S1 IH (Teacher’s version)
Family history, lineage record, clans and ancestral halls 23
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IH
Worksheet
3
: Ancestral Halls and Ancestral
Worship
If you want to visit an ancestral hall 1 in Hong Kong, you will go to the New
Territories and find one at the heart of a traditional village. Ancestral worship 2 is an
important activity that helps keep a clan together.
An ancestral hall in Fanling
Entrance Hall
Central Hall
The floor plan of a typical ancestral hall
1
2
Ancestral hall
ancestral worship
祠堂
祭祖
End Hall
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Family history, lineage record, clans and ancestral halls 24
Some clans in Hong Kong have settled in the New Territories for over 800 years.
Their clansmen usually live together in the same village. They believe that they have
common ancestors and build ancestral halls for them. Usually, during the Ching Ming
Festival3 , clansmen gather together in the ancestral halls to worship their ancestors. At
the Chung Yeung Festival4 , they worship their ancestors at the ancestral graves.
Ancestral tablets5 are placed inside an ancestral hall
Do you know who built the ancestral halls? If the clansmen all belong to the
same large family, why are some clansmen richer than the others? Let’s play a game to
find out.
3
4
5
Ching Ming Festival
Chung Yeung Festival
ancestral tablets
清明節
重陽節
神主牌
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Family history, lineage record, clans and ancestral halls 25
Game: The fate of a household in a large clan
1.
The class will be divided into 4 groups. Each group stands for a family 6 of a large
clan, and each student in the group stands for a household 7 in that family.
2.
To start with, each household will have 2 Land Deeds 8 that stands for 2 pieces of
land, and 2 taels 9 of silver.
3.
Follow the instructions of your teacher, and see what happens.
=
One piece of land
=
One tael of silver
Land Deed
=
6
7
8
9
family
household
Land Title Deed
tael
在這裡解作房
在這裡解作戶
地契
兩
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Family history, lineage record, clans and ancestral halls 26
The composition of a clan:
Family
Eldest son
Households
Family
Second son
Households
Family
Third son
Family
Fourth son
Households
Common asset10 is the property of a clan. It includes
farmland, money and rents collected from farmland.
The more land a clan has, the richer a clan becomes.
Common asset is to be spent on clan affairs, such as
repairing the ancestral hall, building roads in the village,
organizing rituals and feasts etc.
10
common asset
祖嘗，即歸於同一祖先名下的資產
Households
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Family history, lineage record, clans and ancestral halls 27
Discussion
1.
How many pieces of land and taels of silver does each family have? (No definite
answer)
Eldest son
Second son
Third son
Fourth son
Pieces of land
Taels of silver
2.
Which family is the wealthiest? Which one is the poorest?
Free answer
3.
People in the same clan have a few things in common. Can you suggest one?
The have the same surname, OR
They have common ancestors.
4.
How many households (students) could get a piece of pork?
No definite answer
5.
What are the factors affecting the wealth of the households?
Harvest, riot
6.
In the game, do all the households belong to the same clan?
Yes
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7.
Family history, lineage record, clans and ancestral halls 28
In the game, what do clansmen do in order to show respect to their ancestors?
They build the ancestral hall.
8.
Where does the money come from?
Clansmen contribute money and land to build the ancestral hall.
9.
What is the meaning of common asset?
It is the money and property which belong to the clan.
10. Can you suggest some ways to manage the common asset?
Put the money in the bank.
Set up an organization to manage it.
What have you learned?
You have learned to
1. understand clan affairs in traditional Chinese society, such as
ancestral worship and common asset;
2. develop empathy towards clan affairs by participating in the
game.