According to China’s traditional customs, after the death of a person, his or her family must make a tablet for them, as a place of retreat after the soul of the deceased leaves the body. The size and shape of the tablet vary. Generally, it is made of wooden boards and has a rectangular shape. It has a base so that it can stand on the table.
In ancient times, the old Song style (strokes were thick and thin) and vertical top-down writing were used. In modern times, block letters and other fonts are used to show solemnity. Throughout the ages, ancestral tablets have been widely used by people to commemorate deceased loved ones and deities (referring to the gods of heaven and earth), Buddhism, and ancestors.
With the change of history and the progress of the society, the residents of the city use fewer and fewer commemorative memorial tablets. Generally, photos and portraits of the deceased are placed or hung as objects of commemoration. In recent years, some domestic funeral service units have continued to reform and innovate in order to carry forward the excellent traditional funeral culture. They have designed and developed small tablets of materials such as marble, jade, and plastic, which are matched with urns for people’s worship. This is not only in line with traditional folk customs, but also safe and labor-saving, and is generally accepted by the most people.
According to traditional customs, once the urn is placed, it should not be easily moved except for relocation or burial. In order to respect traditional customs and facilitate people to worship the deceased, ancestral tablets are used instead of urns. When people worship, they will only need to pray for ancestral tablet and not the urns.