What does the ancestral temple at home mean?

What does the ancestral temple at home mean?

What does it mean to have an ancestral temple at home? The ancestral temple is a place where every family worships their ancestors in order to obtain their protection. When there are important events at home, the whole family will go to the ancestral temple, but now many young people don't understand the tradition of the ancestral temple, so what is the significance of having a ancestral temple at home?

What does the ancestral temple at home mean? 1 Ancestral hall used to be called "Ancestral Hall" or "Family Temple", which was mostly built in tombs, so it was called "Ancestral Room". The Book of Rites says that only emperors, governors and doctors can set up ancestral halls. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the imperial court began to allow ordinary people to build "home temples". Later, most ancestral temples were built in or near the family settlement. At first, because there were not many families, they were placed in shrines and houses. With the proliferation of people, they began to build ancestral temples and even sub-temples.

Ancestral temple is a symbol of local economic development level and a representative of folk culture. From the perspective of folklorists, ancestral halls are "interpreting the civilization of the times in their own way". As one of the best preserved ancient buildings in China, the ancestral temple has left many precious historical and cultural research values for future generations.

China's ancestors, from the ancestral temple, knew that there was a family tree. The ancestral temple culture is not only unique, but also has a long history. As an important part of local folk 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. In a sense, the prosperity of ancestral temple culture reflects the social stability and economic development in this historical period, and it is the concrete embodiment of political clarity, national prosperity and people's security.

First, the origin of the ancestral temple

After the origin of ancestral temple and the gradual disintegration of ancestral society, it is a clan organization formed by the unity of blood relatives and geographical organizations born of the same ancestor. It is a place built independently outside the room to worship ancestors, respect sages 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 privilege of the clan. The ancestral temple has also become a sacred place for clan sacrifice, symbolizing the unity of the clan. Some people also understand the ancestral temple as the home of the dead ancestors, the place where the gods gather and the place where they worship the ancestors' gods.

All ancestral temples dedicated to emperors and sages are called shrines, and these shrines are official temples. Only ancestral temples built by clans for ancestors are usually real ancestral temples.

Every surname must build an ancestral temple and an ancestor. Many ancestral temples were also built by famous families. Such as: Yang, Gu, Zhu, Wang and other surnames, and there are temples in general, sub-temples and sub-temples. Near more ancestral temples are their ancestral fields and ancestral properties.

Second, the composition and distribution of ancestral halls

(1) Ancestral Temple Building: It is a place for the whole nation to sacrifice, and it is a place to educate people on etiquette with the theme of respecting ancestors and focusing on spiritual education.

(2) The ancestral property of the clan is the public property of the whole clan. Most of them were donated by people from all walks of life in the clan, and some of them were part of the clan's heritage or nobles who were knighted and given farmland. The amount of ancestral property varies. Some clans in Wuxi are very rich, and their ancestral property covers thousands of acres. One of its main purposes is to help the poor in the clan. It is a main form of social welfare security in ancient times.

(3) Compilation and revision of genealogical documents such as genealogy, genealogy and family travel. Genealogy is the most direct reflection of the history of the clan and its members. It makes a complete historical record in many aspects through the ancestral temple organization, functional institutions, blood relationship, lineage, sacrificial activities, family rules and family laws, clan property, compassion and other basic contents, so that people of the same clan can understand their roots and discuss their generations, with the focus on maintaining the blood relationship of the clan.

In ancestral halls all over the country, relatively large and complete management settings usually consist of the following parts:

Patriarch-the master of the whole family;

Zongzi-management sacrifice;

Zong Zheng-quasi-patriarch:

Zong Si-Lunji Zhang;

-Handling disputes;

Clan history-palm clan history;

Teaching-in charge of the economy:

Zonggan-helping the patriarch to do specific things;

Zongshou-ancestral temple management;

Ding Tong-the guardian of Tongren; In addition, there are handymen such as grave relatives (grave keepers). The management organization set up in the ancestral hall is relatively strict and complete.

