Chapter 17 Section 3 Local Family Temples and Ancestral Halls

When we go to the countryside, especially those with a relatively rich economy, we can often see ancestral halls preserved in history, which are local family temples.In the feudal society of ancient China, not only the royal family passed down from generation to generation, but also among the common people, the family concept was very deep, and often one or several families with the same surname lived in a village.Each family has its own family rules and training, and is ruled by a prestigious patriarch. It can be said that this is the political and ideological pillar at the lowest level of the entire feudal society.Therefore, just like the emperor built Taimiao to worship ancestors, each ethnic group also built their own family temples to worship ancestors. Such family temples are generally called ancestral halls.The ancestral hall at the grassroots level is different from the emperor's Taimiao. In addition to enshrining and offering sacrifices to ancestors, it also has multiple uses.One is that the ancestral hall is also the place where the patriarch exercises the power of the patriarch. Anyone who violates the clan rules will be educated and punished here until they are expelled from the ancestral hall. Therefore, it can also be said to be a feudal moral court, a building with the nature of a grassroots government office. .The second is that the ancestral hall can also be used as a social place for the family, where the clansmen socialize.In particular, some ancestral halls also have theaters, and schools and warehouses are attached to the ancestral halls to absorb their own children to go to school and store food.The clansmen watch operas and go to school here, making the ancestral hall a public building with folk customs.Because of this, ancestral hall buildings are generally larger in scale and better in quality than private houses. The more powerful and wealthy the clan, the more particular about their ancestral halls. Several courtyards, tall halls, and exquisite carvings have become a part of the family's glory and glory. kind of symbol.