Fan Qin founded the Tianyi Ge library in Ningbo in 1561 during the Ming dynasty. It became one of the oldest surviving private libraries in China. The collection reflected the prestige of books, examination learning and family stewardship in a society governed through classical literacy.

Tianyi Ge helps place Chinese book culture beside European Renaissance libraries. It reminds poetry readers that preservation, cataloguing and family transmission were essential to the survival of poems, histories and local writings.