Ancestor Worship in Confucianism - Reciprocity between Older and Younger People

          All of my family members from father or mother side, we have regularly met for ancestor worship at least twice a year. We called that 'Che-sa.' At this family gathering, the older people in family such as grandfather and grandmother instruct their children (my dad and uncles or my mom and aunts) to serve their ancestor. During this ceremony, we remember our ancestors but also respect older people's wisdom in family members. I have been told that old people have a lot of lessons from their longer life-experience and we have to respect that not for them but for me to learn the life lessons. 


        Respecting older people in Korean society is well present in the tradition of Korean ancestor worship. The reason why Korean people think of respecting older people is the concept of 'reciprocity' in the Confucianism. 


        In traditional society of Korea, Koreans believe that current life of offspring is strongly connected with dead ancestors. Descendant needs to feed their ancestor through ancestor worship.  They believe that not only rituals are unavoidable obligations from reciprocity of Confucianism to ancestors, but the worships also bring benefits for current family members by giving ritual property to ancestors. Regarding ancestor worship, Janelli interprets that “forebears are the roots of a tree and descendants are its leaves and branches. Each automatically nourishes the other. Even the food offered at ancestor rites is later eaten by participants. … Ancestor worship idealized ancestors and their mutual dependency with their closest living kin.”  (Janelli 1982, 166) 

         In the socio-religous concept, this 'Reciprocity' concept is very unique compare to other religions. Some religions do not take care much of the older populations because of the image of weak and fragile. For example, Mormons attitude toward elderly is not positive as the Korean tradition. Olson states in his book that "the focus of the church has been to produce strong families that ties children and adolescents to the church and its practices, which may divert time and energy from the issues of the elderly." (Olson 2001, 123) 

        I think this special concept of Confucianism - Reciprocity- can be very helpful to solve the so-called 'agist society' by looking back their family history and find the harmony between intergenerational works. It also meets the notion of Confucianism. According to the journal 'Revisiting Confucianism as a Conceptual Framework for Asian Family Study by Park and Chesla, "Confucius’s analysis of his time was that ritual and conventional forms of social behavior had failed to keep the peace. He believed that the purposes of ritual and conventional social habits were to orient people so that social institutions and everyday relationships could flourish in harmony." (Park, Chesla, 2007)

* Reference

 Janelli, Roger L. 1982. Ancestor Worship and Korean Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press 

Laura Katz Olson (2001), Age Through Ethnic Lenses: Caring for Elderly in a Multicultural Society. MA, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC. 



Minjung Park and Catherine Chesla (2007), Revisiting Confucianism as a Conceptual Framework for Asian Family Study, Journal of Family Nursing 2007 13:293 

What is Confucianism? and Why Confucianism?

     Gerontology is a great social study in terms of having variety perspectives on society and people. To deeply analyze this field of study, we can look into different cultural background of older population. The reason why I chose the Confucianism and aging in Korea as the subject is because of the same reason to have various examples from different cultures to help all older populations in the world. As Stoller mentions in his book that "Some characteristics of individuals and of their personal histories may appear unique, but there are also discernible patterns in the experiences of different segments of the older population. These patterns reflects social structural arrangements and cultural blueprints within society, both today and during the decades in which people lived and grew old." (Stoller 2000, 13)

     Confucianism is a representative of East Asia's cultural characteristic. It is like a building-stone of cultures of Korea, China and Japan. I am an international student in University of Southern California from South Korea. I was born in and grew up in South Korea until I came to the United States when I was 19 to go to the U.S. college in Los Angeles. I lived in Korea with my grandmother in my home. What I was told for whole time of my younger years from my mom and dad was 'respect elderly.' My parents made me to listen carefully and respect not just my grandmother but all other older people even though to someone I had not know before.

     Korea is a very age-differenciated society. There is very strong hierarchy between different age groups. For example, if you meet someone older than you, you should use different types of word -respectful words- to speak with that person. It continues to older populations. In my cultures, younger people have to respect all elderly in society by doing such as yielding seats all the time to senior citizens in public transportation.

     This cultural characteristic is all from the Confucianism. Many scholars also view the Confucianism to understand the East Asian cultures and family structures by stressing the elderly in the intergenerational relationships. According to Park and Chesla in their journal 'Revisiting Confucianism as a Conceptual Framework for Asian Family Study,' "For centuries, the values of Confucianism have pervaded the conscious- ness of EAs. Confucianism posits the family as the fundamental unit of society, incorporating the economic functions of production and consumption as well as the social functions of education and socialization, guided by moral and ethical principles. Family cohesion and community are taken as the foundation for sustaining the human community and the state. Confucianism is also understood as a code of ethics that prescribes behavior. Confucian values can be observed in East Asian social relations, such as intergenerational relationships within the family and other social interpersonal relationships." (Park, Chesla, 2007)

Also, gerontologists focus on the concept of Confucianism to understand the older people in East Asian family. Olson mentions in his book that "The Chinese, whose filial piety also has its roots in Confucianism, have a long tradition of interdependence and high status for the aged. ... Together these values promote self-sacrifice, devotion, and care of elderly parents- without question of resentment." (Olson 2001, 8) 

By looking back personal experience in Korea and reading many scholars who focus on the Confucianism to understand multiculturalism in gerontology, I could not hesitate to learn more about the relationship between Confucianism and aging.   

* Reference

Minjung Park and Catherine Chesla (2007), Revisiting Confucianism as a Conceptual Framework for Asian Family Study, Journal of Family Nursing 2007 13:293 

Elenor Palo Stoller and Rose Campbell Gibson (2000), Worlds of Difference: Inequality in the Aging Experience (3rd ed). CA, Pine Forge Press 

Laura Katz Olson (2001), Age Through Ethnic Lenses: Caring for Elderly in a Multicultural Society. MA, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC.