Brief introduction of Chaoshan ancestral temple

Ancestral temples have many uses. In addition to the purpose of "ancestor worship", grandsons of various families generally use these wide ancestral halls as venues for activities when organizing weddings, funerals, and birthdays. In addition, the clansmen sometimes use the ancestral hall as a meeting place to discuss important affairs within the clan.

In the ancient feudal society of China, the concept of family was quite profound. Often one family or several families live in a village, and more temples are built to worship their ancestors. Ancestral temples often appear in Japan. This kind of family temple is generally called "ancestral hall", which is divided into ancestral hall, branch temple and family temple. The name "ancestral hall" first appeared in the Han Dynasty, when ancestral halls were built in tombs, which were called tombs. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu's Family Rites established the ancestral hall system, and from then on, he called his family temple the ancestral hall. At that time, there was a hierarchical restriction on the construction of ancestral temples, and people were not allowed to set up ancestral temples. During Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, "many people entered the ancestral temple", but later when they became emperors or marquis, they were called "home temples", and the rest were called ancestral temples.