• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • ABOUT CHINA
    • NEWS
    • TESTIMONIES
    • OP-EDS
    • FEATURED
    • GLOSSARY
    • CHINA PERSECUTION MAP
  • FROM THE WORLD
    • NEWS
    • OP-EDS
    • FEATURED
    • TESTIMONIES
  • INTERVIEWS
  • DOCUMENTS AND TRANSLATIONS
    • DOCUMENTS
    • THE TAI JI MEN CASE
    • TRANSLATIONS
  • EVENTS
  • ABOUT
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • TOPICS

Bitter Winter

A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

three friends of winter
Home / Pictures

Ancestral Temples Repurposed for Public Use

10/03/2020Deng Jie |

Even the venues where familial clans meet to honor their ancestors and celebrate important events have become targets of the CCP’s crackdown on religion.

by Deng Jie

Filial piety is one of the essential virtues in China’s traditional culture that has greatly influenced Chinese society’s formation throughout centuries. Children are taught from a young age to respect and obey their parents and the elderly, take care of them throughout their lives, and continue honoring them after death.

Traditionally, ancestral temples are built for the latter purpose. Family clans—groups of people related through the male line and sharing the same surname and ancestors—meet there to pay tribute to their forebears and celebrate important events, like weddings and funerals. But the CCP treats these gatherings in ancestral temples as “endangering grassroots governments” and converts them into Party propaganda bases and public activity venues.  

Xiaogan, a prefecture-level city in the central province of Hubei, is closely connected to filial piety: its name hails from the Chinese word “Xiao,” literally meaning “filial piety.” In May, the government of Xiaogan-administered Maochen town convened the heads of all local clans for a meeting. The participants were informed that all clan activities had been banned, and the government is taking over the town’s ten ancestral temples to convert them for public use. Like during the Cultural Revolution, the authorities claimed to be destroying “the Four Olds”—old customs, culture, habits, and ideas—to create new ones.

“It’s a political task to convert ancestral temples,” a government insider told Bitter Winter. “The government demands to complete temple conversions in a week’s time. Any ancestral temple that refuses to cooperate would be demolished.”

In June, the town’s Ailian Hall, built by the Zhou clan, was converted into a cultural activity center for the elderly.

The Ailian Hall is now used by the elderly.
The Ailian Hall is now used by the elderly.

“Authorities sent personnel to cover with red cloths everything related to offering sacrifices to ancestors in the temple and post slogans promoting the Communist Party,” a village resident surnamed Huang recalled. “They also wanted to hang a Xi Jinping portrait in the central hall, where tablets to commemorate all ancestors are enshrined, but the head of the clan vigorously refused.”

The other nine ancestral temples were also rectified. Slogans promoting the Cultural Revolution’s motto of “destroying the Four Olds” have been displayed in some of them.

The slogan “Don’t forget the original intention; keep the mission in mind” was displayed in the Tang clan ancestral temple in Maochen.
The slogan “Don’t forget the original intention; keep the mission in mind” was displayed in the Tang clan ancestral temple in Maochen.

“Since the government took over the ancestral temples, we have to report to local officials a week before holding any activity to pay tribute to our ancestors,” the head of one of the Maochen’s repurposed temples complained. “We can offer sacrifice to our forefathers only with the government’s permission now.”

The Wang clan ancestral temple in Hubei’s Shiyan city was converted into a cultural auditorium in May. All statues of ancestors were demolished and replaced with bookshelves with CCP propaganda books. Exercise equipment was installed outside the venue to wipe out any resemblance to a temple.

The Wang clan ancestral temple before and after conversion
The Wang clan ancestral temple before and after conversion.
Propaganda books displayed in the Wang clan ancestral temple
Propaganda books displayed in the Wang clan ancestral temple.

A government insider from Hubei’s Suizhou city told Bitter Winter that a provincial inspection team explicitly indicated during a visit in July last year that the central government was “advancing the rectification and cleanup of ancestral temples.” Meaning, they would be managed by the state, not clans.

“All clan activities have been banned in temples, and the construction of new ones is prohibited,” the source said. “Local officials were ordered to destroy temples’ signboards.”

Similar crackdowns are carried out in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. Nearly 30 ancestral temples have been repurposed in Duchang county, administered by the prefecture-level city of Jiujiang.

Ancestral temples in Duchang county have been converted into public activity centers.
Ancestral temples in Duchang county have been converted into public activity centers.
Ancestral temples in Duchang county have been converted into public activity centers.
Ancestral temples in Duchang county have been converted into public activity centers.

“Instead of honoring forefathers or holding family events, strangers now play mahjong, sing, and dance in ancestral temples,” a villager commented angrily.

The Gan clan ancestral temple in Jiujiang’s Yongxiu county has been converted into a Party history education base and is now used to spread CCP propaganda.

