| Pic: | YuKiuAncestralHall06.jpg |
| Piccap: | Spirit tablets for ancestors in Hong Kong |
| C: | 神主牌 |
| J: | san4 zyu2 paai4 |
| Y: | sàhn jyú pàaih |
| P: | shénzhǔpái |
| Poj: | sîn-chú-pâi |
| L: | spirit master sign |
| Kanji: | 位牌 |
| Revhep: | ihai |
| Hangul: | 1. 위패 2. 신위 |
| Hanja: | 1. 位牌 2. 神位 |
| Qn: | bài vị |
| Chuhan: | 牌位 |
| Rr: | 1. wipae 2.shinwi |
| C2: | 神位 |
| J2: | san4 wai6 |
| Y2: | sàhn waih |
| P2: | shénwèi |
| Poj2: | sîn-ūi |
| L2: | spirit seat |
| C3: | 神牌 |
| J3: | san4 paai4 |
| Y3: | sàhn pàaih |
| P3: | shénpái |
| Poj3: | sîn-pâi |
| L3: | spirit sign |
A spirit tablet, memorial tablet, or ancestral tablet[1] is a placard that people used to designate the seat of a deity or past ancestor as well as to enclose it. The name of the deity or the past ancestor is usually inscribed onto the tablet. With origins in traditional Chinese culture, the spirit tablet is a common sight in many East Asian countries, where forms of ancestor veneration are practiced. Spirit tablets are traditional ritual objects commonly seen in temples, shrines, and household altars throughout Mainland China and Taiwan.[2]
A spirit tablet is often used for deities or ancestors (either generally or specifically: e.g. for a specific relative or for one's entire family tree). Shrines are generally found in and around households (for household gods and ancestors), in temples for specific deities, or in ancestral shrines for the clan's founders and specific ancestors. In each place, there are specific locations for individual spirit tablets for ancestors or one or another particular deity. A spirit tablet acts as an effigy of a specific deity or ancestor. When used, incense sticks or joss sticks are usually burned before the tablet in some kind of brazier or incense holder. Sometimes fruit, tea, pastries, or other offertory items are placed near the tablet to offer food to that particular spirit or divinity.
In Chinese folk religion a household will have one or more tablets for specific deities and family ancestors:
In their most simple form the spirit tablets can simply be a piece of red paper with the words written vertically (in mainland China and in Hong Kong). More complex forms exist; these could be full, small shrines made of tile, wood, metal or other material; statues and attendants with text; small posters with incense places; and so on. A common form of the tablet for Tudigong (as seen in Guangdong, China), for example, consists of a baked tile which has the core text of the tablet, flanked by two additional couplets reading) meaning something close to "May my household welcome a great deal of auspiciousness, may my doors welcome hundreds of blessings".
In Taoism, spirit tablets are often used for ancestors. Sometimes spirit tablets are found before or below statues of deities, which represent the enclosed spirit of the deity.
In Buddhism, spirit tablets, known as “lotus seats” for the dead and “prosperity seats” for the living, are used in the same manner for ancestors, wandering spirits, demons, hungry ghosts, and the living (for the perpetual or temporary blessing of the donor). Temporary tablets in the form of paper are common around the time of Qingming and Ullambana dharma festivals, which are incinerated en masse at the culmination of these services.
In Japanese Buddhism, tablets are used in funeral rites and stored in the home butsudan. Tablets are also common in Japanese temples.
In Korean culture, spirit tablets are of great importance in ancestral rites called jesa, as they are the centerpieces of food offerings and represent the spiritual presence of the deceased.