What's the meaning of the plaque in Wang Ancestral Hall?

The main hall of the ancestral hall is a beam-lifting frame with wooden columns and stone foundations. The stone base is drum-shaped Yixian bluestone, the wooden pillars are huge and straight ginkgo trees, and the beams are thick camphor wood. The purlin is tall and spacious, suitable for people's gatherings, sacrificial ceremonies and other public activities.

In the middle of the main hall, there is a hall plaque with black characters on a white background. Below are three color portraits of Wang Zu, each of which records his life. What needs special mention is that the plaque of "My wife and husband" is hung on the Yuefang on the left side of Taishi Wall, and the portrait of Hu Chongniang is hung below. In the old society, women's status was low, and there were basically no portraits of women in family ancestral temple. Hongcun people broke the taboo and enshrined the portrait of Hu Chongniang, a foreign woman who had made outstanding contributions to the construction of Hongcun water system and ancestral hall, in Wang Ancestral Hall, which showed that Hu Chongniang had a lofty position among Wang people in Hongcun. On the right side of Taishi Wall, a plaque with the words "Light of the World" is hung on the yellow moon square with a red background, and two screens with gold characters on a white background and a black frame are hung on the lower door. The right screen was written by Zhu: "A person is not like being with others, and he is not too happy to be with others." The left screen is Dai Zhen's quotation: "Ancient sages and sages rely on the people's feelings and desires."

The courtyard of the main hall is wide, and the sun climbs on the roof, shining on the bluestone board of the courtyard, reflecting soft white light and illuminating the ancestral hall. On the front of the patio, there is a plaque with the words "good friendship" on a red background, which is solemn and eye-catching; In the center of the hanging beams on the left and right sides of the patio, the gold plaques of "Virtue Administrative Action" and "Growing a Elm and Paying Attention to Catalpa" were hung on the blue background, which added solemn atmosphere and rich cultural atmosphere to the ancestral hall.

There is a long screen painted in black between the main entrance and the patio. On the front, there is a brief introduction to the preface hall of four qi, and on the back, there is Zhu Jiaxun. It can be seen that Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism is highly respected in southern Anhui, and Zhu Zhu's theory has far-reaching influence.

The back hall of the ancestral hall is very small, dedicated to the memorial tablet of the king. The plaque "Shou Guan Hong Ze" hangs in the middle of the forehead, and the couplets on both sides are meaningful:

If you want to be kind to your children and grandchildren, you should respect your ancestors. If you want to honor your family, you should learn and accumulate kindness.

This couplet is straightforward and easy to understand, but it is not easy to practice. This is not only the minimum requirement for the prince and grandson, but also the lofty goal and realm that needs to be worked hard.