Record of the Restoration of the Ancestral Hall by the Lu Family of Sanfeng [dated 1527] (Text)

Record of the Restoration of the Ancestral Hall by the Lu Family of Sanfeng [dated 1527]

Text by Qi Xiong of Jinhua, bearing the title of Metropolitan Graduate [of 1511], Gentleman-Litterateur, Investigating Censor for Henan Circuit at the Southern Capital

Calligraphy by Yu Shouyu of Yiwu, bearing the title of Metropolitan Graduate [of 1523], Gentleman-Litterateur, Investigating Censor of Jiangxi Circuit

Calligraphy in the seal style on the stele heading by Jiang Gang of Lanxi, bearing the title of Metropolitan Graduate, Grand Master for Consultation, Director of the Guangdong Province Bureau of the Ministry of Justice at the Southern Capital 

The Lu family has been an eminent lineage of Dongyang for generations. Its descendants have flourished and they have produced numerous officials. From the time of Lu Zhi, the Leader of Court Gentlemen in the Han Dynasty they resided for generations in Zhuojun [in modern Hebei]. There was one with the name of [Lu] Shi who served the Song Dynasty; he was the first to move a canton in the west of Dongyang County. Later its branches multiplied, and one  moved to Zijin Villagein Shengsu Canton. The number of the Lu family members once numbered in the thousands. Coming to Our Dynasty, people such as Magistrate Mr. Lu Hua, Censor-in-Chief Mr. Lu Rui [1390-1462], Principal Graduate Mr. Lu Kai [1438-1471], Magistrate Mr. Lu Gan [jinshi 1477], Attendant Censor Mr. Lu Ge [1450-1516], and today Assistant Administration Commissioner Mr. Lu Xu all may be said to men who stand out distinctively and are able to protect their lineage.

In the past the Lu family had an ancestral hall where they worshipped their ancestors, but with time it had become dilapidated. In the Chenghua reign period (1465-1487), Lu Rong, the fourteenth generation descendant, consulted his cousins Rui and Tao and others, and they built a new one to the south of the old one. In the year jisi of the Zhengde reign period (1509), the ancestral hall was again rotting, and could no longer serve for expressing their reverence and interacting with the souls [of the ancestors]. The general view was that they should repair it; Attendant Censor Mr. Lu Ge and his brother Lu Bin took the lead. They assembled the whole lineage, calculated the amount of [each household’s] wealth, and assigned donations accordingly. They estimated the budget as a guide for donations and everyone followed their orders happily. They felled trees for the pillars and formed clay for the bricks. They assembled workers and started the project. They appointed the worthiest of the younger generation—Lu Song, Yan, Huang, and Dian—to supervise the work. On the site of the original location they drew a new plan with ­­­seven bays for the main hall of the ancestral shrine for worshipping the ancestors of the whole lineage and slightly front of it a three bay pavilion to facilitate speedy arrangements. In front of that is the main room where the whole family can stand in ranks and which has the same number of bays as the main hall. There are buildings of two bays each on the eastern and western sides, one for the mothers and one for the caretaker the ancestral shrine. In the middle is the main gate and it is all encircled by a wall.

The construction started in the spring of renshen year of the Zhengde reign period (1512), and was completed in fourth month in the summer of jiaxu year of the Zhengde reign period (1514). Oh! Once the great ancestral rite is restored feelings of reverence and filial piety will solemnly arise in the hearts of all the members of the lineage, regardless of whether they are close or far, no matter whether they are near or distant kin.

They will make offerings with the seasons. The buildings are clean and open; they are arranged in close order. Spirits and the living will rejoice; [the spirits of the ancestors] will come and enjoy the offerings. Oh! How dignified it is!

Lu Yaofeng, a National University Student, is outstanding and insightful; he is a talent of the Lu family. At his father Dian’s command that this be made known and remembered he wrote the whole story and asked me for a composition that would record the details.

In our age, the members of the old families and eminent lineages are influenced by what they see and hear and are trained through ritual and education. One need not worry that the family will [disintegrate] overnight. [However,] when a lineage prospers it is easy for [family] feelings to dissipate; when they dissipate the [members] become estranged; when they become estranged it harms education and [the lineage] will find it difficult to survive. As the generations pass it is easy for their minds to become inattentive; when they become inattentive [morality] will falter; when it falters they will abandon the rituals and fight with each other. This is generally why public order does not improve and popular customs decline. When a true gentleman resides in one family he will establish the governance for that one family. He will necessarily want to unite [its members] so they will not become estranged and maintain [the lineage] so that it will not decline. The way to do this does not require a complicated system of rules and responsibilities. [Instead] there needs to be an exemplary model, this is the key to leading and encouraging them. What is that model? It is such things as the ancestral hall. Such things all originate from what is innate to the heart and from instinctive tendencies. When we accord with what we have from Heaven to arouse our aspirations, then those who are estranged will become close and those who are inattentive will be stirred. Thus the emotions of filial piety and fraternity will come forth in abundance. Requiting the root and recalling the distant [through ancestral offerings] so that popular customs are again fortified will not be difficult.

From the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) to the present, the Lu family has had a source that is deep and a flow that is far-reaching. Over several thousand years the distant ancestors and their later descendants can be verified. They indeed have prospered and reached far! The ancestral hall rose then fell, fell then rose again, and although this had to do with the circumstances they faced at the time, the emotional unity of the members and the strength of the family are tied to it. Today they are able to improve on its layout and reestablish its former grand prospect; the order of the generations is once again rectified after becoming repeatedly confused and offerings are once again made after having been almost abandoned. The minds of the members have become one, and they know what they should value. How can these be achieved by seeking it outside the self? It is [possible] because everyone [innately] has an attitude of filial piety and fraternity.

The Record of Rites says: “When a gentleman is going to build his palace, he does the ancestral temple first.” The Lu descendants indeed understand the method of governing the family and know what is of first importance. Is there anyone who has a heart that holds fast to the norms and likes virtue who would not want to discuss this? Is it not because of this work that benefits accrued over the generations are extended and a family’s reputation is raised?  Now popular customs and transformation through education only pertain to the minds of men. Yet whether the minds of men are estranged or unified depends whether the ancestral hall rises or falls, and whether the ancestral hall rises or falls is further related to whether the status of the family prospers or declines. Must not future Lu descendants who will protect the patrimony over the generations take heed of this?

This stele is erected on the first day of the forth month of the dinghai year, the sixth year of Jiajing reign period (1527).