The Medicean-Laurentian Library and the Malatestiana Library in Italy and Tianyige Library in Ningbo, a harbor city in East China’s Zhejiang Province, are known as the three extant ancient family libraries in the world. The 452-year-old Tianyige is the oldest extant private library in Asia.

Yu Qiuyu, a modern essayist and scholar, once commented that Tianyige is more than a library and that it is a cultural miracle that has survived extreme challenges and saddening years. Today, it is a public museum that has received millions of domestic and international visitors. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty who reigned from 1735 to 1796 spoke highly of Tianyige for its choice collection, well-designed library structure, perfect management system, and benefits the library brought to scholars. 

Tianyige was founded by Fan Qin, a native of Ningbo. A Jinshi from the imperial examination in 1532, he worked for the government from 1536 to 1560. The library was erected from 1561 to 1566. The two-story wood structure was especially designed as a private library. It has a pond in front of the building and stands alone from the living quarters on the compound. The book storage space on the second floor is compartmentalized, separated by book cabinets. The design aimed to prevent fire from catching on.

In his evening years, Fan Qin believed the collection should never be divided equally by his sons and decided to leave it to the care of his first son Fan Dachong and bequest other properties to his other sons. Fan added new books to the collection, signed an agreement with family members and installed a management system. According to the system, the collection belonged to the family; keys to the door of the library and to the book cabinets were kept by family members separately; no one could access the library without the presence of family representatives with the keys.

A view of a theater stage in the traditional architectural style, part of the Qin Clan Ancestral Temple; the 2,000-square-meter temple is now part of Tianyige Library in Ningbo.

Fan Dachong’s son Fan Runan studied at the Imperial Academy. His first son Fan Guangwen was a Jinshi and worked as a government official. His second son Fan Guangxie began to work at the education department in 1676 in Jiaxing in northern Zhejiang. He copied more than 100 books from Tianyige and checked them out to students. He welcomed Huang Zongxi to read books at Tianyige, greatly enhancing the reputation of the library among scholars. Fan Guangxie’s son Fan Zhengluo added books to the family collection.

In 1773, Fan Mozhu, the eighth-generation descendant of Fan Qin, donated some books on behalf of the Fan family in Ningbo to the central government for the use of the Siku Quanshu, the complete imperial collection of books in four branches being compiled at the edict of Emperor Qianlong. The Fan family’s contribution was recognized by the central government. The family received a set of 10,000-volume books printed with copper movable-types as a reward. In 1829, the Fan family had Tianyige refurbished and the management rules modified.

Tianyige suffered a heavy blow in 1861 when soldiers of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were besieging Ningbo. Some thieves broke in and stole a great number of books.

Fan Bangshui, a tenth-generation descendant of Fan Qin, learned about the theft and hurried back from his hiding in a bid to retrieve all the lost books. He soon learned that some books were in the possession of foreign missionaries and some had been sold to paper makers in Fenghua. After the soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom withdrew, Fan Bangshui raised funds and bought back the lost books.

In the last years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the imperial examination system was abolished and new schools were introduced. Some book collectors in Ningbo thought ancient books were outdated and began to sell books from their private libraries. Two famed private libraries sold their collections and sold themselves out into historical oblivion. The Fan family held fast to the family library. During World War II, the books were transferred to safety five times from August 1937 to January 1943. They returned to Ningbo in the winter of 1946.

A view of East Garden of Tianyige Library

When the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, Tianyige maintained 13,000 books of the original collection and 8,200 books of the 10,000-book set from the Qing government. On June 9, 1949, the local government took the library under wing and Fan Yingxing and Fan Luqi, two members of the Fan Family were put in charge of daily administration of Tianyige.

After the birth of the People’s Republic in 1949, Tianyige became a government cultural institution better protection. Many private collectors found Tianyige ans a government institution trustworthy and donated generously to the ancient library.

At present, Tianyige has a collection of 300,000 ancient books including a wide range of local annals, documents, family pedigree books, imperial examination records.

The expanded collection called for a large space for storage. In the middle of the 1990s, the library compound expanded with funds donated by local businesses and allotted by Ningbo City and the central government. Over 60 households moved away and a pharmacy business vacated an adjacent warehouse to make room for the expansion. The expansion project in the 1990s was the third one in the history of Tianyige.

The first overhaul project took place in 1829. The second occurred in 1933, with funds raised by local people. In 1935, Zunjing Pavilion in Ningbo was relocated to the compound of Tianyige. Also relocated to the compound were over 80 historical stone steles.