1. Spiritual beliefs, honoring ancestors and traditional rituals in Ancient China

2. Different spirits  They believed that Heaven is a home of moon, sun, storms and stars while the earth is a homeland of rivers, rocks, hills and seas. Also they had different view on Earth and Heaven.  Chinese divided spirits into 2 kinds: good and harmful/damaging. There was a strong believe that spirits manage people’s lives.  Therefore, during festivals Chinese people used loud sounds to threaten evil spirits. http://www.kidspast.com/images/china-ancestor-worship.jpg

3. Ancestors and honoring rituals  Very important spirits that Chinese people respected and were afraid were their ancestors. They believed the dead relatives remain the part of their family living in the spirit world.  That is why they had honoring rituals to demonstrate respect and care in order to have good relations with ancestors and their protection. http://www.ancient- origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/ chinese-tomb-sweeping-day.jpg?itok=UO3S7Tzb

4. Confucius’s believes  The greatest person of China year to date Confucius believed that following traditional rituals helped people focus on important values.  One of the rituals was to mourn died parent for 3 year living plain life. It had to be done by their children. This ritual was a tribute to the love and care the parent gave the child. http://myhero.com/images/guest/g225849/hero63910/g225849_u74423_confucius-757900.jpg

5. Chinese people practiced ancestor worship with the aim to honor the spirits of the dead. They welcomed spirits by setting out food on special occasions or burning fake money to give income in the afterlife. Ancestors were offered with the food like fruits and vegetables but not meat because it was associating with killing. The food was placed on altar. Early forms of ancestor worship were deeply rooted and extensively developed by the Late Neolithic Period in China. They still perform many rituals nowadays during holidays and funerals. "The Chinese have always been interested in their past -- worship of ancestors is worship of origins." (Heinz 1999:225). http://www.thetravelpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/p1010106.jpg

6. Kitchen God  Another spirit the ancient Chinese believed was the kitchen God who was friendly spirit and lived in a family’s kitchen. They believed that if you put a honey on his lips, he will tell positive, nice and “sweet” things about their family. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Zao_Jun_-_The_Kitchen_God_-_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_15250.jpg

7. Birth ritual.  While reading information about rituals I would like to mention about birth ritual. It contained 4 rites: Sanzhao (three days after birth), Manyue (a full month after birth), Bairi (one hundred days after birth), and Zhuazhou (a full year after birth). The duration of the ritual was before pregnancy up to 1 year. First rite Sanzhao was about receiving special gifts expressing a wish. Second rite Manyue was about shaving child’s head. Third rite Bairi was to give a name to a child by the uncle on the mother's child side. Forth rite Zhuazhou was to predict the child's future luck, or destiny. By the way many older European cultures had similar concept of this ritual. http://english.eastday.com/english/e/cosh/images/01481137.jpg

8. Thank you for your attention http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/07/14aug09chinagds12.jpg