What is the use of the ancient "ancestral temple"?

I believe many friends have seen the ancestral temple in many costume TV dramas. Generally, large families will have ancestral temples for placing the spirits of their ancestors. So do you know what it means? Ancestral temple? What is its origin?

The ancestral hall is a place specially established by people with the same surname to worship ancestors and deceased sages. The earliest recorded name of ancestral hall was in the Han Dynasty, and the earliest was Hanshu? It is recorded in the biography of officials. Wen Weng finally arrived in Shu, where officials and people set up ancestral halls and offered sacrifices in time. ? Wen Weng, an official of the Han Dynasty, died in Shu, and the officials and people built an ancestral temple for him, offering sacrifices every year. At that time, the ancestral hall referred to the grave. Later, with the passage of time, the function of ancestral temple is not only as simple as offering sacrifices to ancestors, but also has many other functions gradually.

Except? Ancestor worship? In addition, the grandchildren of each family usually use these wide ancestral halls as venues for activities when dealing with weddings, funerals, birthdays and other affairs. In addition, the clansmen sometimes use the ancestral hall as a meeting place to discuss important affairs within the clan. The ancestral hall is also the place where the patriarch exercises clan rights. Anyone who violates the clan rules is educated here until he is expelled from the ancestral hall, so it can also be said to be a court of feudal morality. Ancestral temples can also be used as social places for families; Some ancestral temples have affiliated schools, where children of ethnic minorities go to school.

Because of this, ancestral temple buildings are generally larger and of better quality than residential buildings. The more powerful and wealthy families, the more exquisite their ancestral halls are. The tall hall, exquisite carvings and excellent materials have become the symbol of this family's glory.

Now ancestral temples have been banned all over the country, and some well-preserved ancestral temples can only be seen in some rural areas with strong traditional culture.