Ancestor Worship in Korea: Tradition and Transition

Abstract

Against the background of the traditional procedures and functions of ancestor worship in Korea, the recent changes in actual practices and certain selected attitudes are examined in this paper. The changing patterns indicate that those traditional or religious elements that are directly contradictory to the ideology of modernization and yet not conflicting with the fundamental values of ancestor worship, are more easily susceptible to change, as compared to those elements which constitute the basic values of ancestor worship. On the basis of such findings, the future of ancestor worship in Korea, both short and long ranges, is also discussed.