An ancestral shrine, hall or temple, 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.
Altar with ancestral tablets in King Law Ka Shuk, Hong Kong.
Eastern Han (25–220 AD) Chinese stone-carved que pillar gates of Dingfang, Zhong County, Chongqing that once belonged to a temple dedicated to the Warring States era general Ba Manzi
Altar with couplets and diaphragm in a Vietnamese clan ancestral house (Nhà thờ họ)
Altar in the nhà thờ họ of the Trần family in Cát Sơn
Ancestor veneration in China
Chinese ancestor veneration, also called Chinese ancestor worship, 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". They are neither supernatural 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 as they are considered embodiments or reproducers of the creative order of Heaven. It is a major aspect of Han Chinese religion, but the custom has also spread to ethnic minority groups.
Tong kin's ancestral sacrifice, in Qiantong, Zhejiang
Tāng kin's temple and cultural centre of Jinxiang village, Cangnan, Zhejiang
An ancestral worship ceremony led by Taoist priests at the pyramidal-shaped Great Temple of Zhang Hui (张挥公大殿 Zhāng Huī gōng dàdiàn), the central ancestral shrine dedicated to the progenitor of the Zhang lineage, located at Zhangs' ancestral home in Qinghe, Hebei.
A stone tortoise with the "Stele of Divine Merits and Saintly Virtues" (Shengong Shende), erected by the Yongle Emperor in 1413 in honor of his father, the Hongwu Emperor in the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum ("Ming Mausoleum of Filial Piety").