Ancestral shrine

An ancestral shrine, hall or temple (Chinese: 祠堂; pinyin: Cítáng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sû-tông or Chinese: 宗祠; pinyin: Zōng Cí; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chong-sû, Vietnamese: Nhà thờ họ; Chữ Hán: 家祠户), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ancestral temples are closely linked to Confucian philosophy and culture and the emphasis that it places on filial piety.

Altar with ancestral tablets in King Law Ka Shuk, Hong Kong.

Eastern Han (25–220 AD) Chinese stone-carved que pillar gates of Dingfang, Zhong County, Chongqing that once belonged to a temple dedicated to the Warring States era general Ba Manzi

Altar with couplets and diaphragm in a Vietnamese clan ancestral house (Nhà thờ họ)

A common central feature of the ancestral temples are the ancestral 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 the transfer 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]

1. first bow - Heaven and Earth
2. second bow - ancestors
3. third bow - parents
4. fourth bow - spouse

Three months after the marriage, the wife undertakes worship at the husband's ancestral shrine, in a rite known as miaojian (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 the Cultural Revolution. They have experienced a revival since the economic 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]