July 15.
Fruit was offered on the lofty altar to honor the ancestors; a ritual feast was laid out, and ancestral teachings recalled before their spirits.
The main hall was square, with a lofty roof covered in blue-green tiles and an open courtyard at its center.
Early on the morning of the ancestral rites, whole pigs and sheep were mounted on racks. Offerings of five sacrificial animals, boxes of sweets and delicacies, rice, soup, tea, wine, and other foods were neatly arranged on the offering tables in the main hall.
The principal ancestors honored were Chen Ling, the founding ancestor; Chen Xili, the ancestor who carried on the lineage; and Chen Feiyi, the ancestor who restored its glory.
The Chen descendants who came to honor their ancestors formed a sea of blue ceremonial robes. Their robes had traditional standing collars, sky-blue trim, and two symmetrical jeweled frog fastenings against a dark blue-black base, without elaborate patterns. Everyone was neatly dressed and approached the rites with courteous decorum.
The Chen Clan was small. Everyone from the five branches-Yu, Shui, Wen, Shi, and Guang-and their relatives attended, along with the followers. All observed the proper etiquette, entering in orderly ranks. The clan head, elders, and those holding village posts stood at the front during the rites, golden sashes draped over their shoulders.
Before the rites began, three ceremonial ground cannons had to be fired before Hanhui Hall, the ancestral shrine.
Chief master of ceremonies Chen Cong called out the ritual cues and announced the beginning of the ceremony. Chief officiant Chen Hong and the other attendants took their places.
Under master of ceremonies Chen Wu's direction, the drums sounded, firecrackers went off, and music began. Before the ancestral shrine, performers staged "Five blessings joined," a local Wushan Prefecture play that heralded good