Much of my research so far has been on some of the altars and places of worship that come with the practice of ancestor veneration. For the most part, I have been looking at photographs of various altars and comparing them depending on the region. This is establish a footing on what I should be looking for when making closer analyses later, as well as satisfying my own curiosities on how similar these altars may be. Some of the images I have managed to find are below:
 |
| Altar of unknown origin http://web.mesacc.edu/dept/d10/asb/religion/ancestor.asia.html |
 |
| Korean Altar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korean_culture-Jesa-02.jpg |
 |
| Vietnamese Altar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vietnamese_Ancestors_Altar.jpg |
 |
| Image from a Malaysian Chinese home http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ancestor_worship004.jpg |
My own family's practice of ancestor veneration is one of the main reasons why I have chosen this topic. I have witnessed a few of the rituals that come with ancestor worship in Vietnamese culture, although for my family these are done more for tradition rather than actual belief. However, I frequently find myself at a loss at what is occurring, for the rituals are always done in Vietnamese. I hope that through my research, I will be able to understand more of what is occurring in my own culture, as well as others.
I'm going to continue to look images this upcoming week, as well as delve deeper into some of the practices. I will probably focus on one country each week, and then compare them near the end of the project.
Good start. Set off your research question: "My question in researching ancestor worship in East Asia is: What are the practices and what are the differences and similarities of said practices in various countries in that region? Great photos. Start to delve into scholarship on the topic as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is great you chose a topic that relates to cultural practices that you participate in. You said that your family did these out of tradition, but not true belief. I think a fascinating aspect of this topic would be when the transition from belief to tradition really started to take place. I know those things are often gradual, but sometimes they are sparked but events within that culture. For example the Reformation changed many medieval European opinions about death and a there after. The pictures are awesome, but also maybe describe what we are looking at in the pictures exactly. I feel like the type of candle, incense, fruit, and other decoration might also have importance.
ReplyDelete