Constructive Realism: “Why Ancestor Is Possible” in Zhu Xi’s Religion View

Traditional Chinese ancestor worship implicitly raises a fundamental question: How are ancestors possible? This question was formally articulated in the Zhu Xi’ philosophy. Qi holds ontological status: the “birth” of things arises from the aggregation of qi, while their “death” means the dispersion of qi—a clearly naturalistic proposition. Yet, paradoxically, Zhu Xi also asserts that during sacrificial rituals, deceased ancestors can exist in some form, reflecting a realist stance toward religious objects. These two propositions appear contradictory. To resolve this contradiction, He implicitly proposes “constructive realism”, suggesting that whether ancestors “exist” can only be meaningfully considered when the ritual participant possesses a state of chengjing gange.