The Yang clan ancestral temple has been turned into a CCP education base.
The Yang clan ancestral temple has been turned into a CCP education base.

“Ancestral temples were places to preserve the memory of clans’ forefathers but are now turned into propaganda bases,” a resident from a village in Yongxiu county said helplessly. “This is disrespect for our ancestors. We are very sad but can do nothing about it.”

The Luo clan ancestral temple in Jiangxi’s Fuzhou city, spanning a history of hundreds of years, has been converted into a Party propaganda site.
The Luo clan ancestral temple in Jiangxi’s Fuzhou city, spanning a history of hundreds of years, has been converted into a Party propaganda site.

“The state fears that it is much harder to manage united people, like clans; that is why it cracks down on ancestral temples,” a Yongxiu county government employee said.

A propaganda slogan “Learn the Party history, know the Party news, praise the Party’s grace, and follow the Party” was displayed in the Luo clan ancestral temple.
A propaganda slogan “Learn the Party history, know the Party news, praise the Party’s grace, and follow the Party” was displayed in the Luo clan ancestral temple.

Tagged With: Ancestral Religions in China

Related articles

  • How CCP Is Eliminating Buddhist and Folk Religion Venues

    How CCP Is Eliminating Buddhist and Folk Religion Venues

  • Ancestral Temples Turned into Communist Party Propaganda Bases

    Ancestral Temples Turned into Communist Party Propaganda Bases

  • Folk Religion Temples Wiped Out Across China

    Folk Religion Temples Wiped Out Across China

  • Ancient Temples Converted into Revolutionary Bases

    Ancient Temples Converted into Revolutionary Bases

Keep Reading

  • Numerous Folk Religion Temples Destroyed in Henan and Hebei
    Numerous Folk Religion Temples Destroyed in Henan and Hebei

    China’s folk religion venues, an integral part of rural life for generations, suffer severe crackdowns, as the communist regime aims to eradicate all religions.

  • A Politburo Member’s Visit to Henan Leaves a Trail of Stifled Religious Venues
    A Politburo Member’s Visit to Henan Leaves a Trail of Stifled Religious Venues

    Eager to prove to higher-ups their gusto in suppressing religions, Xingyang city authorities shattered numerous Christian and folk religion places of worship.

  • 160+ Folk Religion Temples Demolished, Shut Down in Sichuan
    160+ Folk Religion Temples Demolished, Shut Down in Sichuan

    Chinese authorities crack down on all things religious, including venues of indigenous religions that have been an integral part of life in rural areas for years.

  • Ancient Folk Traditions Deemed Illegal by the CCP
    Ancient Folk Traditions Deemed Illegal by the CCP

    People making offerings and sacrifices or praying for blessings are punished as part of the authorities’ drive to “eliminate feudal superstition.”

Primary Sidebar

Support Bitter Winter

Learn More

Follow us

Newsletter

Most Read

  • Pro-Chinese Propaganda by The World Muslim Communities Council: Uyghurs Strike Back by Gulfiye Y
  • Zhanargul Zhumatai: “Help Me, I Just Want to Leave China” by Ruth Ingram
  • L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology, and the Visual Arts. 1. The Aesthetic Mind by Massimo Introvigne
  • Stricter Rules on Private Tutoring Protect Ideology Rather than Parents by Wang Zhipeng
  • Japan Religious Donations Law. 4. The Return of Brainwashing by Massimo Introvigne
  • Hong Kong: Christian Scholar Peng Manyuan Released but Not Rehabilitated by Gladys Kwok
  • The Weaponization of the CCP’s “Zero COVID” Against Tibet by Marco Respinti
  • L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology, and the Visual Arts. 3. Art as Communication by Massimo Introvigne
  • L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology, and the Visual Arts. 4. Art and Illustration by Massimo Introvigne
  • L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology, and the Visual Arts. 5. Professionals vs. Amateurs by Massimo Introvigne

CHINA PERSECUTION MAP -SEARCH NEWS BY REGION

clickable geographical map of china, with regions

Footer

Instant Exclusive News
Instant Exclusive News

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

MASSIMO INTROVIGNE

Director-in-Charge

MARCO RESPINTI

ADDRESS

CESNUR

Via Confienza 19,

10121 Turin, Italy,

Phone: 39-011-541950

E-MAIL

We welcome submission of unpublished contributions, news, and photographs. Each submission implies the authorization for us to edit and publish texts and photographs. We reserve the right to decide which submissions are suitable for publication. Please, write to INFO@BITTERWINTER.ORG Thank you.

Newsletter

Follow us

LINKS

orlir-logo hrwf-logo cesnur-logo

Copyright © 2023 · Bitter Winter · PRIVACY POLICY· COOKIE POLICY