Since ancient times, there have been two types of ancestral halls. One is the shrine, ancestral hall and ancestral hall where the ancestors of the emperor worship their ancestors. They are distributed in scenic spots and historical sites all over the country, with memorial attribute as the main attribute, followed by blood relationship and regional attribute.

The other is the ancestral hall with blood relationship and geographical relationship as its main attributes. It is a place for the whole family to worship their ancestors, mainly to worship their ancestors, and has the functions of other clan activities. This kind of ancestral temple is a widely distributed type in China. The so-called family lives together, and each family has a shrine. Every surname must build an ancestral temple to protect their ancestors.

It developed extremely well in the feudal family society of China, but it was based on agricultural economy and characterized by farming and reading culture. Therefore, as long as there are residential settlements and cottages formed by geographical organizations or groups with the same surname, clan and blood relationship, there must be ancestral halls, whether in prosperous towns, hinterland, closed abandoned villages and wild mountains or developed water towns. Although the ancestral halls have different forms, they are always scattered.

Second, the main functions of the ancestral hall

Ancestral hall is the place where ancestors live together, and offering sacrifices to ancestors is the main function of ancestral hall. Every spring and autumn, the whole family get together in the ancestral hall, which is presided over by the patriarch or patriarch 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. By offering sacrifices in ancestral temples, people often pay tribute to the appearance of their ancestors and arouse family unity. Relying on the ties of blood relationship, maintaining and consolidating the rights and status of the family.

The ancestral hall is the main memorial tablet of the ancestors, with a niche in the center and niches on the left and right. It's like a small temple attached to the wall. The Lord of God is put in a cupboard with a curtain in front. Later, some people used a big rectangular desk to arrange God on the table.

The general Jiakezheng niche is often from the current elders to test the gods of (father), ancestors, great-grandfathers, and great-grandfathers IV. After V, the gods will move to the niche, and the ancestors will never move and stay in the niche forever.

In ancient times, in order to strengthen the unity of blood relationship and clan relationship, and make the whole family prosperous, interests and interests were related to * * *, so there were many activities of offering sacrifices to ancestors, taking the Eastern Han Dynasty as an example:

On the first day of the first month, worship the late father and ancestors and toast for dinner;

In February, they offered sacrifices to the gods and ancestors.

In the spring of March, I gave comfort to my relatives.

In April, Tomb-Sweeping Day offered sacrifices to sweep and go for an outing;

Sacrifice ancestors with fresh food in May, June and August.

In September, I expressed my condolences to orphans and widows all over the country.

In October, the clan people took the lead in relief;

Worship ancestors with white gouhuang rice cakes in November;

In the twelfth lunar month, animals are hunted as year-end sacrifices.

Another important function of ancestral hall is to collect and compile genealogy. Genealogy is a special historical record that records the blood relatives, generations, family rules, family laws and genealogy of the clan by means of biographies, essays and charts. And be mastered and followed by people with their own names. For a family, genealogy has the functions of educating, respecting sages, governing politics and trusting history. Traditionally, genealogy is revised once every ten years and overhauled once every thirty years. This task was completed in the ancestral hall. Usually, a ceremony of offering genealogy is held in the ancestral hall, and a genealogy is provided in the ancestral hall, and the rest are distributed to the people according to the number of people for genealogy preservation. Generally, genealogy is a copy in one room, and multiple copies are not allowed. The genealogist is the person in charge of the room, or recommends the person in this room as a genealogist.

In family rules, there are strict requirements for the collection of genealogy. Genealogy must be put in a special wooden box. It must be placed in an orange niche or hidden in the library. It must not be moldy or lost. Don't put it anywhere and desecrate the genealogy. Check regularly. Kinship has the right to severely punish those who cause genealogy damage. Genealogy is not allowed to be compiled privately or lent to people with other surnames; If anyone dares to cheat the public, sell the genealogy, and sell the genealogy for profit, it will be regarded as unfilial, hell to pay.

