The tablet was named ihai (literally, 'rank' tablet) because it was considered to be the same as shinshu (a tablet inscribed with the official rank and name of a deceased person) used for Confucian funeral rites from the Later Han period in China.
中国の後漢時代から儒教の葬礼に用いられる神主（しんしゅ。死者の官位・姓名を書く霊牌。）と同視されたため、「位」牌と呼ばれる。