The significance and function of ancestral temples, many people have ancestral temples in their hometown, and the name "ancestral temple" first appeared in the Han Dynasty, when ancestral temples were built in tombs and called tomb temples; In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu's Family Rites established the ancestral temple system, and from then on, the family temple was called the ancestral temple. The following is the significance and function of the ancestral hall.
Significance and Function of Ancestral Temple 1 1. Origin of Ancestral Temple
Ancestral temples originated from the gradual disintegration of clan society. It is a clan organization formed by blood relatives born of the same ancestor and geographical organizations, and it is a place built independently outside the room to worship ancestors, worship saints and pray for God.
The name of the ancestral temple officially appeared in the Han Dynasty. Through the function of respecting ancestors, the clan embodies the fundamental principles of the feudal patriarchal clan system and shows the supreme clan power. The ancestral temple has also become a sacred place for clan sacrifice, symbolizing the unity of the clan. Of course, some people usually simply understand the ancestral hall as the home of the dead ancestors, the place where the gods gather and the place where they worship the ancestors' gods.
The earliest ancestral temple altar site was discovered in Yin Ruins of Henan Province. As early as the bronze age of Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there was a system of offering sacrifices to ancestral temples. Many bronzes left to this day belong to sacrificial vessels and the like.
At that time, there were very strict rules and regulations: seven halls for the emperor, five halls for the capital, three halls for doctors and one hall for scholars. Ordinary people can't just build temples and erect tung trees, which is commonly known as "Shu Ren has no temples, so it is sacrificed to sleep". They can only worship their ancestors in their own rooms.
The name of each family must be established with Tangke, and the ancestors must be established in one. There are also many famous families and clans, such as Yang, Gu, Zhu and Wang. There are also general temples, branch temples and sub-temples. Near more ancestral temples are their ancestral fields and ancestral properties.
Second, the main functions of the ancestral hall
(1) Since the ancestral hall is a place where ancestors and gods live together, offering sacrifices to ancestors is the main function of the ancestral hall. Every spring and autumn, the whole family get together and get together in the same room, presided over by the patriarch or son as a sacrifice. When Tomb-Sweeping Day visited the grave, he first went to the ancestral temple to offer sacrifices to the gods, and then went to various cemeteries to offer sacrifices.
(2) Another important function of ancestral hall is to collect and compile genealogy. Genealogy is a special historical record that records the kinship, seniority, family rules, family law and genealogy of this clan in the form of biographies, records and charts. In order to be mastered and followed by people with their own surnames.
(3) The educational function of ancestral halls. In the ancestral hall, the public land donated by the clan has a function of aiding students, rewarding students or setting up voluntary schools and schools. It is also a great event to honor our ancestors and improve the reputation of the whole family through reading.
(4) The ancestral hall is also a classroom for preaching learning and teaching etiquette. Before the sacrificial ceremony began, there was a special person in the ancestral hall to "read music" to the people, tell the history of ancestors' difficult entrepreneurship, read family rules and regulations regularly, preach and exhort, and quote quotations from sages.
(5) The ancestral hall is also a place to discuss clan affairs. When the clan has a major revolution, people who are closely related to the whole clan, such as electing clan leaders, building churches, maintaining family changes, buying huge clan property, and litigating with neighbors, etc. , are convened by clan leaders in the ancestral temple to discuss.
(6) The ancestral hall is also a family court. If family law is family law. Then family law is also a supplement to feudal state law. The patriarch is a family judge and can enforce family laws in the ancestral hall. The civil and criminal cases that violate the family law judged by Ke Tangli, or those that violate the family law recognized by the patriarch, shall be punished from the public.
(7) Other, whenever the clan has customs, festivals or major festive activities, the ancestral hall is also a place for the whole clan to celebrate or entertain. Larger ancestral halls usually have stage buildings. The play is not only sung for ancestors, but also performed for men, women and children in the clan.
