By Yang Koushi

The Tianyige Library is one of Ningbos two symbols. As the oldest library building in China, Tianyige is famous, but Fufushi, another private library in the same city, is almost unknown today. It used to be a great private library. As a matter of fact, the two libraries were closely associated in the 20th century.

I visited the Fufushi house at 91 Xiaowen Street several times in the summer and autumn of 2009. The house is a magnificent affair. The wrought-iron gate has a pair of large door knockers, with intricately carved bricks above it. Behind the gate is a courtyard where an orange tree looks prosperous and thick. The tree is more than 80 years old. Near a wood window on the right is a cluster of banana bushes, huge fronds adding a touch of ancient grace to the residence. The orange tree is surrounded by a small circle of potted plants.

The house with a total floor space of 600 square meters serves as a museum today. It tells the story of Feng Mengzhuan, the master who put together an impressive collection of books and published his researches on his ancient books.

Feng Mengzhuan was born in Cicheng, Ningbo in 1886 and passed away in 1962. His grandfather was engaged in salt business in Songjiang near Shanghai and later moved to Ningbo and settled down. Feng Mengzhuan became a Xiucai at 17. After his grandfather passed away, the 19-year-old grandson took over the familys banking business. After the 1911 Revolution, Feng became a local official. The most important position he assumed was the presidency of the Yin County Literature Committee for 9 years from 1932 to 1941.

Feng was a scholar. His father died when Feng Mengzhuan was 8 and left a collection of 2,000 books to his son. The son soon read them all and began to build up his own collection of books. During the chaotic years when the Qing Dynasty died and the Republic came into being, many private libraries were plunged into bankrupt. Some families sold books by weight. Feng took the opportunity and purchased many books from some famed libraries in financial trouble.

As a traditional scholar, Feng took interest in Confucian classics, history, philosophy and literature. The collection grew over a period of six decades and there were more than 100,000 books in his collection, most bought in the first 30 years. The most precious in his collection were more than 300 titles of reliable texts. At his employment at the house were a few craftsmen who did book maintenance work and fixed damaged books.

The library ran into trouble when Japanese troupers came to Ningbo. The Japanese aggressors targeted the famous Tianyige. A company was sent to Chinas oldest library building to snatch the precious collection there. They stormed into the building and found the books were all gone.

Feng was worried about his library. He shut down the house and put some Buddhist statues in the house, hoping that Japanese soldiers, believers of Buddhism, would probably change their minds about ransacking the library if they saw the statues.

One day, the chief of Japanese gendarmes came to the house. After seeing the statues and burning incense, the ferocious officer calmed down and left without saying anything. The library was left alone. During the Japanese occupation, Feng turned down the requests of the Japanese aggressors for working as a figurehead for the puppet regime in Ningbo.

Feng maintained a close tie with Tianyige. In September, 1937, Tianyige was partially damaged in a typhoon storm. The Fan Family which owned and maintained the library was short of money to get the damaged wall fixed. In fact, the library building was in a poor condition.

Everybody in Ningbo worried about the safety of the oldest library building. Feng Mengzhuan stepped forward as the president of the Yin County Literature Committee and took charge of raising money to have the library fixed.

The government allotted a certain amount of cash and the public donated the rest. More than 14,000 yuan was raised. The restoration projected lasted 18 months. The damaged wall was repaired. The rockery in the court was restored. A pavilion was added. More than 90 stone tablets made in the Ming and Qing dynasties and early years of the Republic years, scattered all over Ningbo, were moved into the compound for conservation.

After the success of the restoration project, the restoration committee decided to go through the whole collection of Tianyige so as to find out exactly what was in the collection. Feng was appointed editor in chief and two descendents of the Fan Family served as his assistants. The work started on August 16, 1936. Feng spent the next 174 day visiting the library every day, studying books there one by one and dictating to his sectary. A preliminary list of all the books in the collection was formulated. He spent another 180 days checking and correcting the manuscript.

On April 7th, 1939, a decision was made to hide the whole collection of Tianyige in Longquan, a mountainous county in southern Zhejiang. It was the first time that the then 370-year-old collection left the building. It was the only relocation that happened in its 440 year history. The books stayed in hiding for eight years.

After the New China was founded, Zheng Zhenduo, an old friend of Feng and the first president of the State Cultural Relics Bureau, made an offer of 200,000 yuan on behalf of the national Government to buy the collection of the Fufushi Library. Feng declined the offer.

In the spring of 1962, the 76-year-old Feng realized that his time was running out. So he asked his wife and children what to do with the collection. They could keep it or donate it to the state. They said it was his books so it should be his decision. Feng decided upon donation and decided that it should join the collection of the Tianyige Library since he was a Ningbo native. He passed away on March 31, 1962.

The collection and the library house were donated to the state. On April 6th, 1963, a ceremony was held to hand over the books and the house.

Today, the books of the Tianyige Library total more than 300,000, one third being from the Fufushi collection.

An exhibition ran from October 15 to 24th, 2008 in honor of Feng Mengzhuan at the Tianyige Library. More than 50 exhibits were on display, all from Fengs collection.□