Rules and rituals of ancestor worship in Chaoshan

"five sacrifices and three delicacies"

There are requirements for people who attend church. They need to be at least 15 years old (already out of the garden), dressed neatly and given meat. Sacrificial activities are generally carried out in ancestral halls, and larger ones will build temples in village squares.

In the middle of the pavilion of the ancestral temple, there is a ancestral platform. In front of the memorial hall, there is a big table. There are sacrifices such as "five sacrifices and three sacrifices" on the table, as well as products for ancestor worship, tea, white rice and special paper gifts.

There is a patio in the ancestral hall. On the night before the worship, an incense table should be set up in the courtyard to worship the god of heaven and earth, and the ancestors should be worshipped on this day. After the sacrifice, a pig and a sheep will be slaughtered.

In the early morning of the day of ancestor worship, people in the ancestral hall began to knock gongs to tell everyone to start ancestor worship. Later, some participants came to the ancestral hall with sacrifices or baskets of sacrifices. In a blink of an eye, the ancestral hall was covered with red candles, gongs and drums were loud and brightly lit.

Then the deacons and elders began to do their work. One elder invited the shrine from the shrine, and another elder led the eldest son of the clan to wash his face and hands and took them to the shrine. The eldest son of the clan took the lead in bowing and burning incense, while the other participants bowed in order of seniority and age.