section_path: Features/Places of worship
section_name: Places of worship
paragraph_text: Places of worship
  
  Chinese language has a variety of words defining the temples of the Chinese religion. Some of these terms have a precise functional use, although with time some confusion has arisen and some of them have been used interchangeably in some contexts. Collective names defining "temples" or places of worship are Chinese: 寺廟 sìmiào and Chinese: 廟宇 miàoyǔ.
  
  However, Chinese: 寺 sì, which originally meant a type of residence for imperial officials, with the introduction of Buddhism in China became associated with Buddhist monasteries as many officials donated their residences to the monks. Today sì and Chinese: 寺院 sìyuàn ("monastery") are used almost exclusively for Buddhist monasteries, with sporadic exceptions, and sì is a component character of names for Chinese mosques. Another term now mostly associated with Buddhism is Chinese: 庵 ān, "thatched hut", originally a form of dwelling of monks later extended to mean monasteries.
  
  Temples can be public, private (Chinese: 私廟 sìmiào) and household temples (Chinese: 家廟 jiāmiào). The jing Chinese: 境 is a broader "territory of a god", a geographic region or a village or city with its surroundings, marked by multiple temples or complexes of temples and delineated by the processions.
  
  Pertaining to Chinese religion the most common term is Chinese: 廟 miào graphically meaning a "shrine" or " sacred enclosure "; it is the general Chinese term that is translated with the general Western " temple ", and is used for temples of any of the deities of polytheism. Other terms include Chinese: 殿 diàn which indicates the "house" of a god, enshrining one specific god, usually a chapel within a larger temple or sacred enclosure; and Chinese: 壇 tán which means " altar " and refers to any indoor or outdoor altars, majestic outdoor altars being those for the worship of Heaven and Earth and other gods of the environment. Chinese: 宮 Gōng, originally referring to imperial palaces, became associated to temples of representations of the universal God or the highest gods and consorts, such as the Queen of Heaven.
  
  Another group of words is used for the temples of ancestral religion: Chinese: 祠 cí (either "temple" or "shrine", meaning a sacred enclosure) or Chinese: 宗祠 zōngcí ("ancestor shrine"). These terms are also used for temples dedicated to immortal beings. Chinese: 祖廟 Zǔmiào ("original temple") instead refers to a temple which is believed to be the original temple of a deity, the most legitimate and powerful.
  
  Chinese: 堂 Táng, meaning "hall" or "church hall", originally referred to the central hall of secular buildings but it entered religious usage as a place of worship of the folk religious sects. Christianity in China has borrowed this term from the sects.
  
  Chinese: 觀 Guàn is the appropriate Chinese translation of the Western term "temple", as both refer to " contemplation " (of the divine, according to the astral patterns in the sky or the icon of a deity). Together with its extension Chinese: 道觀 dàoguàn ("to contemplate or observe the Dao"), it is used exclusively for Taoist temples and monasteries of the state Taoist Church.
  
  Generic terms include Chinese: 院 yuàn meaning "sanctuary", from the secular usage for a courtyard, college or hospital institution; Chinese: 岩 yán ("rock") and Chinese: 洞 dòng ("hole", "cave") referring to temples set up in caves or on cliffs. Other generic terms are Chinese: 府 fǔ ("house"), originally of imperial officials, which is a rarely used term; and Chinese: 亭 tíng ("pavilion") which refers to the areas of a temple where laypeople can stay. There is also Chinese: 神祠 shéncí, "shrine of a god".
  
  Ancestral shrines are sacred places in which lineages of related families, identified by shared surnames, worship their common progenitors. These temples are the "collective representation" of a group, and function as centers where religious, social and economic activities intersect.
  
  Chinese temples are traditionally built according to the styles and materials (wood and bricks) of Chinese architecture, and this continues to be the rule for most of the new temples. However, in the early 20th century and especially in the mainland religious revival of the early 21st century, there has been a proliferation of new styles in temple construction. These include the use of new materials (stones and concrete, stainless steel and glass) and the combination of Chinese traditional shapes with styles of the West or of transnational modernity. Examples can be found in the large ceremonial complexes of mainland China.