On the Main House building:
厚德載物/厚德载物
Great virtue bears all things.
This phrase comes from Yijing or Book of Changes.
On the Study building:
書香/书香
The Fragrance of Books
On the Music Gallery building:
藏音/藏音
The Collection of Music
In the Main House:
世界微塵裏/世界微尘里
A world amid a speck of dust
人生大夢中/人生大梦中
A life inside a big long dream
白鷺忘機看天外雲舒雲卷/白鹭忘机看天外云舒云卷
The egert forgets itself while watching faraway clouds stretching and curling.
青山不老任庭前花落花開/青山不老任庭前花落花开
The mountain won’t get old no matter how the flowers in the yard fall or bloom.
On the Yard gate:
蕉鹿園/蕉鹿园
The Yard of Firewood and Deer
The name of the yard is inspired by a story in the third chapter of Liezi. There was a man from the country Zheng. He saw an injured deer while cutting wood. He killed the deer and hided it with some firewood. After a while, he forgot where the deer was hidden so he took what happened as just a dream. In his way home, he talked over his dream and was heard by another man. The other man found the deer and took it away.
What a night! What a night!
The fair maid comes in sight.
What a man! What a man,
Enjoy your mate as you can?[1]
This poem is from the Classic of Poetry, the oldest collection of Chinese poetry.
有美一人兮，婉如清揚。識曲別音兮，令姿煌煌。/有美一人兮，婉如清扬。识曲别音兮，令姿煌煌。
Oh, such a beautiful girl! Her beautiful eyes!
Her beautiful voice! And her dancing is so bright.
This poem is from Guanxiu. He was an artist/Buddhist monk in ninth century and was famous for his Buddhist paintings.
願得壹心人，白首不相離。/愿得一心人，白首不相离。
Wish I can find a single-hearted soulmate,
And I will not leave till the end of my life.
This poem is from Zhuo Wenjun’s Baitou Yin (Song of White Hairs). She was a poet of the Western Han dynasty. In this poem she depicted a determined lady who was breaking up with her husband because he fell in love with another girl.
幾日行雲何處去？忘卻歸來，不道春將暮。/几日行云何处去？忘却归来，不道春将暮。
Where is he, like a flowing cloud?
He forgets to go home, and is not aware that spring is almost over.
This poem is from Feng Yansi. He was a poet and politician in 10th century. The poem illustrated how lonely a wife feels while thinking of her faraway husband.
早知如此絆人心，何如當初莫相識。/早知如此绊人心，何如当初莫相识。
If I knew my thought of you would be like this so tangled,
Might as well we had never acquainted.[2]
This poem is from Li Bai’s Qiufeng Ci. Li Bai was one of the most famous poets in Chinese history. The poem’s name is The Wind of Autumn.
On the Village South stone:
常樂村/常乐村
The Village of Ever Happiness
長恨春歸無覓處，不知轉入此中來。/长恨春归无觅处，不知转入此中来。
Often lament the whereabouts of spring when she retires.
No idea she could have wound up at this site.[3]
This poem is from Bai Juyi, a famous poet of Tang Dynasty. The poem expresses his surprise and delight when finding springtime hidden in a mountain.
References:
[1]http://www.24en.com/p/135224.html.
[2]http://3g.en8848.com.cn/fanyi/sx/gsc/135310.html.
[3]http://www.sohu.com/a/132154118_115240