Ancestor Veneration in China

Chinese ancestor worship, or Chinese ancestor veneration, also called the Chinese patriarchal religion, is an aspect of the Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deified ancestors and tutelary deities of people with the same surname organised into lineage societies in ancestral shrines. Ancestors, their ghosts, or spirits, and gods are considered part of "this world," that is, they are neither supernatural (in the sense of being outside nature) nor transcendent in the sense of being beyond nature. The ancestors are humans who have become godly beings, beings who keep their individual identities. For this reason, Chinese religion is founded on veneration of ancestors. Ancestors are believed to be a means of connection to the supreme power of Tian (Shangdi), as they are considered embodiments or reproducers of the creative order of Heaven.

Confucian philosophy calls for paying respect to one's ancestors, an aspect of filial piety; Zhuo Xinping (2011) views traditional patriarchal religion as the religious organisation complementing the ideology of Confucianism. As the "bedrock faith of the Chinese", traditional patriarchal religion influences the religious psychology of all Chinese and has influenced the other religions of China, as it is evident in the worship of founders of temples and schools of thought in Taoism and Chinese Buddhism.

Ancestor veneration practices prevail in south China, where lineage bonds are stronger and the patrilineal hierarchy is not based upon seniority, and access to corporate resources held by a lineage is based upon the equality of all the lines of descent; whereas in north China worship of communal deities is prevalent.

Some contemporary scholars in China have adopted the names "Chinese traditional patriarchal religion" (中國傳統宗法性宗教 Zhōngguó chuántǒng zōngfǎ xìng zōngjiào) or "Chinese traditional primordial religion" (中国传统原生性宗教 Zhōngguó chuántǒng yuánshēng xìng zōngjiào) to define the traditional religious system organised around the worship of ancestor-gods.

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