The ancestral hall has the function of helping students and educating people. In the ancestral temple, on the public land donated by the people, it helps the students' function. It is also an important event to honor the family and improve the reputation of the whole family through reading.

The ancestral hall is also a classroom for preaching teaching methods. Before the sacrificial ceremony began, the ancestral hall dedicated itself to "reciting music" for the people, telling the history of ancestors' difficult entrepreneurship, regularly reading family rules, preaching and admonishing, and quoting quotations from sages. Let the people know about social ethics and strict teaching, let the people know about the contents of genealogy, know their blood relationship with other people, and strengthen family unity.

The ancestral hall is also a place to discuss clan affairs. For all major events in the clan, such as the election of clan leaders, the construction of ancestral temples, the maintenance of family changes, the purchase of large-scale clan property, and litigation with neighboring ethnic groups, all adults are called by clan leaders to the ancestral temples for discussion. Tribes can express their opinions, but clan power is supreme, and the final decision is in the hands of the patriarch.

The ancestral hall is also a family court. The patriarch, like a family judge, can enforce family laws (family rules and family instructions) in the ancestral hall. In the ancestral hall, civil and criminal cases that violate the clan's family law or that are determined by the patriarch to violate the family law shall be punished publicly.

Ancestral hall is the activity center of a family, which is linked by blood relationship, firmly twisting ethnic groups together and forming a strict family organization.

Third, the cultural significance of the ancestral hall.

Ancestral temple is a symbol of family or clan rights and economic culture. In the process of thousands of years of feudal rule in China, the state ruling group played a core role, and the clan regional groups and family blood organizations also played a certain historical role. They played an important role in supplementing the feudal legal system and maintaining the stability of feudal rule, and also played a long-term social role of so-called governing the country and ensuring the country. Therefore, it is still an auxiliary rule for rulers of past dynasties.

During thousands of years of feudal rule in China, ancestral temple culture has been greatly developed. Genealogy culture, chronological national history and local chronicles constitute the three mainstream cultures of China traditional culture.

The connotation expressed by ancestral temple culture is actually a form of record in the traditional life of our ancestors. Its main body is to respect sages and worship ancestors, which is a process of thinking, understanding and believing in this ideological spirit. Its scope will be an orderly and rich ancestral temple culture. It is a knowledge system that absorbs all rivers and nourishes everything. It embodies the unique regional culture of clan families and regional organizations with the same surname in feudal society, and is also the legacy left by the clan culture construction of aristocratic families in past dynasties. Specifically, it is based on blood relationship and marked by region.

What does the ancestral temple at home mean? 2. The taboo of ancestral temple to women.

The ancestral temple is a place where the patriarchal society shows its authority. Only men can enter the ancestral temple and carry out various family activities. Women go in and out of the ancestral temple unless they violate clan taboos and enter the ancestral temple to be punished by family members. For example, some women who have husbands have bad relations with other men. When they are arrested, they have to go to the ancestral hall to accept the punishment of the family elders. Seriously, they are tied up in cages and drowned with men, which is what the saying goes.

Second, the feng shui of the ancestral temple

65438+ is complementary to the left and right, with four potential pairs. Sit facing south.

2. Try to avoid residential buildings, schools, factories and other crowded places. After that, there are mountains to lean on, paying attention to beautiful mountains and rivers, outstanding people, and demanding prosperous people. Further reading: What is the significance of naming villages such as village, village, building, village, tun, fort and camp?

In Long Mai, ancestral temple is the home of ancestors, which is also the place to protect future generations. If you want to have talents, you should choose Long Mai.

The pond is the key to the ancestral temple. As the saying goes, "You get rich when you meet water." If you want to have a full house of children and grandchildren, you need a backrest of truth and a door of water.

5. The terrain should be low before and high after. The book says, "Low before and high after, the hero in the world." The ideal place is where the mountain faces the water.

6. The internal structure, layout and size of the ancestral hall should be very particular. The construction of ancestral halls is different from the construction of ordinary houses, and there are strict regulations.

