[Reprinted] How to place divine tablets and ancestor tablets?

Dr. Zheng Weijian/Article Tablets are also called "divine masters", "divine master tablets", "divine tablets", etc. It is to write or carve the names of gods and ancestors on wooden boards, metal plates, cardboard, silk, walls and other objects to symbolize the gods or ancestors and to offer sacrifices. In Chinese families, the traditional culture that has lasted for thousands of years is very particular about the placement of divine tablets and ancestor tablets. The method of placing the gods in the house is the embodiment of the traditional concepts of respecting heaven and gods and pursuing the future with caution. The installation of god tablets and ancestor tablets is of great importance. In addition to being a spiritual sustenance for the whole family, it can also ensure the safety of the whole family. According to folklore, improper installation of god tablets and ancestor tablets may bring disaster. Today, Dr. Zheng will briefly and clearly discuss this issue from the perspective of perspective theory, for your reference only. 1. General Principles of Ancestor Tablets and Ancestor Tablets To stabilize the God tablets and ancestor tablets, attention must be paid to the perfect coordination of the three aspects: time, place, and people. The so-called "timing" means carefully choosing auspicious days and good times to pacify the gods and ancestors. The right location means choosing an auspicious direction in the house or the person in charge to place the gods and ancestors' tablets. Renhe means to choose a god with whom you are destined and responsive, and ask a master with magic power to perform a complete god-calming ceremony. 2. Specific methods of setting the God’s position (1). Methods of setting the God’s position: 1. First, select an auspicious day to “anxiang” or “pray for blessings” according to the lunar calendar. Choose a seat that is favorable for that year. For example, in 2012, it was east-west. Therefore, it is best to choose a seat facing east or west. If you have to choose another sitting position due to environmental reasons, then you should install a floating incense burner, that is, place a porcelain plate under the incense burner, and wait until the next year to choose an auspicious day to take away the porcelain plate. 2. Choose an auspicious day for the person in charge, a day for placing incense, and a day for praying. It is not possible to choose the conflict between the year of the person in charge and his wife, the three evil spirits, the three punishments, the arrow blade, the Tiangang four kills, or the turning back and paying tribute to the sun. 3. It is best to place the altar in the center of the house, not too far in front or too far behind the house. There must be a wall behind the shrine and it must be solid. In addition, the front of the shrine should be clear and should not face corners, sharp corners, telephone poles or other unclean objects. The height of the incense position should be measured with the Luban ruler, and the auspicious character should be used as the positioning: Use the Luban ruler to take the beginning and end of the wealth head, and measure from the ground to the height of the auspicious character. The distance between the sacred cabinet and the opposite door should preferably be more than twice the total height of the sacred cabinet. In addition to taking the auspicious character for the length of the left and right walls of the sacred cabinet, attention should be paid to the "green dragon on the left and white tiger on the right". The right wall (tiger side) should not be too narrow to avoid "forcing the tiger to hurt people". Before soothing the cabinet, clean the walls with mowing gold. 4. Before installing the god’s throne, you must first install the furnace to wait for the arrival of the god. (2) Taboos for enshrining the gods: 1. It is best to place the gods on a altar or on a altar. The sacred cabinet must be placed in an open direction to the sun, but it cannot be placed behind a window or balcony. 2. The sacred cabinet cannot be placed in a narrow space or with the gods facing the wall. The backrest of the sacred cabinet must be stable and cannot shake or be subject to frequent collisions. It is best to lean against a wall. 3. The sacred cabinet cannot face the room door, toilet door, or stove door. It cannot have its back against the bed or the toilet or the stove. The sacred cabinet cannot be placed in the bedroom. 4. The sacred cabinet cannot be placed against the kitchen or in the kitchen. The Zao Lord is placed closest to the stove. 