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.