1. Lesson 2: Ways of Thinking and Living in China
Ancestor Worship
Lesson 2: Ways of Thinking and Living in China

2. Ancestor worship
A large proportion of people in China worship their ancestors - that is, their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and their forefathers.

3. 18th century painting of Hua Mulan
Ancestor worship plays an important role in the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan. Do you know the story of Mulan? Think Pair Share
Hua Mulan means ‘flower’ Mulan
Disney’s Mulan
18th century painting of Hua Mulan

4. Read the story of Mulan Think Pair Share
Why did Mulan choose to fight? How does the story show respect for parents and ancestors?
Hua (in the Disney film pronounced Fa) is not a real historical figure. She is a legendary woman warrior, who was originally described in a poem known as the Ballad of Mulan. In the ballad, Hua Mulan takes her aged father's place in the army (disguising herself as a man). She fought for twelve years and gained high merit, but she refused any reward and retired to her hometown instead to look after her aged parents.
Here’s a link to The Ballad of Mulan which is an easy and quick read:

5. Praying to the Ancestors in Disney’s Mulan
In the Disney film, Hua Mulan’s father prays to ancestors to protect his daughter throughout her journey.

6. 3500 years ago, the rulers of China offered food and wine
to their ancestors in these magnificent bronze vessels

7. The Chinese believe that spirits of ancestors live in an afterlife parallel to the real world – and because they are now supernatural beings they are able to move between the two worlds when needed.
They are also able to communicate directly with the Gods.
So Chinese people seek their ancestors’ support and guidance.

8. Oracle bones
Some of the earliest evidence of ancestor worship comes from “Oracle bones”.

9. Communicating the ancestors
Oracle bones were the shoulder-blades of oxen, or the undersides of tortoise shells .
This was how the ancient Chinese communicated with their ancestors - and it was the origin of Chinese writing.
The questions you wanted to ask your ancestors were carved into the bone.

10. Communicating the ancestors
The bones were used for telling the future. A priest applied a heated metal spike to one side of the bone. Then, from the way the bone cracked, they would interpret the ancestors’ answers to the questions that had been posed.

11. Ancestor worship remains important in China today
Ancestor shrines are more prevalent in Southern China, Hong Kong & Taiwan, but less so in northern cities like Beijing.
Modern families will often have an ancestor shrine in a corner of their house or apartment. There they display photographs of recent forebears, and tablets commemorating them and older ancestors. There will always be a small offering of food, usually fruit, in front of the shrine.
Ancestor shrine in modern-day home

12. Ancestor Worship The Qingming Festival - 清明节(qīngmíng jié)
There are two days in the traditional Chinese year which are particularly devoted to looking after one’s ancestors: the Qingming and Zhongyuan festivals. For the Qingming festival, families go to their ancestors’ graves, which they clean and then have a family picnic, part of which is left for the ancestors. (On the video, watch the first 75 seconds.)

13. Ancestor Worship The Zhongyuan Festival - 中元節 (zhōngyuán jié)
At the Zhongyuan Festival, it is traditional to burn paper offerings to your ancestors. Recently, the Chinese government decided that things were getting a bit out of hand, as people were burning giant models of houses, boats, cars and other consumer goods. These were made against the law to burn in the streets, but it is still allowed to burn the specially printed “Hell Money”, which of course, is not real money. The Hell Money note above left says it is worth 500 million Yuan - but you can buy hundreds of them for a few pounds. On the nights of the Zhongyuan Festival it is a common sight in villages, towns and cities across the country, to see piles of Hell Money being burned in the streets.
More resources on the Hungry Ghost Festival can be found here:
Also known as the Hungry Ghosts Festival - the ancestors are the ghosts that need sustaining with food and material things, including special money that is burned in the streets during the festival.

14. xiào (pronounced see-ow)孝
China has a word xiào that means respect for parents, elders and ancestors
Write the character into your books and add the English translation
The character 孝 – filial piety- is a great character to demonstrate how conceptual meaning can be clearly represented visually with characters in a way that is not possible in an alphabet-based language. It is comprised of two main parts: the top part- 耂 – is a variant of the radical meaning “old” (lǎo) and the bottom part is 子- zǐ – which means child. This gives a very visual representation of the older generation “above” or being respected by the younger generations “below” them.
A good – and fun- activity to do with pupils when focusing on characters is to get them to draw the picture around the character, as well as the character itself. This helps remember the written form along with the meaning.

15. xiào 孝
Do you think respect for parents, elders and ancestors is important today? Why or why not?
Share thoughts as whole class
Ask the children to talk about this in groups and feedback to the class.

16. 孝 Reflection Reflect on your own attitudes towards your ancestors:
Do you think respect for parents, elders and ancestors is important? Why or why not?
Do you know about the lives of your grandparents and great grandparents?
Would you like to know more? How could you find out more? Do you want to?