5. The sacred cabinet should not be placed against the toilet or placed in the toilet or bath room. 6. It is taboo to hang the sacred cabinet off the ground without roots, and it cannot be placed above the door. 7. The furnishings of the sacred cabinet should be solemn, concise and practical in principle, and should not be left with random debris. The front of the sacred cabinet must be kept clean, and tea, fruits, and flowers must be offered diligently every day. The shrine should be cleaned with clean water every day, and the front of the shrine should be wiped clean. Dr. Zheng specially reminded: There should be no cross beams on the top of the incense burner. The position of the furnace should be in line with the belly of the Buddha statue. If it is too low, you can wrap longevity gold in red paper and place it under the furnace. The god's tablet should be installed first and then the ancestor's tablet should be installed. Do not turn it upside down. The tablets of ancestors cannot be higher than the statues of gods; the furnaces of ancestors cannot be higher than the furnaces of gods and Buddhas. If there are ancestral tablets with two surnames in the home, the main surname should be on the left and the secondary surname should be on the right, separated by a seven-inch red line. Gold, copper and other speculative items should not be placed in the ancestral furnace. There must be incense tablets for gods, Buddhas and ancestors, not just ancestors. Disrespectful objects such as medicines, knives, and dirty objects are not allowed to be placed in front of the altar. (3) How to install the incense burner. The incense burner must be installed first before the god's throne is settled, waiting for the arrival of the god. The method of installing the incense burner is: (1) The incense burner is first burned with longevity gold. (2) After burning the charm, place it in the furnace. (3) Place three coins on the bottom of the furnace with the front and back sides (or twelve coins, one front and one back in a circle) (4) Spread the incense ash. (5) Mark the blank mark on the furnace. (6) Light fifteen sticks of incense. (7) According to the time of setting up the incense burner, align the position inside the incense burner, move in the clockwise direction, such as Zichou Yin Mao Chen..., and erect a stick of incense respectively.

If the time of installing the furnace is at Mao hour, then twelve pillars of incense should be erected one by one starting from Mao hour. (8) For the remaining three pillars of incense, the first pillar is erected in the center of the incense burner, the second pillar is erected on the right side of the first pillar of incense, and the third pillar of incense is erected on the left side of the first pillar of incense. (9) Put your hands together in worship, and sincerely say silently: "The furnace is in good repair, the divine light shines, and the whole family is safe." (4) Specific procedures for calming the gods (1) Use seven pieces of cut gold to remove excess paint on the wall to remove evil spirits and recite a mantra to order it to be clean. (2) Place magic lamps and candlesticks. (3) Offer (three animals, three bowls of glutinous rice balls, three steamed cakes, five kinds of seasonal fruits, three small cups of tea, wine, etc.) (4) Hold the idol and circle the incense burner three times, murmuring "Go in, go in, go in" , the auspicious day will calm the gods, the divine light will shine, and the house will be bright." Then the statue of the god is seated and positioned. (5) Set up the ancestral tablets, incense burners and magic lamps. (6) Light three sticks of incense, go to the open air outside the door, recite mantras to invite the gods and Buddhas, and invite the gods and Buddhas to their seats. (7) Light three more sticks of incense to worship and receive the gods, and then place the incense on the incense burner. (8) Those who accompany the sacrifice offer incense and pray. (9) When one-third of the incense on the incense burner is burned, start toasting one, two, or three times. (10) Throw wild rice plants to ask the gods for instructions, and after receiving the answer, start burning the four colors of gold (the longevity gold, the cutting gold, and the blessing gold will be burned in sequence). (11) The chief priest and the attendants bow their hands before worshiping the gods. (12) In the evening of that day, worship the Earth God in the kitchen (if you are not entering a new house, you are not required to worship the Earth God). (13) After placing the God in peace, remember that the incense cannot be interrupted within three days (it can be continued with an incense ring). 3. Specific methods for installing ancestor tablets (1) Writing ancestral tablets There are differences in writing ancestral tablets in different places, which means that the number of words is particular, and not any number of words will do. Need to match the zodiac. There are major ecliptic and minor ecliptic. 