ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the correlation between Chinese women and food preparation and offerings for their ancestors as a way of establishing the social visibility of these women within the lineage. Through preparing food and feeding their ancestors, Chinese women are seen as discharging the flow of moral obligation to their ancestors. This flow of moral obligation can be seen as a dual process whereby providing food offering also entails reciprocal benefits from the ancestors. Within popular Chinese religion, offerings to the gods, deities, ancestors, and spirits is a show of religiosity and gratitude on the one hand and fear on the other. As such, food offering is used by the living to return gratitude to the ancestors for requests granted and for blessings to ensure prosperity and peace at home. At the same time, there is also a fear that without the offering of food, the dead and ancestors might inflict harm on the family.
In giving food offerings to the ancestors, women in the Diaspora Chinese and ancestral village have played a crucial role in reproducing the types of food for ancestor worship. These Diaspora Chinese women have been the key transmitters of religious food knowledge and the providers of food offerings to their family ancestors in the Diaspora Chinese community.
