Analysis:
Tianyi Pavilion is one of the oldest existing libraries in China. There are a vast number of ancient books with a long history of more than 430 years. Known as the "Southern Book City", they stand tall on the Moon Lake in Ningbo, becoming the oldest private library in Asia and one of the three oldest family libraries in the world. It is the most proud civilization constellation of Ningbo people. When the literati arrived in Ningbo, it was no less than a feast for the eyes. This antique building, elegant garden and quiet environment are really fascinating. However, Tianyi Pavilion was just an ordinary private library, which experienced several generations of vicissitudes. Today, Tianyi Pavilion is a "pearl" in Ningbo, which integrates library collection, cultural relics and tourism. 1On February 23rd, 982, Tianyi Pavilion was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council.
On both sides of the gate are a pair of Qing Dynasty stone lions. These wooden doors were built during the Qing Dynasty. Pan Tianshou, a famous Chinese painter, wrote the words "Southern Book City", and Sha Menghai, a great calligrapher, wrote "Ancient Pavilion hides English". The couplets on both sides of the gate we see now are Zhong Dingwen's, which reads, "The source of Tianyi is long and long, but it is difficult to hide the meaning of Nanlei for a long time." The couplets illustrate the long history of Tianyige Library and the sigh mood of Huang Zongxi, a famous thinker in the early Qing Dynasty, after he boarded Tianyige Library. When Huang Zongxi arrived in Nanlei, he once lamented that "it is difficult to study, especially to collect books." If you hide for a long time, it will be difficult. "
When we entered Tianyi Pavilion, the first thing we saw was the majestic "Matu Mountain in Yi Xi" on the zhaobi, where Cambodian head of state Prince Norodom Sihanouk once took photos as a souvenir. This picture of eight horses is a "plastic sculpture" by the late Hu Shancheng, an old folk artist. Most of the sculptures in Tianyi Pavilion are his works. After visiting this zhaobi, go in through the straight door on the right (on the left is the newly-built stacks and reading room of 1980). You can see the other wall of Tianyi Pavilion. Do you know its name? Collectively referred to as "Kirin". But further subdivision, this is a "jackal" with a dragon horn and a cow's mouth, which is a symbol of justice.
Tianyi Pavilion has a history of more than 400 years. The library we see now is the Tianyi Pavilion site that has been preserved after several repairs. This is the architectural relic of the late Qing Dynasty. The owner of Tianyi Pavilion is named Fan Qin, Yaoqing and Dongming. In the 11th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (when Fan Qin was twenty-seven), he was a scholar and served as a magistrate in Huguang, Suizhou, Jiangxi, Yuanzhou, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Henan and other provinces. Later, he served as the governor of Zhang Ting counties in southern Jiangxi, and his official career spread across half of China until he was promoted to assistant minister of the Ministry of War. Fan Qin, born in an honest and frank family, is not afraid of powerful people. He was in conflict with Hou Guoxun in Wuding, and was in power, so he suffered unjust imprisonment. Later, in Yuanzhou magistrate's office, Yan Shifan, a powerful minister, was offended because of unfair law enforcement. In order to avoid disaster, he resigned and went home. After returning to Ningbo, the library was built. Fan Qin is addicted to books. When he was a local official, he always paid attention to collecting local public and private engravings everywhere and hired people to copy books that he couldn't buy. He is eclectic and pays more attention to the collection of contemporary works and documents. In his book collection, the records of local chronicles, political books, poetry collections of the Ming Dynasty and the records of examiners in previous dynasties account for a large proportion. In addition, there are many precious stone tablets, the most famous of which is the rubbings of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The library building in Fan Qin was originally named "Dongming Caotang", and a pool was dug in front of the building, which was connected with Yuehu Lake to store water for later use. At that time, there were many libraries in Ningbo, but they were all destroyed by fire. Fan Qin believes that fire is inevitable and can be prevented. In order to prevent fire, Fan Qin took great pains to consult many books. Finally, inspired by the sentence "Born with water, 60% of the land" in the Book of Changes, he took the meaning of using water to make a fire and renamed the library "Tianyi Pavilion". There is a big room upstairs and six rooms downstairs in the library, which symbolizes "six places a day". Fan Qin not only changed the name of the library, but also stipulated that it was forbidden to go upstairs after smoking and drinking. It is not allowed to lead relatives and friends to open the door and stay in the library, and it is not allowed to lend books out of the house and his surname without authorization. Anyone who breaks the law will be punished for not attending the ceremony of sacrificing ancestors. The owner of Tianyi Pavilion even considered the importance of fire prevention when naming it, which shows that it has good intentions.
Fan Qin lived to be 80 years old. On his deathbed, he called his eldest son Dachong and his second daughter-in-law (the second son Daqian was dead) to the couch. He divided his inheritance into two parts, one part is silver and the other part is all books. Dachong observed his father's mood and decided that "the generation will not leave, and the book will not marry." Fan Qin's descendants made many strict prohibitions on the protection of Tianyi Pavilion's books. According to records, during the Jiaqing period, Qian, the niece of Qiu Tieqing, the magistrate of Ningbo, was a talented woman who was extremely clever and loved reading. In order to get the opportunity to study in the cabinet, the satrap was entrusted to marry Fan Bangzhu, a descendant of Fan. After marriage, Yun Xiu was full of hope and thought that she could get her wish. Unexpectedly, she still can't go upstairs to study, because according to family rules, women can't go to the cupboard, so she can only be unhappy in the end.
It turns out that the library is surrounded by gardens in case of fire nearby. In the early Qing Dynasty, Fan Qin's great-grandson Fan invited famous craftsmen to build exquisite rockeries, such as "Nine Lions and One Elephant" and "Fu Lushou". There are many animals in the beautifully carved and lifelike rockeries built by famous craftsmen and masters. You might as well count how many there are.
In order to protect the library, the owner has made very strict regulations, and at the same time, as a private wealth, the library is also forbidden to outsiders. However, the rules of several generations cannot be fixed. The first foreigner who made an exception to board Tianyi Pavilion Library was Huang Zongxi, a thinker in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. In the 12th year of Qing Emperor Kangxi (A.D. 1673), Huang Zongxi was widely respected by people at that time for his moral character, articles, knowledge and ethics. With the help of Fan Zhong You, who had taught Jiaxing Fu Xue in the Fan family, he quickly got the consent of all the Fan families and boarded Tianyi Pavilion. Originally, in order to prevent the book collection from being divided, Fan Qin's descendants also agreed that the book collection should be managed by future generations, and the key to the cupboard door and bookcase should be separated, and no one can open it unless all the rooms are gathered. Huang Zongxi not only read all the books of Tianyi Pavilion, but also contributed to the book cataloging of Tianyi Pavilion.