Tianyi Pavilion Museum

| A place with distinctive features of southern Chinese gardens where you can also learn about local life. 'Books hold the past and present, the port connects the world' is the slogan of Ningbo City, where 'Books hold the past and present' refers to Tianyi Pavilion. In the 40th year of Jiajing, Fan Qin, the Deputy Minister of War, began to build a private library. Taking the meaning of 'Heaven generates water', he hoped to use water to prevent fire, the greatest calamity that has always plagued libraries. Over the past four hundred years, Tianyi Pavilion has endured many disasters such as dynastic changes, wars, and theft. Fortunately, despite some losses, it has been preserved to this day. This is certainly due to the family teachings of the Fan family; Fan Qin and his descendants have devoted too much effort to this library. Tour Guide Tianyi Pavilion is a thematic museum that focuses on book culture, integrating research, protection, management, display, social education, and tourism. In my opinion, the best way to visit Tianyi Pavilion is to understand its historical background in advance, or hire a guide to tell you about it. The Boya Hall, Zhuangyuan Hall, Fan's Former Residence, and Dongming Thatched Cottage are the main buildings inside. Although it is not as exquisite as the Suzhou gardens, the rockeries and ponds here also reflect the characteristics of ancient Chinese gardens. There is a display of southern wisdom here: the entire Tianyi Pavilion has no air conditioning, but the shops in the scenic area do, which makes you want to take a break in an air-conditioned room on such a hot day, and perhaps buy a cold drink or ice cream. The stone engraving of the Shenlong version of the Orchid Pavilion Preface, housed in Tianyi Pavilion, is known as the 'Crown of the Orchid Pavilion'. Photography Guide: 1 Personally, I don't have much experience with photography, but this place is definitely a great spot for taking photos in Hanfu, and even when I was visiting, many young people from Ningbo came here to take wedding photos. 2 The entire scenic area is compact, so there's no need for a telephoto lens, but the light inside the courtyard is not very good, so it's recommended to prepare a lens with a large aperture. Route and Time: Cost: 30 yuan per person Detailed Address: No. 10 Tianyi Street, Haishu District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province Transportation: You can drive there yourself, parking is convenient. Ningbo city bus routes 512, 371, 9, and 26 all reach near the scenic area. Business Hours: May 1st - October 31st 8:30-17:30; November 1st - April 30th 8:30-17:00 (closed on Monday mornings)

Perhaps every person who loves collecting books has had this experience: there is nothing more fragile in this world than paper, yet nothing is more resilient than paper. A book can turn to ashes in the flickering flames, yet a book can also be reborn from the ashes. This is the transcendence of spirit over matter, and it is the essence of the Fan family, condensed within the walls of their residence. Because of the Tianyi Pavilion, the spirit of the Chinese people has a reason to endure. The Tianyi Pavilion faces south with its back to the north and is a two-story brick and wood structure with a gable and hip roof. In front of the pavilion, the 'Tianyi Pond' is connected to the Moon Lake, and the garden is designed with the overall shape of 'Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity', using rocks to create scenes like 'Nine Lions and One Elephant'. The Tianyi Pavilion and its surrounding gardens have the characteristics of a southern Chinese courtyard garden. The Tianyi Pavilion and its surrounding gardens have the characteristics of a southern Chinese courtyard garden. The book collection building is also unique in terms of fire prevention, ventilation, and moisture resistance. The upper floor is generally used for storing books, with bookcases arranged to effectively divide the large space, making the entire upper floor well-organized, while the lower floor has a layout of six rooms. There is a wall between the Tianyi Pavilion and the Fan family residence to prevent fire. Transportation Information: Bus routes 512, 371, 9, and 26 in Ningbo city can reach the vicinity of the scenic area. Take the Ningbo city subway line 1 to the Ximenkou station and walk south along Changchun Road for about 10 minutes to reach the scenic area.

