人類學有關漢人宗教中之祖先與祖先崇拜的討論，大多聚焦於系譜關係較近的父系親屬祖先。以南臺灣和中國粵北的客家地區研究為基礎，本文希望強調系譜位階較高之祖先的重要性。首先，客家地區和中國其他地區都一樣，不論是系譜位階較高的祖先（通常是全國性之姓氏的始祖）或系譜位階較低的祖先（通常是中國許多地區的開創者），都同樣具有系譜上的重要性。這些祖先和中華帝國有十分緊密的關係，他們或者是高官，或者是某行政單位的始祖。再者，雖然在制度脈絡和宗教脈絡上有不小的差異，我們卻都還是可以看到這些祖先的身影，這顯示出系譜知識強大的穿透性，而且影響所及的不僅是歷史上的中華帝國，甚至還包括當今的中國、台灣、東南亞及世界其他各地的海外華人社群。

Anthropological consideration of ancestors and ancestor worship in Chinese religion has largely focused on genealogically close ancestors shared by small clusters of patrilineal kin. Based upon research in Hakka-speaking regions in southern Taiwan and in northern Guangdong Province on the China mainland, I want to stress the importance of ancestors at a much higher genealogical level, so far only sporadically dealt with in the literature. First, these Hakka areas share with other parts of China the genealogical importance of higher level founding ancestors, ancestors held to have been founders of the national surname itself, or at a somewhat lower genealogical level, founding ancestors for very large areas of China. These ancestors are intimately linked to the imperial Chinese state as high officials and founding ancestors within an administrative framework. Second, the appearance of these ancestors in highly variable institutional and religious contexts indicates the deep penetration of genealogical knowledge, certainly in imperial China, but even today in mainland China, Taiwan, and in overseas Chinese communities in southeast Asia and elsewhere.