汪氏家族自徽州歙縣遷入杭州，以經營典當業起家，有足夠的資財保證家族文學活動的進行。以振綺堂藏書樓為活動中心的詩人群，從汪憲開其端，至汪遠孫兄弟最為興盛。該詩人群以汪氏幾代文士為中心，其中包括數位女性。圍繞中心的文士有汪氏家族的館師，有多重關聯的姻親，還有其他性情投合的詩友。汪氏的館舍園林是唱和雅集的中心，汪氏文士在此良好環境中成長，或參與唱和，或得往來文士的指點。汪氏家族文學傳統的形成，汲取了大量外來的文學營養。汪氏文士對厲鶚有特別的感情，從中可看出崇尚宋詩的詩學取向。文學活動為汪氏家族建立起以「舊家」為主的人際網絡，擴大其家族在杭州的影響。汪氏文士在參與諸多文學活動外，還以振綺堂的名義刊刻族人、師友、鄉賢著作，自乾隆至民國初年，除戰亂中斷外，刊印書籍自成脈絡。

The Wang family moved from She County 歙縣 in Huizhou Prefecture 徽州 to Hangzhou Prefecture 杭州, the family's mortgage business providing it with sufficient means to support the literary activities of its family members. The poetry group whose activities centered around the Zhenqi Tang 振綺堂 Library started with Wang Xian's 汪憲 generation, and attained its high point at the time of Wang Yuansun 汪遠孫 and his brothers. At its core were several generations of the Wang family who were active in literature, some of whom were women, who from generation to generation were key members of different circles of poets. Around these core members there were the Wang family's private teachers, many of whom had marriage ties to the Wang poets, and also other poets who were friendly with the Wang family. The courtyards and gardens of the Wang households provided central places for poets to gather and exchange poems. The Wang family literati grew up within this rich environment, taking part in poetry activities such as exchanging poems, writing poems in response to poems of the past, and composing antithetic couplets. The formation of the Wang family's literary tradition was also nourished by visiting scholars. The Wang family literati particularly admired Li E厲鶚 and adhered to the tenets of the Song style that Li himself advocated and represented. The Wang family's literary activities contributed to the formation of a literary network based mainly around the "old families," extending its influence in Hangzhou. Besides its many literary activities, under the Zhengqi Tang name, the Wang family also compiled and printed many books authored by family members, their teachers, friends and local worthies. This publishing enterprise lasted for several centuries, from the Qianlong 乾隆 to the early Republican period, albeit occasionally interrupted by war.