Ritual cultureHongtong Dahuaishu

Divine Master’s Exploration of Origins

The “Shen Zhu” is what we commonly refer to as a spirit tablet. In the splendid culture of ancient China, ritual worship occupied an extremely important position. In primordial times, confronted with the vast and mysterious forces of nature, humanity felt utterly helpless; thus, it was compelled to attribute all natural phenomena that were incomprehensible, inexplicable, or beyond human control to “the gods.” Moreover, people had no choice but to offer devout words and deeds in hopes of invoking the gods’ protection and blessings upon the people. Consequently, ritual sacrifice gradually became a matter of paramount importance in the political, economic, and productive life of ancient society. As far back as the early stages of slave‑holding society, ritual practices had already evolved into a distinct cultural system. Each…

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