宋世以前，歷代不乏忠臣祠，但是兩宋之際，國家始有意大規模下詔建祠追烈。此時統治階層建祀追烈之舉是相當突出的歷史現象。這些旌忠廟，官方色彩濃厚，通常由官方主動建祀，且往往獲賜帶有忠字的廟額，以褒顯祭祀對象的忠行。此時國家訴諸祠祀，看重其公開宣傳的作用，建祀追烈實為向四方勸忠之新手段。因此奉祀對象的身份與事功並不重要，個人事蹟在宣揚忠行時所其有的象徵意義，才是統治者措意之所在。國家建祠表忠的用意，遂從徽宗朝旌表忠臣的事功，轉為南宋初期凸顯「追烈」之行。這些建祀追烈活動固然是此時重建忠義價值行動的一環，但是賜封勸忠措施的出現，說明祠祀走向政治意識中心的變化。此後，國家積極操作祠祀，提倡核心的政治價值，遂確立了這項宋世以降的政治傳統。

Shrines to officials famous for their loyalty first appeared long before the Song. But it was during the period of transition from Northern to Southern Song that the imperial state first launched campaigns to promote such shrines. These shrines were typically initiated by the authorities, and were given official titles featuring the term ＂loyalty＂. They thus had a bureaucratized character. As the attention of state authorities turned the question of the worship and sacrifice at these shrines, their emphasis shifted to eliciting and recognizing loyalty from the common people. The status and accomplishments of the enshrined official became less significant than the shrine's contribution to the larger campaign of promoting loyalty. The goal of this campaign was very different from earlier efforts under the reign of Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126) to publicize martial accomplishment. These new efforts were part of a larger project to reconstruct the values of loyalty and justice in the early Southern Song, in which the construction of shrines and bestowal of titles emerged as a new measure, suggesting that sacrifice had moved to the center of political consciousness. State efforts to promote core political values through promoting sacrifice and worship marks a new development in political tradition from the Song onwards.