[:en]Ancestral Hall[:zh]祠堂 – Hong Kong history 香港歷史

[:en]

An ancestral shrine, hall or temple (Chinese: 祠堂; pinyin: Cítáng or Chinese: 宗祠; pinyin: Zōng Cí, Vietnamese: Nhà thờ họ; Chữ Hán: 家祠户), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ancestral temples are closely linked to Confucian philosophy and culture and the emphasis that it places on filial piety. Etymology Chinese: 祠堂; pinyin: Cítáng has its first character Ci Shrine in Chinese: 宗祠; pinyin: Zōng Cí has its first character derived from Jongmyo, and its second character is Ci Shrine That phrasing can be seen as making the Jongmyo a more sacralized version, since Ci shrines are considered lower ranked than Miao shrines. A common central feature of the ancestral temples are the ancestral tablets that embody the ancestral spirits. The ancestral tablets are typically arranged by seniority of the ancestors. Altars and other ritual objects such as incense burners are also common fixtures. Ancestors and gods can also be represented by statues. The temples are used for collective rituals and festivals in honor of the ancestors. but also for other family- and community-related functions such as weddings and funerals. Sometimes, they serve wider community functions such as meetings and local elections. In traditional weddings, the ancestral temple serves a major symbolic function, completing the transfer of a woman to her husband’s family. During the wedding rites, the bride and groom worship at the groom’s ancestral shrine, bowing as follows:

first bow – Heaven and Earth second bow – ancestors third bow – parents fourth bow – spouse

Three months after the marriage, the wife undertakes worship at the husband’s ancestral shrine, in a rite known as miaojian (廟見). In mainland China, ancestral temples along with other temples have often been destroyed or forced to become “secularized” as village schools or granaries during the land reform of the 950s and the Cultural Revolution. They have experienced a revival since the economic liberalization of the 980s. The revival of the ancestral temples has been particularly strong in southern China where lineage organization had stronger roots in the local culture and local communities are more likely to have clan members living overseas who are keen to support the revival and rebuilding of the shrines through donations.

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[:zh]

祠堂，又稱家廟、祖堂、公廳，是基於宗法制度，用於供奉和祭祀祖先的祠，其又具有從事家族宣傳、執行族規家法、議事宴飲的功能。用於舉辦家族內子孫的婚、喪、壽、喜等事，還可以作為私塾使用。祠堂可分為宗祠和家祠（或支祠）兩類，宗祠是大宗的祠堂，家祠、支祠則是分家所建供奉分房的祖先。

歷史上古時代，只有天子才可立祠，其他任何人均不可立祠。周代以後，諸侯、士大夫和品官們也可在家立祠祭祖，平民百姓們則只能以把祖先的畫像、泥塑像或神主牌位供奉在墓旁稱為「功德祠」的寺廟的方式來祭祖。南宋朱熹在其所著《家禮》中為顧及社會中下層家庭的祭祖需要，將家廟改稱祠堂，提倡建立家族祠堂以祭祀先祖；但此時修建祠堂同前一樣，仍有等級限制，民間不得於家立祠。平民百姓直到明朝嘉靖年間才得以廣泛的在家立祠，但仍須嚴格遵循等級制度，例如只有先人當過品官的家族祠堂才可用宗字，以及只有先人中當過皇帝，或封過侯爵或以上爵位的家族祠堂才可用廟字，因而產生了不同種類的祠堂：太廟：皇室的祠堂。宗廟：先人中當過皇帝，或封過侯爵或侯爵以上的爵位的諸侯、士大夫和品官的祠堂。宗祠：先人中封過侯爵以下，或沒被封爵的現任諸侯、士大夫和品官的祠堂。家廟：先人中當過皇帝，或封過侯爵或侯爵以上的爵位的平民百姓的祠堂。家祠：先人中封過侯爵以下，或沒被封爵的平民百姓的祠堂。

建築祠堂的建築一般採用傳統建築的形式，「堂皇宏麗，與居室相同」。一般有一間正堂，正堂內設有四個神龕，供奉祖宗牌位每龕前各設供案，用以擺放祭品。