Ancestor Worship and the Longevity of Chinese Civilization (祖先崇拜与中华文明的长期延续)

What is it about?

An impressive body of literature is devoted to descriptions and analyses of the practice of venerating ancestors in China. Despite this impressive body of literature, there is, as yet, little agreement on what ancestor worship is, where it is practiced, and whether or not it is an ancient and persistent trait that might have a function. In this paper, we argue that is ancestor worship is an ancient trait, one that has persisted in China, as in other parts of the world, since prehistoric times. We also discuss its significant universal aspects, or cross-cultural characteristics, including those practices associated with teaching and encouraging its persistence across generations. Building on these answers, we end this paper with a discussion of the possible function of ancestor worship, asking whether ancestor worship has been an impediment to China’s progress, as both Christian missionaries and communists insisted, or has it, as Ping-Ti Ho (1976:547) claimed, promoted the “longevity of Chinese civilization” (Ho 1976:547)? We argue that both claims may be correct depending on the characteristics associated with China’s two forms of ancestor worship.

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Why is it important?

Ancestor worship is ancient; it is one of the earliest forms of religion, if not the earliest. Further, the practice of venerating ancestors is widespread. As ancestor worship has persisted and spread despite costs that can be quite high, the argument can be made that it may well have provided an important function. If so, it may be important to understand what the cross-cultural characteristics of ancestor worship were and to begin to investigate what its function might have been.

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