1 hour ago, liuzhou said:I'm guessing the old writing is part of one of their poems.
So much for my guess.
It is a poetic couplet, but describing the scene. In modern Chinese we think it is
文章华国
诗礼传家
which in my rough translation reads
Magnificent national writing
Spreading poetry's gifts
The couplet is generally used as a kind of metaphor to exhort people to pass Chinese culture on from generation to generation. and/or to exhort the young to learn from their elders.