Wenlan Pavilion

The library was one of the seven major collections of books built by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty to house the Siku Quanshu and the only surviving one among the southern collections.

[2] In 1853, Zhenjiang Wenzong Mansion and Yangzhou Wenhui Mansion were both destroyed by the Taiping Rebellion and were not restored after the war, but Wenlan Library collapsed in 1861 when the Taiping Army captured Hangzhou and was rebuilt in 1880.

The Imperial Library is a typical Chinese garden in the centre of the West Lake.

It has a large gate facing the lake, followed by a flowery corridor, and through the rocky mountain cave you can see the imperial chambers.

In the middle of the pond is the two-storey library building.