Which civilization emphasized ancestor worship?

Which civilization emphasized ancestor worship?

• A. Egypt
• B. China
• C. Greece
• D. Mesopotamia

Answer: (B)

This question focuses on how a society treats its ancestors and keeps a living relationship with the dead through ritual and daily practice. In Chinese tradition, ancestor worship is a defining practice: filial piety calls children to care for their parents and ancestors, keeping family shrines and spirit tablets, and performing offerings, incense, and annual rites to honor forebears. This pattern weaves through daily life and social structure across dynasties, making the honoring of ancestors a central theme of Chinese religion and family life. Egypt, Greece, and Mesopotamia each valued the dead in important ways—such as tomb cults, hero and god reverence, and ritual obligations to deities—but the sustained, household-centered practice of ancestor worship is most characteristic of China.

This question focuses on how a society treats its ancestors and keeps a living relationship with the dead through ritual and daily practice. In Chinese tradition, ancestor worship is a defining practice: filial piety calls children to care for their parents and ancestors, keeping family shrines and spirit tablets, and performing offerings, incense, and annual rites to honor forebears. This pattern weaves through daily life and social structure across dynasties, making the honoring of ancestors a central theme of Chinese religion and family life. Egypt, Greece, and Mesopotamia each valued the dead in important ways—such as tomb cults, hero and god reverence, and ritual obligations to deities—but the sustained, household-centered practice of ancestor worship is most characteristic of China.