votive tablet

Rectangular hanging tablet made of red lacquered wood and carved with raised Chinese inscriptions painted in gold against a black background. The letters read: 'tian di jun qin shi zhi wei', which literally mean 'the position of heaven, earth, ruler, parents and teachers'. A loop cord tied to main handle at the top for hanging. This tablet could have been hung in the main hall for making offering sacrifices to heaven, earth, emperor, parents and teachers, a tradition originating from Confucianism.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

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