Final Post

My original question at the beginning of the year was what are the practices of ancestor worship in East Asia? What are the similarities and differences? Where did it come from?

One of the main challenges I had in researching this question was a lack of information. Yes, there were plenty of websites that offered information on the subject, but only a few could be considered reputable (said websites being .edu websites). And where there were few websites on ancestor worship, there were even less journal articles. I was unable to find any information on ancestor worship in Vietnam and Taiwan through JSTOR. Most focus has been on China, Japan and Korea, though this isn't entirely surprising considering these three countries have played major roles in international politics and thus are more studied.

However, despite these challenges I was able to find the answers to my questions at the beginning of the year. Through my research I've found that ancestor worship is a matter of protection and respect for some, and a matter of tradition for others. People all over East Asia practice ancestor worship for these reasons, and in many ways their practices are amazingly similar. The altars, the food offerings and incense--these are themes within each country that I researched. And while there wasn't any history on the origins of ancestor worship, the one factor that played a role in all of these regions was Confucianism. Confucius encouraged everyone to hold respect for the dead and the elderly. It was this influence that also played a role in the male-dominance within the practice of ancestor worship. Men are almost always in charge of the rites and rituals that come with ancestor worship, with the only exception being Taiwan (though I was unable to determine why this was). Ultimately, I believe I fully answered the questions I had asked at the beginning of the year.

Ancestor Worship in Vietnam

My concluding post will probably come in the next couple of days, as there are some things I wish to tweak on my blog still. Similarly, I'd like to see if there was anything that I missed covering, though I believe following this blog post I will have discussed all the countries I had planned on discussing.

Regarding ancestor worship in Vietnam--this topic is particularly relevant to myself, as I have watched my mother several times in the past do a variety of practices to honor our ancestors (at least on her side of the family anyways). For example, when moving to a new home, we pray to our ancestors to protect the home and bring good luck to the house. We also open our doors to wandering spirits once a year, making them food to eat since these spirits have neither home nor family to take care of them. And like the Chinese, the Koreans, the Japanese, and the Taiwanese, a Vietnamese home would be remiss without an altar containing most often pictures of our ancestors whom we make offerings to.

While I did not find anything for the other countries' respective worship practices, Vietnamese altars are typically in a high place, with the ancestors pictures, incense, flower vases, and plates on which offerings are made. Occasionally, a family might also have a statue of Buddha. Worship practices and offerings may vary depending on the region (which is not particularly surprising, as North and South Vietnam while ethnically the same have many cultural differences). Offerings are made during major holidays like Tết (Vietnamese New Year), and are also made typically on the first day and the fifteenth day of every month, with altars cleaned as well. Like the countries discussed earlier, with Taiwan being the exception, the men in the family are typically the ones who uphold the worshipping of the ancestors.

(1) Thi, Le. "The Custom of Ancestor Worship in Vietnam." Translated by Doan Thi Ngoc.  http://gas.hoasen.edu.vn/en/gas-page/custom-ancestor-worship-vietnam
(2) FitzGerald, Frances. Fire In The Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1972.

Ancestor Worship in Taiwan

One of the most notable differences between the ancestor worship practices of Taiwan in comparison to the countries I have discussed so far is that the matter of ancestor worship ceremonies is not handled by the male, but the female in this case. This means that when I woman marries into a family, the mother-in-law will teach her how to properly do any ceremonies, such as what to specifically offer. Despite this difference it is still the husband's ancestors that will be worshipped and subject to these ceremonies, not the wife's. However, this reign over ceremonies would only be within the home. Outside of the home, in temples and tombs, the men would take over as past societal norms were that women stayed at home while men were the bread-winners and would be more out and about within society.

Another factor that makes Taiwan different from the other countries is that it had  many native tribes prior to the Han Chinese moving in. These tribes, including the Pingpu and the Siraya, also had their forms of ancestor worship. But unlike their Chinese compatriots who worshipped through offerings of food and drink, something common among all countries discussed in this blog, the native Taiwanese tribes offered betel nuts and wine. This is particularly distinctive because the betel nut is a stimulant and a carcinogen--one might go so far as to equate their offerings as offering drugs (though that may still be stretch). And unlike the Chinese Taiwanese, many tribes worship solely at temples and do not have a place of worship at home.

(1) National Museum of Taiwan History. "The Customs of Ancestral Worship. Last modified 2009. http://www.nmth.gov.tw/Portals/0/epaper/en/06/coverstory05.html

Ancestor Worship in Korea

Like the other East Asian countries discussed before, Korea's practice of ancestor worship is largely based off of Confucian teachings. In Korea, this practice is known as jesa. Like the Chinese, Korea's practice of ancestor worship falls largely on the man of the family--the father is obligated to lead the worship of ancestors within the family, as is the first son of the family. Services to dead ancestors have been traditionally required eight times in the year, along with established holiday rituals.

Similar to the Chinese and Japanese, Koreans believe that there are multiple spirits and souls that reside within a person's body, however unlike the three spirits of Chinese practices, Koreans believe there are seven souls and three spirits. With death these spirits go to the afterlife, while one spirit remains within the body as well as the seven souls. Also similar to the Chinese, an ancestor or spirit table is utilized in worship.

