It is a place where people worship their ancestors or sages.
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. This kind of family temple is generally called "ancestral temple", which is divided into ancestral temple, 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.
Besides offering sacrifices to ancestors, ancestral temples have many uses. 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. Most ancestral temples have hall numbers, written by calligraphers with ethnic or foreign surnames, and made into gold plaques to be hung in the main hall, along with other plaques such as the origin of surnames, ethnic glory, and female chastity. The exquisite one is also equipped with couplets. If it is sealed by the emperor, you can make a "straight plaque". The specifications and quantity of plaques in the ancestral hall are the capital that the people show off. Some ancestral halls have flagpole stones in front of them, indicating that the people have won fame. Generally speaking, ancestral halls have surnames and shrines. In the old society, clan rules were very strict, not to mention foreign surnames, that is, women or underage children in the clan were not allowed to enter without authorization, otherwise they would be severely punished.
After liberation, especially during the movement in the 1960s, ancestral halls were basically demolished, smashed or transformed into office space. Ancestor ranking, including some genealogies hidden in it, was burned down, and later generations did not know why the ancestral temple was used and what it was used for everywhere. Sadly, for some reasons, some ancestral halls in a few areas have been preserved, which is very gratifying.
Overview of surnames
Surname, unified ancestral home; People who belong to the family should not be divided by future generations. Tongzhi Genealogy says: Before three generations (pre-Qin), surnames were divided into two parts, with men taking surnames and pregnant women (women) taking surnames. So, don't be high or low. Noble people have surnames, while bitches have no surnames. Surnames are so different from marriage that there is a difference between sharing surnames and sharing surnames. If the surnames are different, the marriage can be passed; People with different surnames cannot get married. After three generations, the surnames merged into one, so they left marriage and looked at the nobility. Note: "Noble people have surnames": the son of heaven, Jiande, was born in the land where the surname was given (the ground cracked and sealed). If a husband keeps his surname and his family, the world will never stop worshipping, and there will be no country.
Fu was a famous tribal leader in ancient China. He is not only listed as the head of state of Huang San, but also the "human ancestor" of the Chinese nation. Historically, Fuxi was born in Tianshui, Gansu, with its capital in Chen, and was buried in Chen after his death. Huaiyang, known as the "City of Taihao" since ancient times, is the legendary Chen Dou. Fu's contribution is various, but his most important contribution is "correcting surnames and making up marriages". In the early days of primitive society, it was inevitable for people to live in groups, have mixed marriages, and get married by close relatives and have children. Recognizing this harm, Fu formulated a set of wedding etiquette system for unmarried people with the same surname, thus avoiding the marriage of close relatives and realizing prenatal and postnatal care. As a symbol of "stay away from animals, don't marry or not", surname is an important symbol of the progress of Chinese civilization. After thousands of years' development, there are more than 22,000 surnames used in the history of China. Some of these surnames have retired from the historical stage, but most of them have been passed down from generation to generation, becoming the endless blood ties of the Chinese nation. It can be said that all China surnames are of the same origin, and their roots are in Fu, and Huaiyang, the provincial capital, is the origin and birthplace of China surnames. "Three Ancestors' Grave" says: "Husband, the son of a coward, was born by the wind, so he was named Feng", so "Feng" is the first surname of China.
The origin of surnames can be traced back to the matriarchal clan system in primitive human society, so many ancient surnames in China are beside or at the bottom of female characters. Surname is a specific symbol to distinguish clans, such as the name of a tribe or the name of a tribal leader. Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor lived on the bank of Jishui and took Ji as his surname. Living next door, taking Jiang as his surname. Dayu was in charge of water conservancy, and the emperor made great contributions and gave his surname as the secretary. In addition, the son of a tribal leader can also have a surname. The Yellow Emperor had twenty-five sons, fourteen of whom were given surnames, namely Ji, You, Qi, Ji, Teng, Ren, Xun, Wei, Xian and Yi, and four of them belonged to the second surname. After Zhu Rong, he established eight surnames for himself, namely, Dong, Peng, Bald, Yi, Cao, Zhu and Mi, which was called Zhu Rong's eight surnames in history. With the development of social productive forces, the matriarchal clan system has changed into the paternal clan system, and the clan system has been gradually replaced by the class social system, and there have been ways and means to give life to the land to govern the country. The appearance of stone is a step towards class society in human history. Surnames and surnames are two stages of human progress and the product of civilization. In Xia and Shang dynasties, nobles all had surnames. The branch of surname is surname, which means family or clan. Xia royal family took the surname of Yi, and Kunwu, another overlord, took his own surname, including Su, Gu, Wen, Dong and Qilong. Shang royal family is the son's surname, while overlord and Qian Wei are Peng's surnames. There were thirteen surnames in Shang Dynasty, such as Tiao, Xu and Xiao. The Zhou Dynasty was an important period for the great development of surnames in China, and the surname system was widely recorded. The king of Zhou is Ji, and the princes of feudal vassal States share the same surname as Qing Dafu. By the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, there were 22 surnames that could be tested, including Ji, Yi, Zi, Feng, Ying, Ji, Ren, Qi, Qian, Cao, Dong, Jiang, Yan, Gui, Man, Xiong, Kui, Qi and Yun. Although Zhou nobles had surnames, only women called them surnames. Unmarried women such as Qi Jiangsong, whose name is Qi Song and whose surname is Jiang Zi. Married women, such as Jiang Qian and Luan Qi, Jiang and Luan are husband's family country and surname, while Qian and Qi are women's real surnames. At that time, there was a custom of not marrying with the same surname, so your daughter's surname was called to show that she was different from her husband's family. The Zhou Dynasty practiced patriarchal clan system, which was divided into large and small clans. The establishment of a clan shows that a small clan has split from a large clan and set up another portal. The establishment of the state of Hou needs the approval of the king of Zhou, and the establishment of Dr. Qing's new house needs the permission of the monarch, which is called the "home of the dead land". There are several ways for nobles to obtain surnames:
Take the country name as the surname. The monarch of a vassal state takes the name of the country as his surname. For example, Jinzhong is, Jin Wengong, with Jin as the surname, which is abbreviated; It's Shen, with Lu as the surname and Shen as the name.
