Chinese Ancestral Festivals – Is an aspect of traditional Chinese religion that revolves around the ritual celebration of divine ancestors and patron deities of people of the same surname organized into lineage communities in ancestral shrines. Ancestors, their spirits or ghosts, and gods are considered part of “this world.” They are not transcended in the supernatural (in the sense of being outside nature) or in the sense of being beyond nature. Ancestors are people who have become divine beings who retain their individual identity. Therefore, the Chinese religion was founded on the respect of the ancestors.
Ancestors are believed to be means to connect with the supreme power of Tian, as they are considered the embodiments or replicators of Heav’s creative order.
Chinese Ancestral Festivals
It is an important aspect of Han Chinese religion, but the tradition has also spread to ethnic minority groups.
Ancestral Images: A Hong Kong Collection, Baker
Ancestry verification focuses primarily on male ancestors. For this reason, it is also known as the Chinese patriarchal religion. It was believed that women could not carry blood relations, as they did not pass their surnames from generation to generation. Chinese kinship traces lineage through the male lineage recorded in geology books. They consider their ancestral home to be the birthplace of their patrilineal ancestor (usually around five generations ago) or the origin of their surname.
Confucian philosophy demands that one respects one’s ancestors, which is an attitude of respect for parents; Zhuo Xinping (2011) sees the traditional patriarchal religion as the religious institution that complements the Confucian ideology.
Traditional patriarchal religion, as the “basic belief of the Chinese”, has influenced the religious psychology of all Chinese, as well as other religions of China.
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As is evident in the worship of the founders of temples and schools of thought in Chinese Taoism and Buddhism.
In Southern China, where lineage ties are stronger and patrilineal hierarchy is not based on fraternity, and access to institutional resources that lineages have based on the equality of all lineages, ancestral verification practices exist;
Ancestor worship ceremony conducted by Taoist priests at the pyramid-shaped Great Zhang Hui Temple (张旆公大殿 Zhāng Huī gōng dàdiàn), the main ancestral temple dedicated to the predecessor of the Zhang dynasty, located in the Zhangs’ ancient home in Qinghe, Hebei.
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Some contemporary scholars in China have adopted the names “Chinese traditional patriarchal religion” (中國傳統宗法性宗教 Zhōngguó chuántǒng zōngfǎ xìng zōngjiào) or “Chinese traditional primordial religion” (中國傳統原生性宗教Zhōngguó chuántǒng yuánshēng xìng zōngjiào) to define the traditional religious system organized around the worship of ancestor gods.
Mou Zhongjian defines “traditional clan-based patriarchal religion” as “an orthodox religion widely accepted by all classes and practiced in ancient China for thousands of years”.
Mou also says that this religion is subordinate to the state, “diverse and inclusive,” and that it has a “humanistic spirit that emphasizes the social, moral function of religion,” and is closely related to politics.
Ancestor Worship In Ancient China
«[…] The traditional religion that has been in power since the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. It evolved from Heaven and ancestor worship. It had the essential components of religion, including religious concepts, emotions and rituals. It had no independent organization. Instead, it was the kinship structure that performed the functions of religious organization. The emperor, the son of God, was the representative of the people who worshiped Heaf. The elders of families and divisions reined in the family in ancestor worship. Respecting the highness and honoring the ancestors (jingtian period), taking care to send the deceased, and offering sacrifices to distant ancestors (shzhong zhuiyuan) were key religious concepts and emotional expressions in this religion. […]»
According to Zhuo Xinping (2011), Chinese patriarchal religion and Confucianism complemented each other in ancient China because Confucian religion traditionally lacked a social religious organization while traditional patriarchal religion lacked ideological doctrine.
A stone tortoise with the “Stele of Divine Values and Saint Virtues” (Shgong Shde), erected by the Yongle Emperor in 1413 in honor of his father, the Hongwu Emperor, on the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum (“Son of Ming Religious Mausoleum” ).
Ancestor Worship Table In Chinese New Year Festival In Thailand. Editorial Stock Photo
In Chinese folk religion, a person is considered to have more than one soul, categorized as hun and po, which are usually associated with yang and yin, respectively. At death, hun and po are separated. Generally, the former ascends to heaven and the latter descends to earth and/or resides within a spirit tablet; however, beliefs about the number and nature of souls vary.
In line with these traditional beliefs, various practices have emerged to meet the perceived needs of the deceased.
Mourning a loved one often involves elaborate rituals that vary by region and denomination. It is believed that the intensity of grief reflects the quality of the relationship with the deceased. From the time of Confucius to the 20th century, a three-year period of mourning was often prescribed, reflecting the first three years of a child’s life, in which he was completely devoted and loved unconditionally by his parts . These mourning practices often include wearing sackcloth or simple clothes, messy hair, eating congee on a limited diet twice a day, living in a mourning hut next to the house, and moaning in pain at certain times of the day. After the death of Confucius, his followers are said to have measured this mourning period of three years to symbolize their devotion to his teachings.
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Funerals are considered part of the normal process of family life, serving as a touchstone in traditions between generations. Regardless of their religious beliefs, the main goals are to show respect and comfort to the deceased. Other aims include: protecting the descendants of the deceased from evil spirits and ensuring that the spirit of the deceased is properly separated and directed to the afterlife.
Some common elements of Chinese funerals include expressing grief through prolonged, often exaggerated wailing; the family of the deceased wearing white funeral dress; ritual washing of the body followed by burial clothes; the transfer of symbolic values such as money and food from the living to the dead; prepare and place a spirit tablet or use a character, often symbolically. Sometimes, ritualists such as Taoist monks or Buddhist monks were employed to perform certain rituals, often with the playing of music or the recitation of scriptures, to exorcise evil spirits.
Funeral rites are usually delayed depending on wealth; The coffin would remain in the main room of the family home until it was properly prepared for burial. More traditionally, this delay is predetermined by social status: the body of a king or emperor is suspended for seven months; magnate, five; other officers, three; people, one.
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In some cases, a “lucky burial” can occur several years after the funeral. The bones are removed, washed, dried and stored in an earthen pot. After a period of storage, the contents are buried in their final resting place in a location chosen by a seer to optimize the flow of qi. A poor flow of qi could lead to a disaffected spirit that could potentially haunt their descendants.
The deceased was often buried with sacrifices, typically with what the person was believed to need in the afterlife. This was done as a symbolic sign of parental respect or magnificence. For the rich and powerful, bronze vessels, oracle bones, and human or animal sacrifices often accompanied the deceased to the grave. Among the more common sacrifices were candles and incense, and offerings of wine and food.
After the funeral, families often place an ancient tablet on a home altar alongside other deceased ancestors. This act symbolically unites the ancestors and honors the family lineage. Incense is burned in front of the altar every day, important announcements are made in front of them, and offerings such as favorite foods, drinks, and soul money are given every two months and on special occasions such as Qingming Festival and Zhong Yuan Festival.
Festival Celebration Thai Chinese To Worship Ancestors With Variety Food And Dessert Stock Photo, Picture And Royalty Free Image. Image 91026912
Prayer was usually offered in a separate room on the altar of the home where the ancestors lived. The oldest male spoke to the altar regularly. In some belief systems, where special powers are attributed to the dead, one can pray to the spirit to bless the family.
Western writings on Chinese religion have been criticized for neglecting Traditional Chinese patriarchal religion and thus the related characteristics of “Confucianism”, often focusing only on common beliefs about “gods, spirits, and ancestors.” It is directed to cosmology and its abstract philosophy only, not to the inner spiritual life of the Confucians which is limited to self-cultivation.”
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