Huang sees the plaques as community connective tissue, as he points to a Ming-era plaque, Zhuangxi Caotang (Zhuangxi Thatched Hall).

"This piece of wood does two remarkable things," he explains.

The name itself led researchers to local archives and clan genealogies, which led to the discovery of an academy and its founder.

More significantly, the signature revealed the calligrapher was Luo Hongxian, then a top national scholar.

"This piece of wood is a tangible receipt, proof of a moment when our local story was validated by the highest tier of the national intellectual elite," Huang says.

The plaques are categorized like chapters in a social ledger. The tanghaobian (hall name plaque) announces lineage, while the gongdebian (virtue plaque) honors good works, a vibrant, living tradition.

Recently, the local clan of 90-year-old veteran Zheng Zhaolin, who fought in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), had a gongdebian carved, proclaiming him a "Paragon of the Clan".

The bian'e was paraded through the village with fanfare before being enshrined in the ancestral hall.

"It's our living system of ethics," Huang says.

"It takes abstract 'goodness' and makes it tangible, permanent, and public for every child to see."

The bian'e stands as a defining emblem of traditional Han culture. For millennia, it has served as a public testament to family honor, individual achievement, and scholarly distinction, while actively promoting the core Confucian virtues of morality, propriety, and benevolent conduct.