Tianyi Pavilion Overview & Map Weather Transportation Information
Tianyi Pavilion keeps a large collection of about 300,000 ancient books, among which 80,000 are rare copies that include woodcuts and handwritten copies of the Song and Ming Dynasties. They are rich sources of local history and imperial examinations. The whole pavilion displays features typical of the style of private gardens south of the Yangtze River.
Basic knowledge
Tianyi Pavilion is located beside the beautiful Moon Lake (Yuehu) in the downtown district. Built during 1561 - 1566, it was a private library of Fan Qing (Vice Minister of the Military Ministry) and is the oldest private library in China today. The structures include Tianyi Pavilion, the Eastern Garden, The Chens' Ancestral Hall, The Qings' Branch Ancestral Hall, Calligraphy and Painting Halls and the Local Chronicles Hall.
A long story
Despite hundreds of years of vicissitudes, Tianyi Pavilion still stands firm and remains intact. It is a long story.
Fan Qin the owner
First built by Fan Qin, a high-ranking official equivalent to today's national defense minister, during Emperor Jia Jing's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).He had a born passion for books. During the years he served as a governor in various provinces he made great efforts in buying books. He did not stop such attempts even after he returned home upon resignation.
After resigning, Fan Qin returned to his hometown. With remarkable ingenuity he had a house built beside Ningbo's Moon Lake to store his books. So, it is the original "Tianyi Pavilion."
What books he collected
Unlike his elder and contemporary bibliophiles, Fan Qin did not spend his fortune on the best Song Dynasty editions, rare copies or secretly distributed books, those craved by most book collectors.
Instead, he concentrated on local chronicles, records about jinshi in various dynasties and contemporary anthologies, objects spurned by ordinary collectors. Fan Qin was therefore said to be a bit "silly".
Many years of gathering, copy work and donations from friends finally turned Fan Qin's stock into a dimension of over 70 thousand volumes.
"Book City of South China"
Although only 17 thousand of this number remain in today's Fan Qin library, its local chronicles of the Ming Dynasty and the rolls of jinshi turn out to be its most outstanding and largest portion. Safely preserved at Tianyi Pavilion now, these are priceless treasures for researchers of Chinese traditional culture. They are rich sources of local chronicles and imperial examinations and are precious materials for the study of history, people, social customs and habits. The Tianyi Pavilion Library is called the "Book City of South China".
How protected the books
To protect the books, Fan Qin made strict family rules that all the posterity should abide by the teachings of the deceased, never discard the books, and never take the books away.
Why called " Tianyi Pavilion "
Borrowing an idea from The Book of Changes suggested in "Heaven embodied in One gives birth to water, while Earth represented in Six makes it grow", Fan Qin named the new house "Tianyi Pavilion" (that is "Pavilion of Heaven and One"). Books are most vulnerable to fire, he said, but water can suppress fire. Thus the name "Tianyi" hints at the fact that water curbs fire and in this way Fan Qin hoped his stock might for ever be clear of the destructive might of flames.
How the library survived
Fan Qin instituted strict family rules that his descendants should never discard or remove any books. However, many books disappeared over time.
During the Opium War, British aggressors plundered many books and sold them to French missionaries and paper mills and by 1940 the number of books was down to 1,591 (in 13,038 volumes) After the founding of the PRC, special management departments were set up to protect the Tianyi Pavilion and more than 3,000 missing volumes were located.
How about it right now
Today Tianyi Pavilion is a vault chosen by the State government to deposit Ningbo's private bibliotheca. It is open to the public too so that experts and scholars can finally have access to their most coveted archives right in the library, rare documents buried under centuries of dust. This can be called "the modern use of the old times".
In 1982, the State Council made Tianyi Pavilion one of the country's key cultural heritages, thus turning the library into an indispensable landmark in this city famous for its remarkable historical culture, a star of civilization in which Ningbo people take great pride.
Elegant structure
The whole pavilion displays features typical of the style of private gardens south of the Yangtze River.
When Fan Qin built Tianyi Pavilion at the beginning, he also wedged the idea into the structure of the library, where one large room constitutes the upper floor, suggesting "Heaven joined with one gives birth to water", whereas downstairs there are six chambers, alluding to the message "Earth coupled with six makes it thrive".
Besides he had a pond dug in front of the house, a reservoir in case of fire. There is always water in the pond, even during grave droughts, for it is connected with the Moon Lake on its east side, a similar name "Tianyi Pond". Even the bookcases in the house were made in such sizes that they correspond to the idea of six and one. Indeed everything in the library is evidence of the owner's clever designing.
Getting there
By bus: 2, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 19, and 821.
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