Research On The Ming Dynasty's Literature Collected In Tianyi Pavilion

In ancient China,bibliophiles and their libraries have played an important role in preserving literature,promoting academy and propagating culture.The Fan family's Tianyi Pavilion(天一阁) at Ningbo(宁波) city is the oldest extant library in our country.This dissertation tries to make a comprehensive study on the Ming Dynasty's literature collected in Tianyi Pavilion in order to highlight this library's value and significance in the history of academy and culture.This thesis is divided into five chapters.ChapterⅠsurveys the reserch situation of Tianyi Pavilion and its collection.ChapterⅡanalyzes the historical background and favorable factors related to the Ming's literature Tianyi Pavilion stored,researches the founder of Tianyi Pavilion-Fan Qin(范钦,1506-1585)'s life,his friendships between he and other contemporaries,why he collected books,what his collection came from and when his library was completed, and investigates how Tianyi Pavilion's collection scattered and now which libraries have stored the Ming's literature that formerly held in Tianyi Pavilion.ChapterⅢelaborates the main contents of the Ming's literature collected in Tianyi Pavilion through classification-memorials to the emperor,documents of rules and regulations,biographies, geographical books,examinational documents and the general and various anthologies of the Ming Dynasty's authors' works.Then ChapterⅣselects ninety-three of them to make careful observation,including their contents,edition and value.On this basis,ChapterⅤsums up the academic value of the Ming's literature collected in Tianyi Pavilion,its edition features and bibliologial value,and the cultural significance of Tianyi Pavilion's collection.With the methods of historical and literature science,the author not only fries to ascertain historical materials,but also carries out on-the-pot investigations,so makes some new exploration in the studies of Tianyi Pavilion's collection, ancient Chinese collection and Ming Dynasty.