《宋书·志·卷十六》
皇帝以营建七庙的工役重要，下诏令说暂且建立一庙于是群臣奏议说： 上古时期立清庙一宫，以尊敬远世神灵，到了周朝，定为七庙，以辨别近宗和远祖。
帝重其役，诏宜权立一庙。于是君臣奏议： 上古清庙一宫，尊远神祇，逮至周室，制为七庙，以辨宗祧。
The emperor said that the project of constructing the Seven Temples was important and ordered that one temple should be established for the time being. Then the ministers said that a single temple was built in the ancient times to pay respect to the spirits of the distant past, and in the Zhou Dynasty it was determined that there would be the Seven Temples in order to differentiate between near and distant ancestors.