Ten famous family mottos through the ages are as follows:
1. Make plans without seeing benefits, and be jealous without seeing talents.
Excerpted from "Qian Family Instructions". Don't think about seeking benefits when you see them, and don't feel jealous when you see others have talents.
2. Review the words, be pure in mind and conduct in order to establish yourself.
Excerpted from Fan Zhongyan's "Advice to the Disciples and Brothers and Nephews". In daily life, you must read more books that are beneficial to you, keep your mind pure, do things cleanly, be self-reliant and self-reliant, and establish your own noble character.
3. A loving brother has worked hard to support you; he is benevolent but not powerful, and his guidance is ineffective.
Excerpted from "Yan Family Instructions" by Yan Zitui. The loving brother shouldered the heavy burden of raising the family and worked extremely hard. However, he was tolerant but not dignified, and his supervision and instructions were not strict.
4. If you don’t let go of the desire for gain and loss, you won’t get it; if you let go of the desire for gain and loss, you won’t get it.
Excerpted from "Lu Jiuyuan's Family Letter" by Lu Jiuyuan. If the mentality of worrying about gains and losses is not overcome and changed, you will not have strong ambitions and will not be able to obtain real knowledge. If you overcome the mentality of worrying about gains and losses, you will be able to move along the right path and gain strong ambition and real knowledge.
5. The kindness of parents is as great as heaven and earth. Anyone with my son's surname should be respected and raised accordingly.
Excerpted from "Huang Family Rules" by Shuangjing. The kindness of your parents in raising you is as broad as the world. As long as the relatives and parents in the clan are still alive, they must provide for them according to their duties.
6. People may not believe in the actual performance of art. The flaws are slightly tired, and ten hands are struggling to point them out.
Excerpted from Liu Jue's "Book of Admonitions to Disciples". Even if you have real talent or good conduct, others may not necessarily believe you, but if you have any flaws or are implicated, people will rush to criticize you.
7. Virtue is the master of talent, and talent is the slave of virtue. Talented but not virtuous, it is like being a servant in a house without a master, and being arrogant without being a monster.
Excerpted from "Cai Gen Tan" by Hong Yingming in [Ming Dynasty]. Virtue is the master of talent, and talent is the slave of virtue. Having talent but no virtue is like a family without a master and servants taking care of things. How can the demons not dance around and become rampant?
8. I would like to tell you with my words that the harmony of our clan begins with my son.
Excerpted from Huang Tingjian's "Jie Zi Family Instructions". I hope you can tell all the other people in the family what I said so that our family can be harmonious.