The Master of Tianyi Ge

This book, based on detailed primary sources, primarily narrates the 80-year life journey of Fan Qin.

本书以翔实的第一手材料，主要讲述了范钦80年的人生经历。

Fan Qin (1506-1585), courtesy names Yaoqing and Anqing, art name Dongming, was born in Mojiacao, Yin County, Zhejiang (present-day Ningbo City), with ancestral roots in Dengcheng, Jingxi Circuit (present-day Xiangyang, Hubei). He was a politician, bibliophile, and scholar of the Ming Dynasty.

During the Jiajing era, Fan Qin began his official career as a jinshi (metropolitan graduate) and served in various posts for over thirty years, eventually rising to the position of Vice Minister of War. Fan Qin had a deep passion for book collecting. In his later years, he established the foremost library in eastern Zhejiang-Tianyi Ge. His collection, particularly noted for its Ming dynasty local gazetteers and records of successful imperial examination candidates, was already renowned during the Ming as "the premier book collection in eastern Zhejiang." Over 400 years later, it remains the oldest existing library in China. His writings include Bibliography of the Fan Family of Siming, Tales of Mist and Clouds, Tales to Clap By, Memorials to the Throne, Records of Loyal Martyrs of the Jianwen Era, Titles and Posthumous Names of Ming Civil Officials, and Proverbs Ancient and Modern.

范钦（1506-1585），字尧卿，一字安卿，号东明，浙江鄞县莫家漕（今宁波市）人，祖籍京西路邓城（今湖北襄阳）。明朝政治人物、藏书家、学者。嘉靖年间，范钦以进士出身入仕，宦游各地三十余年，官至兵部右侍郎。范钦酷爱藏书，晚年在乡里建立浙东第一的藏书楼--天一阁。其藏书以明版地方志及登科录为世人所重，在明时已有"浙东藏书第一家"之誉。历经400余年后的今天，已成为中国国内最古老的藏书楼。著述有《四明范氏书目》《烟霞小说》《抚掌录》《奏议》《草朝遗忠录》《明文臣爵谥》《古今谚》。