Chinese ancestor veneration, also called Chinese ancestor worship, is an aspect of the Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deified ancestors and tutelary deities of people with the same surname organised into lineage societies in ancestral shrines. Ancestors, their ghosts, or spirits, and gods are considered part of "this world". They are neither supernatural (in the sense of being outside nature) nor transcendent in the sense of being beyond nature. The ancestors are humans who have become godly beings, beings who keep their individual identities. For this reason, Chinese religion is founded on veneration of ancestors. Ancestors are believed to be a means of connection to the supreme power of Tian as they are considered embodiments or reproducers of the creative order of Heaven. It is a major aspect of Han Chinese religion, but the custom has also spread to ethnic minority groups.
Ancestor veneration is largely focused on male ancestors. Hence, it is also called Chinese patriarchal religion. It was believed that women did not pass down surnames because they were incapable of carrying down a bloodline. Chinese kinship traces ancestry through the male lineage that is recorded in genealogy books. They consider their ancestral home to be where their patriline ancestor was born (usually about five generations back) or the origin of their surname.
