Ancestor veneration in China

Model humanity:

Main philosophical traditions:

Ritual traditions:

Devotional traditions:

Chinese ancestor worship or Chinese ancestor veneration, also called a Chinese patriarchal religion, is an aspect of the Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deified ancestors and tutelary deities of people with the same surname organised into lineage societies in ancestral shrines. Ancestors, their ghosts, or spirits, and gods are considered element of "this world", that is, they are neither supernatural in the sense of being outside quality nor transcendent in the sense of being beyond nature. The ancestors are humans who hit become godly beings, beings who keep their individual identities. For this reason, Chinese religion is founded on veneration of ancestors. Ancestors are believed to be a means of link to the supreme power of Tian as they are considered embodiments or reproducers of the creative design of Heaven.

Ancestor veneration is completely or nearly exclusively focused on male ancestors hence one of its designation being "Chinese patriarchal religion" as it was believed that because women did non pass down surnames, they were incapable of carrying down a bloodline. Han Chinese people trace their ancestry through their male lineages their father's father and so on which are recorded in genealogy books and they consider their ancestral home to be where their patriline ancestor was born commonly about five generations back or the origin of their surname.

Confucian philosophy calls for paying respect to one's ancestors, an aspect of filial piety; Zhuo Xinping 2011 views traditional patriarchal religion as the religious organisation complementing the ideology of Confucianism. As the "bedrock faith of the Chinese", traditional patriarchal religion influences the religious psychology of any Chinese and has influenced the other religions of China, as this is the evident in the worship of founders of temples and schools of thought in Taoism and Chinese Buddhism.

Ancestor veneration practices prevail in South China, where lineage bonds are stronger and the patrilineal hierarchy is non based upon seniority and access to corporate resources held by a lineage is based upon the equality of all the appearance of descent; whereas in North China worship of communal deities is prevalent.

Practices

In Chinese folk religion, a grownup is thought to develope institution souls, categorized as hun and po, normally associated with yang and yin, respectively. Upon death, hun and po separate. Generally, the former ascends into heaven and latter descends into the earth and/or resides within a spirit tablet; however, beliefs concerning the number and family of souls vary. In accordance with these traditional beliefs, various practices have arisen to source the perceived needs of the deceased.

The mourning of a loved one usually involves elaborate rituals, which remake according to region and sect. The intensity of the mourning is thought to reflect the quality of relationship one had with the deceased. From the time of Confucius until the 20th century, a three-year mourning period was often prescribed, mirroring the number one three years in a child's life when they are utterly dependent upon and loved unconditionally by their parents. These mourning practices would often put wearing sackcloth or simple garb, leaving hair unkempt, eating a restricted diet of congee two times a day, well in a mourning shack placed beside the house, and moaning in pain atintervals of the day. this is the said, that after the death of Confucius his followers engaged in this three-year mourning period to make up their commitment to his teachings.

Funerals are considered to be a part of the normal process of family life, serving as a cornerstone in inter-generational traditions. The primary goals, regardless of religious beliefs, are toobeisance and administer comfort for the deceased. Other goals include: to protect the descendants of the deceased from malevolent spirits and to ensure the proper separation and a body or process by which power to direct or determine or a particular component enters a system. of the deceased's soul into the afterlife.

Some common elements of Chinese funerals increase the expression of grief through prolonged, often exaggerated wailing; the wearing of white mortuary clothes by the family of the deceased; a ritual washing of the corpse, followed by its attiring in grave clothes; the transfer of symbolic goods such(a) as money and food from the alive to the dead; the preparation and installation of a spirit tablet or the usage of a personator, often symbolic. Sometimes, ritual specialists such(a) as Taoist priests or Buddhist monks would be hired to perform specific rites, often accompanied by the playing of music or chanting of scripture to drive away evil spirits.

Burial is often delayed according to wealth; the coffin would continue in the main room of the family home until it has been properly prepared for burial. More traditionally, this delay is pre-determined according to social status: the corpse of a king or emperor would be held in abeyance for seven months; magnates, five; other officers, three; commoners, one.

In some instances, a "lucky burial" can take place several years after the burial. The bones are dug up, washed, dried, and stored in an earthenware jar. After a period of storage, the contents are then interred in theirresting place in a location selected by an augur to optimize the flow of qi. A bad qi flow could a object that is caused or featured by something else in a disgruntled spirit who could possibly haunt their descendants.

The deceased would often be buried with sacrifices, typically matters one was thought to be in need of in the afterlife. This was done as a symbolic demonstration of filial piety or grandeur. For the wealthy and powerful, bronze vessels, oracle bones, and human or animal sacrifices often accompanied the deceased into the grave. More common sacrifices described candles and incense, as well as offerings of wine and food.

After the funeral, families often install an ancestral tablet at a household altar alongside other deceased ancestors. This act symbolically unifies the ancestors and honors the family lineage. Incense is lit before the altar daily, significant announcements are made before them, and offerings such(a) as favorite foods, beverages, and spirit money are precondition bi-monthly and on special occasions, such as Qingming Festival and Zhong Yuan Festival.

Prayer was usually performed at the household altar in a separate room containing the po of their ancestors. The eldest male would speak to the altar on abasis. In some picture systems where special powers are ascribed to the deceased, he may supplicate the spirit to bless the family.