ABSTRACT

The ancestral tablets of both kinds are worshipped at fixed times or occasions, and according to certain established forms. The tablets placed in a hall for worship are generally at least two or three times as large as those made for use in private houses. In case of the entry of the tablet of a high officer, as of a viceroy or literary chancellor, among the tablets of his ancestors in the hall, it is said that especial permission to do it is usually obtained from the emperor. For use in worshipping the tablets, a censer to hold the incense is placed before them, and a pair of candlesticks is arranged, one on each side of the censer, to hold the candles. The niche is designed to hold all the tablets worshipped by the family and belonging to it, unless they are too numerous.