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Anancestral shrine,hall ortemple (Chinese:祠堂;pinyin:Cítáng;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Sû-tông orChinese:宗祠;pinyin:Zōng Cí;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Chong-sû,Vietnamese:Nhà thờ họ;Chữ Hán:家祠户;Korean: 사당;Hanja: 祠堂), also calledlineage temple, is a temple dedicated todeifiedancestors andprogenitors of surname lineages or families in theChinese tradition. Ancestral temples are closely linked toConfucian philosophy and culture and the emphasis that it places onfilial piety.
A common central feature of the ancestral temples are theancestral tablets that embody the ancestral spirits.[1] The ancestral tablets are typically arranged by seniority of the ancestors.[1] Altars and other ritual objects such as incense burners are also common fixtures. Ancestors and gods can also be represented by statues.
The temples are used for collective rituals and festivals in honor of the ancestors[1] but also for other family- and community-related functions such as weddings and funerals.[1] Sometimes, they serve wider community functions such as meetings and local elections.
In traditional weddings, the ancestral temple serves a major symbolic function, completing thetransfer of a woman to her husband's family.[2] During the wedding rites, the bride and groom worship at the groom's ancestral shrine, bowing as follows:[2]
Three months after the marriage, the wife undertakes worship at the husband's ancestral shrine, in a rite known asmiaojian (廟見).[2]
In mainland China, ancestral temples along with other temples have often been destroyed or forced to become "secularized" as village schools or granaries during the land reform of the 1950s and theCultural Revolution. They have experienced a revival since theeconomic liberalization of the 1980s.[1] The revival of the ancestral temples has been particularly strong in southern China where lineage organization had stronger roots in the local culture and local communities are more likely to have clan members living overseas who are keen to support the revival and rebuilding of the shrines through donations.[1]
| Ancestral shrine | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 祠堂 | ||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||
| Hangul | 사당 | ||||||
| Hanja | 祠堂 | ||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||
| Kana | しどう | ||||||
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Chinese:祠堂;pinyin:Cítáng has its first characterCi Shrine in
Chinese:宗祠;pinyin:Zōng Cí has its first character derived fromJongmyo, and its second character isCi Shrine
| Ancestral shrine | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 宗祠 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Korean name | |||||||
| Hanja | 종사 | ||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||
| Hiragana | そうし | ||||||
| |||||||
That phrasing can be seen as making theJongmyo a more sacralized version, sinceCi shrines are considered lower ranked thanMiao shrines.
Notable ancestral temples inTaiwan include:
Notable ancestral temples inHong Kong include:
Notable ancestral temples inChinese communities of Southeast Asia include:
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Ancestral temples are callednhà thờ họ,nhà thờ tộc ortừ đường in Vietnam. An ancestral death anniversary will be held yearly atnhà thờ họ and this anniversary is usually used as an occasion to renew the relationship between clan members.
Ancestral shrines or similar concepts are also common in other religions and cultures. Especially other East and Southeast Asian but alsotraditional African religions have ancestral shrines and or tombs.Ancestor worship is an important and common element in native African religions and is still common and practiced by followers of folk religions but also Christian and Muslim Africans.[3]
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