works of Si, and Fan Qin's eighth Sun Fan presented a collection of 638 kinds of books, so Emperor Qianlong ordered the mapping of the styles of houses and bookcases in Tianyi Pavilion, and built the famous "Seven Pavilions in North and South" to collect seven episodes of Si. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, literati have been proud to visit this building.
In order to protect the books, Fan Qin has made strict family rules, such as women are not allowed to go upstairs. Generations of descendants strictly follow the legacy that "books are not divided into generations, but books are still divided by years". In the 13th year of Jiaqing (A.D. 1808), there were 4,094 books and more than 53,000 volumes in the library. During the Opium War, the British invaders plundered dozens of ancient books such as A Record of Unification. During the Xianfeng period (A.D.1851~1861), thieves sneaked into the museum, stole many books and sold them to French missionaries and paper mills. After that, I experienced many changes. By 1940, the library only had 159 1 books, with *** 13038 volumes. After the founding of New China, the government set up a management organization to protect Tianyi Pavilion, and obtained more than 3,000 original books that have been lost abroad, and supplemented the ancient books donated by local collectors. Now, the number of rare books has reached more than 80,000.
Fan Qin's private books have been preserved for more than 400 years since the13rd century. Although there have been several thieves, afterwards, the Fan clan will try their best to redeem them at a heavy price. There are many bibliophiles in the past dynasties, and few of them can be preserved for more than a hundred years, but Fan's books have been preserved so far, which is closely related to the book management system in Fan Qin. Tianyi Pavilion's book collection system stipulates that "alcohol and tobacco are strictly prohibited from entering the building" and "books are not allowed to come out regardless of generation". It is also stipulated that the key to the cupboard door of the library is the responsibility of the children and grandchildren, and it is not allowed to unlock unless all the rooms are gathered together. People with foreign surnames are not allowed to enter the cabinet, and relatives and friends are not allowed to enter the cabinet without reason. They are not allowed to borrow books and use their surnames in other rooms. Violators will be severely punished. Fire prevention, waterproof, insect prevention and rat prevention have also been formulated. Because of this, the library of Tianyi Pavilion has been preserved to this day. "Foreign surnames are not allowed to enter the pavilion" makes Tianyi Pavilion's collection unknown to outsiders. It was not until 1763 (Kangxi 12) that Huang Zongxi, a thinker in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, was fortunate to be the first person with a foreign surname to join the cabinet! Huang Zongxi's entry into the cabinet was inspired by Fan Guangxie, the great-grandson of Fan Qin (the fourth grandson). Since then, Tianyi Pavilion has entered a relatively open era, but only some real scholars will be allowed to visit Tianyi Pavilion.
The meaning of the name "Tianyi Pavilion" is taken from the statement that "water is in the sky" in Zheng Xuan's Book of Changes. Because fire is the biggest disaster in the library, and "water is above the sky" can be replaced by water, so it is named "Tianyi Pavilion". The book pavilion is a heavy building on the hard top of the mountain, with six rooms wide and six rooms deep, and there are corridors in front and back. There is a "Tianyi Pool" in front of the building, which pumps water into the pool to store water for fire prevention. In the 4th year of Kangxi (AD 1665), Fan Qin's great-grandson Fan built rockeries around the pond, built pavilions and small bridges, and planted flowers and plants, which made the pavilion and its surroundings look like private gardens in the south of the Yangtze River.
Tianyige covers an area of about 26,000 square meters and is divided into library culture area, garden leisure area and exhibition area. The library cultural area centered on Baoshulou includes Dongming Caotang, Fan's former residence, Zunjing Pavilion, Mingzhou Forest of Monuments, Qianjin Village and the newly-built library. The garden leisure area centered on the East Garden includes Chi Ming, rockery, promenade, forest of steles, White Goose Pavilion, Ninghuitang and other scenic spots. The exhibition area is centered on the Qin ancestral hall, including the Wen ancestral hall and the newly-built painting and calligraphy hall. The painting and calligraphy museum is located on the west side of Qin Temple, with white walls, black columns and brown beams. There are six courtyards, saying, "Yunzailou, Boyatang, Zhoujintang, Hualian Hall, Champion Hall and Nanxuan." Complement each other with the majestic Qin Temple.
Huang Zongxi, a thinker and historian in the Qing Dynasty, was allowed to read through all the books of Tianyi Pavilion, put the books that were not widely circulated into a book, and wrote another book, The Secretary of Tianyi Pavilion.