Ci shrine
Chinese shrine for people / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Ci shrine, (祠), is a kind of religious building that originated in China. They are used for honoring people and ancestors.[1]
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They are a kind of Chinese temple and are different from Miao Shrines which honor deities instead of people and ancestors.[2]
Ci shrines were often built by the public to worship public figures, sometimes living ones. In the Ming dynasty, the people of Teng County built a ci shrine to the life of Zhao Bangqing. Hero shrines were built to heroes who died for the country.[3] The Chinese hero cult honors such heroes at Ci shrines.[4]
Since ci and miao are similar, sometimes they are mixed together. Some ci shrines are dedicated to Confucian, Daoist, or Buddhist deities such as Wong Tai Sin Temple.[5]