7, Geding sitting direction. Heaven and earth are divided into three yuan and nine transports, and there are twenty-four mountain directions. The sitting direction of the ancestral temple cannot be set casually, which is related to the rise and fall of the whole village or a family.

8. Build the ancestral temple, choose auspicious and auspicious time to start work and offer sacrifices. There is a sentence in the Japanese textbook: "You can't really get the sun and the moon, but you must be rich and glorious." This is about the importance of making full use of the weather.

9. If there is no ideal floor, it must be built manually. Including piling mountains, digging ponds, filling gaps, releasing water, planting trees and grass, etc.

10, the modern ancestral hall should also talk about sitting posture and case-solving from the overall layout. The most important place is large space, high buildings, good materials and sufficient lighting.

What does the ancestral temple at home mean? 1. It is forbidden to enter the ancestral temple.

1, location taboo

People regard the geomantic omen of ancestral temple as the key to the rise and fall of clan, so the choice of new ancestral temple is very particular. Generally, we should pay attention to the source of Long Mai phenomenon and anger, such as the water behind the mountain, the spacious hall, the square, the water outlet assembly, no conflict, no fight, etc., and then the taboos are not matched, and the four potentials look uneven.

It should have the connotation of the combination of yin and yang, the combination of reality and excess, the combination of rigidity and softness, and seeing the big from the small. The best environmental model is surrounded by a series of peaks, guarded by portals in front, left and right guards, and backed by mountains. Mainly pay attention to beautiful mountains and rivers, outstanding people and outstanding people, and demand prosperous literary talent and outstanding people. According to the law of geomantic omen: "If you hold the left ring and the right ring, you will be angry". This is anger, aura and good luck. When choosing a location, it usually turns from real to virtual, paying great attention to orientation. Generally speaking, people sit facing north or west to east, and some other directions are chosen according to special Long Mai conditions.

2. Scale taboo

The organization and layout of ancestral temple buildings are stipulated, but the scale is different, but the overall layout is similar, which can be roughly divided into front square, stage, gate, fence, patio, hall, worship hall, sleeping hall, auxiliary room and so on. It depends on the financial strength of his family.

Generally, ancestral temples are dominated by "four cents" and "eight cents". The so-called "four-cent gold" is a small three-way courtyard and a quadrangle. Sanjin Courtyard is generally a main hall with three bays and double slope wood structure, which is combined with lifting beams and crossing buckets. "Siheyuan" usually has three main rooms and three seats, a wing on the left and a wing on the right, with a patio in the middle. The gate is located in the inverted warning room, and there is no courtyard in front of the gate.

The plane of "Bajiantou" is basically the same as that of "Quarter Gold", except that the left and right compartments are not cloisters, but are surrounded by lattice fans, and there are eight closed bays in the upper and lower main rooms, commonly known as "Bajiantou". In addition, there is a "three vertical and three horizontal" layout, with hard mountains as the main architectural form and three bays in the middle and three depths.

Second, what is the emphasis on ancestral temple feng shui?

1. Generally speaking, the building feng shui at the top of the ancestral temple is too high, which actually attracts the spirit of the sun. If the spirit of the sun is too strong, it is difficult to stabilize the magnetic field of the house. In the feng shui pattern, if there is too much sunshine on the roof, it is easy to produce light. Once the light is affected, it will be very unfavorable to people's health.

2. The geomantic omen on the roof of ancestral temple also pays attention to no shortage of horns. The most unfavorable thing about a house with a corner is the development of wealth. If you build a house on the roof, it's best to give priority to squares. Otherwise, it's easy to break money and consume money at home, and it's easy to make the house not accumulate money.

3. If there are pregnant women in the clan, it is absolutely forbidden to build ancestral halls, even if they are minor repairs or replaced with tiles. This is a taboo, its most direct impact is that it will cause abortion to pregnant women, but also affect people's personality, resulting in personality depression, which is not conducive to physical and mental health.