Ancestor Worship Customs
01 · Historical Records
Since the Ming dynasty, Huizhou ancestral-hall sacrifice has been widely practiced in Qimen, She, Yi, and Jixi counties and elsewhere in ancient Huizhou.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Huizhou ancestral-hall sacrifice is a traditional ceremonial activity in which the lineages of the Huizhou region worship their ancestors, and it is divided into two main types: the lineage sacrifice (zuji) and the branch sacrifice (fangji). The lineage sacrifice is usually presided over by the clan head, who is generally an elder of the clan, of high seniority within the generation order, with many descendants, and of high moral standing; the branch sacrifice is presided over by the branch head of each branch (fangtou). In Huizhou, the times of the ancestor-worship activities in the lineage ancestral halls are varied, including the spring sacrifice, the Zhongyuan (Ghost Festival) sacrifice, the autumn sacrifice, the winter sacrifice, and sacrifices on the birthdays and death anniversaries of the ancestors. Among these, the spring and autumn sacrifices and the winter sacrifice are the most common and the most solemn. Huizhou ancestral-hall sacrifice strictly follows the prescriptions of Zhu Xi's Family Rituals (Jiali), requiring participants to be properly dressed and dignified in bearing, and to observe the hall regulations strictly. The sacrificial activities follow a rigorous procedure; the reading of the sacrificial text by the master of ceremonies (lisheng) is an important segment, and the composition of the sacrificial text follows a fixed format. To this day, traditional ancient villages in western Qimen County such as Mashan, Taoyuan, Wentang, and Huanglong still preserve a relatively complete ancestral-hall sacrificial culture. Taking Mashan Village as an example, its ancestor-worship activities are divided into the spring and autumn sacrifices and the winter sacrifice, with rigorous procedures and solemn rites. For the winter sacrifice, the ancestral portraits are hung on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month each year, and on New Year's Eve the villagers go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors. The spring sacrifice is held on the second and fourth days of the first lunar month; after the rite, each person receives a cup of rice wine. The seventh day of the first lunar month is Human Day, when the ancestral portraits are put away and a lion dance is performed. On the thirteenth day of the fifth lunar month, Guan Yunchang (Guan Yu) is worshipped and the Lord Guan Festival is held. At the Qingming Festival, the villagers carry out the custom of marking the graves and worshipping their ancestors; at the Zhongyuan Festival, Taoist opera is performed to sacrifice to wandering souls and wild ghosts. On the first day of the eighth lunar month, the villagers go to the Xifeng Temple in the northwest to welcome the Xifeng Great Sage, and send him back at the Mid-Autumn Festival. The sacrificial activities of the Chen lineage of Taoyuan Village, Qimen County, are divided into three types: the small sacrifice (family sacrifice), the medium sacrifice (branch-hall sacrifice), and the great sacrifice (general-ancestral-hall sacrifice). The first procedure of the lineage ancestral-hall sacrifice is to offer sixteen kinds of offerings. The sacrificial personnel have a clear division of labor: one chief sacrificer, one opener of praises (qizan), one master of ceremonies (tongzan), one silent praiser (yazan), one lead usher (yinzan), one person in charge of internal affairs, one attendant (zhishi), one drummer, and one gong striker, plus several members of the accompanying band. At the great sacrifice, a whole sheep and a whole pig must be offered as the principal offerings, and each household must carry one or a pair of decorated lanterns of varied shapes, symbolizing the welcoming of wealth and fortune and the addition of children to the family.
The sixteen offerings that open the rite
Sixteen offerings are laid before anyone takes office, and their completeness is read as a measure of the household's standing.
The officiant and the eight ritual posts
Nine named posts and a wind band share the rite, their steps learned by walking the same line dozens of times.
Whole sheep and pig for the great offering
The great rite requires a whole sheep and pig, shared among households, each adding a lamp of its own design.
Reading the prayer, and its fixed form
A ritual officer reads the prayer aloud, its opening, merits and petitions following a set literary form.
Portraits hung before the year turns
Ancestral portraits are hung on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month and removed on the seventh of the first.
Three grades of clan sacrifice
Small, middle and great sacrifices correspond to family, branch and total shrines, ritual and governance in one.
The cup of rice wine after the spring rite
After the rite each household receives a cup of rice wine, sharing the sacrifice's remainder with everyone.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In the villages of Qimen each surname keeps one ancestral hall, and the rank of the sacrifice dates is set by the scale of the hall: Mashan has both the spring and autumn sacrifices and the winter sacrifice, while the Chen lineage of Taoyuan divides its rites into three levels — small, medium, and great sacrifice. In villages where people of the same surname live scattered, before a general ancestral hall is established, the branch hall first holds the small sacrifice as a stand-in, and it is raised to the great sacrifice only when a matter involving the whole lineage arises.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Ancestor Worship Customs · Ancestor Worship Customs · Ancestor Worship Customs · Ancestor Worship Customs · Ancestor Worship Customs · Ancestor Worship Customs · Ancestor Worship Customs · Ancestor Worship Customs · Ancestor Worship Customs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Huizhou lineage ancestral-hall sacrifice is a celebratory and sacrificial custom closely tied to the yearly festivals and seasons. It is a cultural heritage created by the working people of Huizhou and an important component of Huizhou lineage culture. The ancestral-hall sacrificial activities more completely preserved in Qimen County are of positive significance for harmonizing lineage kin and promoting traditional virtues, and they have important reference value for the study of Huizhou lineage ritual and folk culture. Chen Dunhe (from the official archives of the associated representative inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in March 1943, from Qimen County, Anhui Province. In 1952, as the youngest child attendant (tongsheng) in the sacrificial procession, he took part in the spring sacrifice held by the Chen family. For many years he has devoted himself to the collection, organization, and study of first-hand materials on Huizhou ancestral-hall sacrifice. The 2013 spring sacrifice, which he hosted throughout, was broadcast live on the Public Channel of Anhui Radio and Television. In addition, he actively raised funds to fully restore the five existing Chen ancestral halls — Dajing Hall, Shenhui Hall, Chijing Hall, Baoji Hall, and Xuwu Shrine — providing venues for the sacrificial activities. He actively passes on the craft and has trained two apprentices. He is a representative inheritor of the ancestor worship custom (Huizhou ancestral-hall sacrifice), a project of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Liu Yixia 05-3036
- Zhuge Yi 05-3037
- Chen Dunhe 05-3038
- Fan Zhongyi
- Qu Bilaji
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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