Do you know During the Tang and Song dynasties, Ningbo was called Mingzhou It wasn't until the Ming Dynasty that Mingzhou was renamed Ningbo, which speaks to the abundance of talent during the Jiajing era, with figures like Hai Rui, Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang... But there was an 'alternative' Minister of War, Fan Qin, who was wealthy and had leisure time. His life's main mission was to collect books, and more than 400 years later, his family's private library became one of the three great private libraries of the world, a historical and cultural landmark of Ningbo, the national protected Tianyi Pavilion in the urban area of Ningbo. Fortunately, it has become a national first-class museum; otherwise, ordinary people would never have had the chance to see such a grand mansion back in the day... 🏯 Highlights How many ancient and rare books Tianyi Pavilion has is almost invisible to tourists, but as a national protected unit, there are indeed many cultural relics and ancient buildings ✅ Yuan Dynasty Stone Tigers: Tomb-guarding beasts, looking like Doraemon... ✅ Treasure Book Pavilion Rockery: Nine 🦁️ one 🐘, somewhat reminiscent of Suzhou's Lion Grove ✅ Qin Family Ancestral Hall: National protected ancient building, with Zhu Jin wood carving art ✅ Auspicious Beast Stone Carvings: The screen wall of a wealthy family ✅ Hundred Goose Pavilion: Ming Dynasty stone pavilion, with exquisite bas-reliefs on all sides ✅ Horse Head Wall: A fireproof wall with brick carvings ✅ Wan Gong Sedan: There is also one in the Zhejiang Museum ✅ Mingzhou Stele Forest: Stone carvings and steles from the Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China ✅ Mahjong Exhibition Hall: Modern mahjong was invented by the people of Ningbo... 🗺️ Tour Route West Gate Entrance ➡️ Dongming Thatched Cottage ➡️ Sima Residence ➡️ Fan Family Former Residence ➡️ North Bookstore ➡️ Zunjing Pavilion ➡️ Mingzhou Stele Forest ➡️ Qianjin Studio ➡️ Hundred Goose Pavilion ➡️ Mahjong Exhibition Hall ➡️ Sedan Chair Hall ➡️ Qin Family Ancestral Hall ➡️ Holding Sutra Hall ➡️ Top Scholar Hall ➡️ South Gate Exit ➡️ Tianyi Bookstore Tianyi Pavilion A combination of Jiangnan gardens + ancient architectural museum The cultural treasure of Mingzhou

400 years ago, during the Ming Dynasty, an official named Fan Qin, frustrated in his career, devoted himself to reading, copying, and collecting books, thus erecting a pavilion that would have a profound cultural impact on later generations. This is the oldest private library in history, one of the three oldest family libraries in the world, Tianyi Pavilion. ⛩️ Tianyi Pavilion Museum 📍 No. 10 Tianyi Street, Haishu District, Ningbo City 🎫 Ticket price: 30💰 🚗 Underground parking available 🅿️ (or Metro Line 1) 🌿 | History -Tianyi Pavilion is a private library founded by Fan Qin, a book collector from the Ming Dynasty. Initially, it was only used for storing books and has been preserved and passed down through generations of the family. After 400 years of trials and tribulations, many books are still well-preserved. The local gazetteers it holds play a significant role in the study of local histories in China, and its historical and cultural value is immeasurable. -There is a documentary called 'The Legendary Tianyi Pavilion' that talks about the history of Tianyi Pavilion. It is recommended to watch it before visiting, as it details the 400-year story of Tianyi Pavilion in just three episodes. -To truly appreciate the cultural significance of this place during a visit, one must understand Fan Qin, the collection of books, and the dramatic historical and cultural fluctuations of this building. 🌿 | Landscape A very typical Jiangnan garden landscape, the private library is hidden within a private garden, and the entire scenic area is a large mansion of the Fan family. Many attractions are standalone buildings, themed around the collection of books and the history of the Fan family. 🌿 | Transportation There is an underground parking lot, and you can also take Metro Line 1. There are many attractions nearby, such as Moon Lake, which is close by. You can also visit the Ningbo Tea Culture Museum, Moon Lake Yanyu Building, etc. We had limited time, caught a cloudy day in March, and it was too cold, so we didn't stay long. If you have the chance, you can visit nearby attractions. 🌿 | Photography Whenever I visit historical and cultural sites, I prefer to take pictures of landscapes or cultural relics rather than portraits. This is a place of cultural significance, and this family has paid a great price for the preservation of books. From a historical and cultural perspective, it is quite solemn. It would be somewhat disrespectful to use it merely as a photo check-in spot. However, if you want to conduct in-depth cultural research, leaving some photographic works is highly recommended. 🌿 | Impressions I first learned about Tianyi Pavilion because I received the well-known Zhongyuan fragrant sachets, which smelled very nice. Upon further investigation, I found out that fragrant grass can prevent bookworms, and ancient people often placed it in books, which would release the fragrance of the grass when the books were opened, what we often refer to as 'the fragrance of books.' One of the reasons why Tianyi Pavilion has been able to preserve books for 400 years is that a large amount of fragrant grass was stored in the book repository. I did a lot of research before coming and left satisfied after visiting.