② Take the fief as the surname. Doctor Qing and his descendants took the fief as their surname. For example, the doctor of Jin took Bi Wancai as Wei, and later generations took Wei as their surname; Ten thousand letters from Han Gongzi, the son of Uncle Qu Wohuan, were written by Bill Han.
③ Take the official name as the surname. Nobles and their descendants take official names as surnames. The state of Jin was the commander of the third line of the infantry organization, and his son was called Zhongyan, taking Zhongyan as his surname. Song Guoqing (Zi Han) called Sicheng, and his grandson (Liang Zi) called Sicheng, taking Sicheng as his surname. The same is true of Si Tuleideng, Sima, Si Kou.
Take occupation as the surname. Such as Wu, Bu, Zhu, Shi, Jiang and Tao.
⑤ Take the place of residence as the surname. Luzhuang Gongzi lives in the east gate of Shandong Province, and is called Dongmen Sui (name) and Dongmen Xiangzhong (word), taking Dongmen as his surname; Song Guo Le was a right teacher of Tongmen in Song Dynasty. Known as the right teacher of the same door, taking the same door as the surname. Such as Dongguo, Ximen and Chizi.
⑥ According to the blood relationship with the King of Zhou or the late Lord, the surname is called. The king's son is called Wang, and his grandson is called Sun Su. Zheng Mugong's son Xi (Zi Han) is called Gongzi Xi, and his grandson Shezhi (Zi Zhan) is called Gongsun Shezhi.
⑦ Take your name as your surname. According to the patriarchal clan system, the male clan only includes three generations of close relatives of monarchs, and the son of Gongsun is not a male clan, so a new surname must be established. Most of these aristocratic children take their father's (grandfather's) words as their surnames. The son of Zheng sends a word, and his Sun Guoshen (Zisi) takes the last word as his surname; Another Koneko, whose grandson takes "Zi" as his surname. It is a common practice to take the word grandfather as the surname.
Before the Spring and Autumn Period, aristocratic surnames were inherited from their distant ancestors, so they remained unchanged for hundreds of generations and were relatively stable. Surnames come from ancestors who are close to their own blood relationship, and will change with the changes of fiefs and official positions, so there will be several surnames or different surnames between father and son in a person's descendants. In addition, different surnames may be named in the same way, so different surnames will be the same. During the Warring States period, the patriarchal clan system collapsed and the surname system changed fundamentally. At this time, the surname began to change. For example, Tian in Qi took Tian as his surname during the Warring States Period. In the past, nobles only had surnames, and civilians only had surnames. After the Warring States period, civilians had surnames, and the people became the general name of the people. The evolution of surname system reflects the decline of aristocratic status and the rise of civilian status. Since Qin and Han dynasties, surnames have been combined into one. "A Brief History of Clans" records, "When Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, the descendants should be the people, or take the country as the surname, or take the surname as the surname, so the surname will be lost ... and the surname and surname will be merged into one." From then on, surname is surname, surname is surname, and surname or surname becomes the written language of surname or surname. On different occasions, surnames and surnames are used differently. For example, in social interpersonal communication, when strangers meet, they often politely ask, "May I have your name?" Answer: "Your name is X" I have never heard of "yours". Genealogy and genealogy are called X's genealogy and X's genealogy. I have never seen X's genealogy and X's genealogy ... Why is there such a difference? Probably speaking, it is taboo to ask "Gui" because "Gui" is homophonic with "Death". "Shi" was a symbol of men in ancient times, and genealogy and genealogy are albums that record the blood relationship of family members with a certain surname, so genealogy and genealogy are named after a certain surname.