Korean Ancestor tablet
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Goheung_Hyanggyo_5359-07_Ancestor_(Song)_Tablet.JPG

Food offerings are often made, though placement of food and offerings is very specific within the ritual itself (I'm trying to find information on the specifics of this). Some families have altars and others do not. And while each family has their own small altar within the family unit, they typically will also have a much larger altar with all of the ancestors at the main family house (if they have a main family house). This connection to the main family is only broken after three generations when another "main family" can be created. Unlike my studies of other countries' ancestor rituals, however, Korea seems to be the only one which may utilize the help of a shaman in rituals of ancestor worship instead of solely relying on the men within the family.Such shamans are often utilized to cleanse a home following the death of a family member. In many ways, this purification of a home seems similar to the Catholic tradition of exorcism as it deals with purifying the home.

(1) Kwang Kyu Lee, "The Concept of Ancestors and Ancestor Worship in Korea", Asian Folklore 43.2 (1984): 199-214.
(2) Kwang Kyu Lee, "Confucian Tradition in the Contemporary Korean Family" in Confucianism and the Family: A Study of Indo-Tibetan Scholasticism, ed. Walter Slote and George De Vos (Albany: State University of New York, 1998), 249-267.

Apologies

There will be no post tonight, as I just received word that my dog has passed.

Here are some videos of the Bon Festival, to go along with post from last week:

The Bon Festival

Also known as the festival of Obon, this is a celebration which honors the dead in Japan. It is said that on the three days in which the festival takes place, dead ancestors come back as spirits and visit the homes of their family. It takes place from either July 13-16 or August 13-16, depending on the area. This discrepancy is due to the government switching from the Lunar calendar to the Gregorian calendar during the Meiji Era--a time in which much westernization took place in Japan. (1)

The Bon Festival is practiced according to the teachings of Sâkyamuni Buddha, as preached by the Urabon Sutra. (2) According to the Sutra, a priest by the name of Mokuren found out that his mother who had recently died was suffering in the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts--a state of being in which the spirit is tormented by extreme hunger and thirst. To save her from her suffering, Mokuren was instructed by the Buddha to make offerings to priests who had just returned from their summer retreat. In doing so, his mother is released, and Mokuren dances in joy. This dance is known as Bon Odori and is practiced during the Bon Festival

The festival begins with a welcoming fire, called the mukaebi, as well as the visiting of families to the altars or graves of their loved ones where they light incense and clean. Throughout the three days, the Japanese celebrate--they eat special food, participate in games, and view the bon odori dances. None of the bon odori are the same, with many towns and areas having a dance and music specific to them, often depicting the history or culture of the region. (3) Below is one such bon odori dance:



Finally, the Bon Festival ends with a lighting of lanterns which are sent down rivers. This occurs on the final day, and is called the Toro Nagashi It is believed that by lighting and sending these paper lanterns down rivers, it is leading the ancestor spirits home to the spirit world once more. Along with this lighting of paper lanterns is the ending fire, known as okuribi which is similar to the mukaebi. The toro nagashi can be seen below:



(1) "Bon A-B-C", last modified 2002.
(2) "What is Obon?", Shingon Buddhist International Institute, last modified 1998.
(3) "Bon Festival", Michigan State University, accessed October 19, 2013.

Ancestor Worship in Japan

Unlike the research I did for Chinese ancestor worship, finding sources regarding Japanese ancestor worship was slightly more difficult. Japanese ancestor worship largely evolved from Chinese influences of Confucianism, mixing with the Buddhism and Shintoism which were the main modes of worship in the country. (1) Like the Chinese, Japanese homes may have an ancestor altar which they call a butsudan. A butsudan is held as a special symbol in Japanese Buddhist culture, typically containing a statue or painting of Buddha, religious texts, and depending on what sect of Buddhism the family is, tablets with the names of ancestors. (2)

Butsudan at Shindo Buddhist Temple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Butsudan_at_ShinDo_Buddhist_Temple.jpg

The family may offer food or drink at the altar, like the Chinese do in their own practices. However, this is not done frequently--instead, many worship their ancestors during the Bon Festival. The Bon Festival typically takes place near New Years and involves a variety of rituals to worship their ancestors, something I will cover in more detail in my next blog post.

Those who do not have a butsudan will typically visit the graves of their ancestors instead.

Cemetery in Tokyo, Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JapaneseGraveyardTokyo.jpg

It is fairly easy to see how different Japanese cemeteries are in comparison to American ones, and in certain crowded areas graves and headstones may be placed on top of each other. Some areas have even begun to put cemeteries on the roofs of buildings due to overcrowding. Most Japanese people have their bodies cremated and their ashes interred in the headstone itself. Below is a video of a family visiting and cleaning a grave--the description of the video gives more information on the importance of these markers.

(1) Masako Ishii-Kuntz. "Ancestor Worship - Ancestor Worship in Japan." Accessed October 11, 2013.
(2) "Butsudan," Wikipedia, last modified August 18, 2013, accessed October 10, 2013.