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