During the busy harvest season, ancestral temples, large and small, have become warehouses or temporary stacks for harvest. In addition, in case of war or emergency, the ancestral hall becomes the emergency command center of one's own people.
It can be seen that the ancestral hall is the activity center of a regional family, and through ancestor worship, feudal patriarchal clan system and other activities, the clans are firmly twisted together by blood relationship, forming a strict family organization.
Significance and function of ancestral temple. The role of tradition:
1, ancestor worship: Ancestral temples are used to worship ancestral tablets and pay tribute to their virtues and abilities.
2. Righteousness and custom: it is an activity place for people to contact, get together, discuss, formulate rules, deal with major events within the family and "wash their roots and recognize their ancestors". When dealing with weddings, funerals, longevity, happiness and other major events, they use these wide ancestral halls as venues for activities.
3. Education: it is an activity place for ethnic minorities to carry out etiquette, etiquette and moral publicity and education. Some ancestral temples have affiliated schools, where children of ethnic minorities go to school.
4. Right: it is the symbol of the highest power and authority of the clan represented by the patriarch. The patriarch is a respected person elected by the clan.
5. Court: It is a traditional moral court, and the patriarch has absolute authority to exercise power. It is a place to handle internal family affairs, establish a superior position, reward diligence and punish laziness, resolve disputes and handle contradictions. Anyone who violates clan rules will be educated and punished here until he is expelled from the clan.
These five functions, ancestor worship and morality are the same in the past and now, which we should inherit and carry forward as long as we don't engage in feudal superstitious activities. As for education, rights and the role of the court, especially the role of the court is not allowed by national laws.
Only within the scope of national system, laws, regulations, rules and permission, it mainly plays the role of uniting, rallying people's joint efforts and restraining people's bad behavior.
Second, the role of modernity:
Worship means reverence and memory, feeling generosity and kindness, inheriting and carrying forward, rather than seeking the protection and blessing of ancestors. Respecting ancestors is the memory of the living for the dead, and it is the inheritance of human unique spiritual support and spiritual comfort.
If a person does not make progress, he just kneels in front of his ancestors' spirits every day and sincerely and respectfully prays for their protection and shelter, instead of working and creating, the result can only be starvation. Because only by praying will there be no pie in the sky! Therefore, it is very important to clarify the modern significance of ancestral halls.
Significance and function of ancestral temple. Ancestral Temple, called "Home Temple" in ancient times, is a kind of ancient architecture that is ubiquitous in rural areas of China. Historically, it was an important gathering place for family discussion, ancestor worship, tradition inheritance and family unity.
In modern times, ancestral temple culture, as a local cultural gene, is a direct medium to gain a sense of cultural belonging and sharing, which has practical and historical significance for the public's cultural identity and sense of belonging and the cultural construction of rural grassroots, and is also a very important traditional cultural heritage.
As an important part of national traditional culture, ancestral temple culture began to sprout in the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties thousands of years ago, formed a relatively complete system in the Song Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Ancestral Temple is a reflection of people's reverence for nature and ancestors in China's ancient farming society, and it is also a major policy that obeys and serves most historical dynasties. The flourishing age is recorded, and the flourishing age is built. The prosperity of ancestral temple culture also reflects the reality of social stability, economic development, political harmony, national prosperity and people's safety.
Three Significance of Ancestral Temple Culture
Educational significance: Ancestral temples are built on the basis of clan consanguinity, in order to sacrifice ancestors, strengthen the centripetal force and cohesion of the clan, and thus achieve the prosperity of the clan. Through the construction of ancestral temple, the association of hall names, sacrificial activities, the revision of genealogy and the formulation of clan rules and regulations, the blood relationship of clan is strictly sorted out, so as to achieve the purpose of ethics, mu, proper names and debate.
Normative significance: refers to the restriction of ancestral temple culture on the behavior of each member of the clan.
The significance of maintaining family ties: ancestral temple culture has played a role in unifying ethnic behavior and thoughts, maintaining social life stability, and maintaining the centripetal force and cohesion of all ethnic members.