The Tianyige Library: A Symbol of the Continuity of Chinese Culture

The Tianyige (TYG) Library is the most ancient private library still in existence in China. It is also the oldest private library in Asia and one of the three earliest private libraries in the world. It was built between 1561 and 1566 by the Defense Minister Fan Qin during the Ming Dynasty. TYG witnessed the glories and the turmoil of the Ming and Qing dynasties, war, revolution, and numerous social changes and its own triumphs and downfalls. After 400 years of preservation and management by thirteen generations of the Fan family, in 1949 it was donated to the government at the time of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The collection is strongest in local histories and imperial examination records during the Ming period. It is a remarkable representation of the Chinese private book-collecting tradition as well as a symbol of the continuity of Chinese culture and civilization. The Tianyige Library and Chinese Book-Collecting Tradition The book-collecting tradition of China can be dated back to the Zhou Dynasty (1100 bc–770 bc), more than 3,000 years ago, but substantial private libraries only began to develop later during what was called the “Spring and Autumn” and the “Warring States” periods (770 bc–221 bc). Confucius, Laozi, and many other distinguished intellectuals were among the earliest private book collectors (Ren, 2001, pp. 12–13). Private book collecting grew rapidly during the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties (618–1368). In the Ming period (1368–1644), it reached its greatest prosperity in the south of 422 library trends/winter 2007 China because this was the richest region of the country. The tradition of private book collecting had always had the aim of creating a cultural legacy for families as well as for society. Most book collectors were great scholars, researchers, and edition appraisers. Sixteenth-century political stability, economic prosperity, and cultural dynamism resulted in the birth of the Tianyige (TYG) Library and many other private libraries around Ningbo, a tranquil coastal city near the Yangtze river, in the northeastern part of Zhejiang Province. Ningbo is one of the country’s oldest cities with a history dating back to 4800 bc. It was already a booming business and trade center during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). While thousands of private libraries/book depositories were created during Chinese history, TYG is the only one that still remains today as an independent entity with its original architectural structure and collections. The others have been destroyed by warfare, fire, or poor management. While some continue to have a form of existence as a collection of books, no others remain as a self-governing unit (Huang, Li, & Xu, 2002). Fan Qin: A Visionary Book Collector Fan Qin was the founder of the TYG Library. He was a successful and visionary book-collector who lived in the reign of the Ming Emperor Jiajing (1522–1566). Fan became an official at the age of twenty-six when he passed the highest imperial civil service examination (Yu, 2003b, p. 138). As a high-ranking administrator, he was assigned to official positions in many different regions. Unlike other book-collectors, who all favored collecting books on ancient classic studies, Fan had a keen interest in contemporary local histories and regional historic documents related to political affairs and examination records.1 He was able to acquire many valuable and sometimes unique copies of local records from places that were often remote and isolated. These regions had their own distinctive histories, records of which often could not be found elsewhere. Thus TYG’s collection is particularly valuable since Fan was one of the few people who collected these kinds of contemporary works of the Ming Dynasty. The TYG Library holds 370 Ming imperial examination record titles. This is 80 percent of all the Ming imperial examination publications in the country. Many of them are the only copies in existence (Xu, 2003, pp. 302–3). They constitute a vital resource for research on the Ming Dynasty (Ren, 2001, pp. 12–13). TYG held over 70,000volumes by the end of the first generation of the Fan family; most of them were block-printed or hand-copied editions from the