{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.ancestral-shrine","code":"thing-q249027","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q249027/","name":"ancestral shrine","alternateNames":["Confucian royal ancestral shrine","tanghao","imperial ancestral hall"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.BLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A building or hall dedicated to the veneration of the ancestors of a family, lineage, clan or ruling house, housing ancestral tablets or images and used for offerings and rites; found across East and Southeast Asia in Confucian, folk and royal traditions, from village lineage halls to imperial ancestral temples.","purpose":"Let an agent describe ancestral shrines and their kinds neutrally, explain their architecture and ritual use with attribution to the traditions and to scholarship, relay heritage status and visiting norms, and route religious guidance to the communities themselves.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["The shrine is dedicated to ancestors, including ancestors venerated as deities.","The shrine belongs to a family, lineage or ruling house.","Tablets or images are the focus of rites.","Architecture follows regional tradition."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"identify","name":"Identify","description":"What kind of shrine.","layers":[{"id":"kind","name":"Kind","description":"Kind and owner.","findings":[{"id":"kind-finding","name":"Kind","description":"Kind.","questions":[{"text":"Which kind of ancestral shrine is this, and which family, lineage or house does it belong to?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is it an ancestral shrine, a temple to a deity or a grave site?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"tradition","name":"Tradition","description":"Tradition.","findings":[{"id":"tradition-finding","name":"Tradition","description":"Tradition.","questions":[{"text":"Which tradition and region does it belong to, and how do traditions differ?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits ancestor veneration?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"architecture","name":"Architecture","description":"Layout and objects.","layers":[{"id":"layout","name":"Layout","description":"Layout.","findings":[{"id":"layout-finding","name":"Layout","description":"Layout.","questions":[{"text":"How is the shrine laid out, and what are its main elements?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the architectural style?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"objects","name":"Objects","description":"Tablets and images.","findings":[{"id":"objects-finding","name":"Objects","description":"Objects.","questions":[{"text":"What tablets, images and ritual objects does it hold, and how are they arranged?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits ancestral tablets?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"rites","name":"Rites","description":"Use and calendar.","layers":[{"id":"rites","name":"Rites","description":"Rites.","findings":[{"id":"rites-finding","name":"Rites","description":"Rites.","questions":[{"text":"What rites are performed, when, and by whom, as described by the tradition and by scholarship?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation neutral and attributed?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"visiting","name":"Visiting","description":"Access and norms.","findings":[{"id":"visiting-finding","name":"Visiting","description":"Visiting.","questions":[{"text":"What norms apply to visitors, and who decides access?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the user asking for religious guidance, which the community provides?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"heritage","name":"Heritage","description":"Protection and history.","layers":[{"id":"protection","name":"Protection","description":"Heritage status.","findings":[{"id":"protection-finding","name":"Protection","description":"Protection.","questions":[{"text":"Which shrines are protected or listed, and under which law?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits heritage protection?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did ancestral shrines develop, and which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific shrine?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain the role of ancestral shrines in family and lineage veneration.","Describe historic shrines and their rites with respect and sources."],"mustNot":["Treat ancestral tablets and rites as curiosities or props.","Photograph or publish private family shrines without permission.","Advise removing or selling ancestral objects without the family's consent.","Disparage ancestor veneration."],"requiresHuman":["Restoration or relocation of a shrine.","Participation in rites."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Shrines hold a family's or clan's memory and sacred duty.","Shrines and their objects are vulnerable to theft and sale abroad."],"affectedParties":["Families and clans","Worshipping communities"]},"owners":{"steward":"The family, lineage or clan that maintains it; heritage authorities protect listed shrines.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q30941226","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q41176","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"religious building","type":"related","note":"a place of rites"},{"target":"ancestral tablet","type":"related","note":"the ritual object"},{"target":"ancestor veneration","type":"related","note":"the practice"},{"target":"temple","type":"related","note":"a building for deities"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.ancestral-shrine","Wikidata: Q249027 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q249027)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["Building height:  metres of height - Height is measured from a stated ground reference to a specified roof or structural point.","Internal floor area:  square metres - Floor area is measured from surveyed internal dimensions with the included halls and storeys identified.","Entrance clear width:  millimetres - Clear width is measured across the unobstructed passage of a specified entrance."]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Ancestral tablets or images appear on an altar.","The hall may display a family, lineage or dynasty name.","Ancestral shrines are distinguished from temples dedicated to non-ancestral deities and from family graves.","A hall or courtyard complex with an altar holding tablets or images, often with a gate, courtyards and side halls in traditional architecture."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["identify the kind of shrine and its tradition","explain architecture and layout","explain rites and calendar with attribution","relay heritage status and visiting norms"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Fire in timber halls","Loss of halls through redevelopment","Disrespect by visitors","Describing the practice as superstition or with polemic"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Heritage protection law and UNESCO listings for major shrines","Rules of the community or lineage on access and rites","Building codes for historic structures"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Housing ancestral tablets and holding rites for ancestors.","lineage and clan halls in China and the diaspora","family shrines within homes","royal and imperial ancestral temples such as Jongmyo in Korea and the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing","Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian ancestral halls","Confucian shrines to sages, related but distinct"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q249027: ancestral shrine","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q249027","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Ancestral shrine","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestral_shrine","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should royal ancestral temples be separate entries?","How should heritage listings be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases for Confucian royal shrines and Vietnamese terms; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q249027/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q249027/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T19:51:38Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T12:16:31+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}