Tian Yi Ge

The Tianyi Ge complex contains a traditional wooden two-story building with a slanted roof and surrounding gardens featuring stone pathways and water elements.

Fan Qin, a Ming Dynasty military official, established Tianyi Ge in 1561 to house his collection of 70,000 volumes of literature and scholarly works.

The name Tianyi represents cosmic unity and connects to Chinese alchemy through water elements, which were integrated into the building design for book protection.

The library maintains strict temperature controls and uses camphor treatments to protect its current collection of 300,000 volumes from environmental damage.

Tianyi Ge remains the oldest existing library in Asia and ranks among the three oldest private libraries worldwide, continuing its legacy of book preservation.

Location: Ningbo

Inception: 1560s

Founders: Fan Qin

Part of: Eleven Chinese Historical and Cultural Buildings

GPS coordinates: 29.87361,121.53583

Latest update: May 16, 2025 03:39