Planting Virtue Hall

This hall represents our dedication to following in the footsteps of our ancestors and achieving great things as they did in the past.

義建樹德堂記 Record of the Righteous Construction of Planting Virtue Hall

The merits and virtues of the ancestors are bequeathed to their descendants and supply the great foundation [for the descendants’ prosperity.] Filial and benevolent descendants continue [the merits and virtues of] their ancestors and accomplish what [their ancestors] could not complete..

Therefore, in accord with the common desire of the human heart, [we] have now set forth a great plan. Relying on the leadership of the family heads, [we] have today arrived at an agreement. We ask that all take an oath in front of our ancestors and not argue against it with your personal opinions...

Although there are differences in degrees of kinship, is this not the proper way to gather what has already dispersed and combine what has been separated? It is true that there are differences in wealth, but everybody is willing to spend [great amount on] their son’s or daughter’s marriage. Can one has to give priority to a short-term calculation for one’s own family at the expense of a grand and permanent plan for ten thousand generations of descendants. If anyone says that this project is too big [for our family], [my reply must be that] our efforts will be rewarded with great success [in building our communal hall, i.e., Planting Virtue Hall in the future] within five years. If anyone says that this project is too costly and complicated, [my reply must be that it is not true] as long as we all can cooperate without disunion. If anyone harbors a selfish thought, let him first quell [this] for not only is he turning his back on the intentions of the ancestors in building halls, he is also giving later generations a reason to condemn [you]. We must enter into a forma agreement together and not miss this opportunity.

In the middle of the winter, the dingwei year of the Wanli reign (1607), three days before the full-moon, written in all sincerity by the seventh descendant, [Lu] Honglan (盧洪瀾, 19^th gen., 1572-1646)