1. The Great Yellow Path: When will the road reach its destination and when will the road return home? (Dao, Yuan, Tong, Da, Yuan, Huan) 2. The Little Yellow Path: The suffering of birth, old age, illness and death (birth, old age) (2) Combined with the Great Yellow Dao, Dr. Zheng’s example : For example, our local area is Hedahuangdao, and the number of words is based on the two lines of the Dahuangdao poem. Then the last word should correspond to the "walking by the side" of the two lines of the poem "When will the road be far away and the road will be far away? When will we return home?" "The words "dao,yuan,tong,da,yuan,huan" are all "walking aside". Then the last word should correspond to these words. The number of words that can be correct for "walking by the side of the Great Zodiac" can also be "one word, two words, five words, six words, eight words, eleven words". If the number of words is greater than these two sentences, 12 If the poem is long, then loop the verse and then correspond to the word "walk by", such as the thirteen-character "Ancestors of the past dynasties in the × family hall examined the position of in the clan", and the cycle corresponds to "Tao" ", the cycle of fourteen characters corresponds to the word "yuan", the cycle of seventeen characters corresponds to the word "tong", the cycle of eighteen characters corresponds to the word "da", and so on. (3) The format of combining the small zodiac and the small zodiac is that the number of characters in the reincarnation cycle corresponds to the word "sheng", such as "six characters", "birth, old age, sickness, death and suffering". The sixth character of the reincarnation cycle is the word "sheng", so the reincarnation cycle The "eleventh character" is also the word "life", such as "birth, old age, sickness and death, suffering, birth, old age, sickness and death, suffering life", then the eleventh character is in line with the format in the Little Zodiac. Dr. Zheng reminded: Each place can choose the "big zodiac" or "small zodiac" according to its own customs, and just follow the corresponding rules for the number of words in the small and large zodiac. On both sides: Zuo Zhao, right Mu, the year and month, the boy who brings wealth, the solar eclipse enters the treasure, the land where he lives, the family's natal life, yuan, Chen, star, prosperity, dragon and god can also be written. (4) Couplets of gods and goddesses: The tripod presents auspicious incense, the silver platform announces the good news, candles bloom, and the flowers bloom for thousands of years. etc. Write the surname and hall number on the banner. Common banners include: Zude Liufang, Wandai Rongchang, Si'entang, Siyuantang, etc. (5) In which direction should the ancestor tablets be placed? The ancestral tablets should be in the same direction as the house, preferably in the main room. (6) Is it better to offer ancestor tablets at home or in a temple? It is generally believed that monasteries are good because they have morning and evening classes every day. The ancestors can listen to sutras and gain wisdom, escape from the suffering of life and death as soon as possible, and be reborn in the Western Paradise of Amitabha Buddha. We just need to carefully observe whether the temple is a true cultivator and whether it is a temple with correct knowledge and views. You can ask the master for instructions on whether the ancestor tablets can be written together. (7) If there is an ancestral tablet at home, do I need to place portraits of the ancestors next to it? Dr. Zheng believes that it depends on the local feng shui and just follow the local customs. (8) Can portraits of ancestors be hung together with photos of living people? 1. It is absolutely not okay to hang them together. Too much Yin Qi foretells disaster and death. Too much Yin Qi in a living person will shorten his life.

2. Ancestors in the home can be understood as a home. If there is a shrine in the main hall (living room) of the home, the portraits of ancestors can be placed under the shrine, but not higher than the god. Photos of living people cannot be placed together with the portraits of ancestors. Because they are not equals in the first place! 3. Under special circumstances, in some places, ancestor photos are fine as long as they do not offend Tai Sui, and they are not taboo to be placed with living people. 4. Ancestor portraits and photos are best hung in the main hall and facing north. South represents the emperor and is adjacent to the Buddha. If conditions permit, it is best to build an ancestral temple and worship in a flat area on the southern slope of a higher mountain. There should be no obstructions in front of the ancestral hall. The land in front of the ancestral hall should always be leveled, and remember not to plant trees. Dr. Zheng’s special instructions: 1. What Dr. Zheng said above is just a general rule. Friends must make the decision based on local customs and habits. 2. Ancestor tablets and ancestor tablets are of great importance. In addition to being the spiritual sustenance of the whole family, they can also ensure the safety of the whole family. 3. In addition to the soothing tablets and ancestral tablets, friends also need to adjust according to their own situation and the situation of the house to resolve the evil spirits of the year, so that they can use their strengths and avoid weaknesses and bring good luck.