In the main reception hall of the Kang Baiwan Manor in Gongyi, Henan, hangs a plaque known as the 留余 plaque, Leave a Surplus. It quotes the Southern Song scholar Wang Boda: “Leave a surplus. Leave skill unexhausted, to return to creation. Leave a surplus. Leave salary unexhausted, to return to the court. Leave wealth unexhausted, to return to the people. Leave blessings unexhausted, to return to the descendants.”
The plaque adds: “The creator dislikes fullness. When matters are pushed to the end, regret always follows.” It is dated to the first day of the first lunar month of 1871.