Origins of Ancestor Worship
Ancestor worship was prominent in ancient China. The religion is based on the idea that after you die, you have a continued existence and can affect the happenings of the world. The goal of worshippers is to ensure the ancestors' well-being and positive disposition towards the living relatives in return for special favors or assistance. The social function of ancestor worship is "to cultivate kinship values like filial piety, family loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage." (Yang 1957:278). This originated around the time of the Shang dynasty.
The quote from the movie Mulan to the right of the above picture shows how ancestors were seen as someone to go to for help, and also shows an example of filial piety.
The quote from the movie Mulan to the right of the above picture shows how ancestors were seen as someone to go to for help, and also shows an example of filial piety.
original rituals of ancestor worship
After a family member dies, there is a mourning process. It begins with the funeral, where the family makes offerings to the deceased that are necessary for the afterlife. This may be things such as combs, toothbrushes, or clothing. After the funeral, there are continued offerings daily of things such as their favorite food or wine. Once these are over, they set up a home altar, which stays there for 49 days. Once these 49 days are over, the ancestors are believed to reside in commemorative tablets. These stay in the house with all the tablets of the rest of the family, and there are occasional offerings. The goal of these rituals was to send off the spirits in a positive way. This put the family in good graces with their relatives, so they would grant their requests.
Modern Ancestor Worship
Though ancestor worship is generally regarded as an ancient practice, it is still practiced today, especially in Korea, Japan, and Africa. It has slowly been disappearing in China, but in the rural areas of China it is still prevalent. Funeral rituals are mostly the same for those who still practice ancestor worship, but it's not as big of a spectacle. It's more private than it was in the beginning of this religion. The festival Qingming is the most important practice of ancestor worship that exists today. On this day, in April, they pay homage to their ancestors - even if they don't regularly practice the rituals, almost all of China participates in the festival. Overall, ancestor worship has not changed much over the years in terms of their beliefs, however, the practice has decreased and the rituals have become less vital to the religion.
How ancestor worship affected the world
Ancestor worship hasn't had a major impact on the world as a whole. It impacts the daily life of people who practice it, but other than that, it has only influenced the religions it has come in contact with. It spread and became a part of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Today, it is mostly practiced in conjunction with these religions.
Modern ancestor worship has become less firm in the lives of followers due to loss of importance of rituals. The rituals served as a reminder of the honor family's owed their elders, and with the disappearance of this reminder goes the support it provided for filial piety and respect for your elders, though these aspects can exist without ancestor worship. But the unique thing that ancestor worship did that just the common principles of its society can't do is to provide motivation and a purpose for living by its ideologies. Even so, ancestor worship could not prevent change. Between the new religions that came around, the spread of ideas from around the world, and modern science, ancestor worship rituals had to become less obligatory to its followers to perform. They saw that other people were living successful, happy lives without practicing ancestor worship to gain aid from their ancestors, and so their ritual offerings for honoring their ancestors became less necessary in order to keep practitioners of ancestor worship. This belief system also combined its beliefs with other ones that came after ancestor worship to keep itself alive, even though these belief systems originally did not have anything in common with ancestor worship besides filial piety. This might ensure that even if ancestor worship dies out, at least some of its ideals will live on in another belief system, but if that belief system dies out as well, a whole supporting structure for a part of the culture is gone too.
Modern ancestor worship has become less firm in the lives of followers due to loss of importance of rituals. The rituals served as a reminder of the honor family's owed their elders, and with the disappearance of this reminder goes the support it provided for filial piety and respect for your elders, though these aspects can exist without ancestor worship. But the unique thing that ancestor worship did that just the common principles of its society can't do is to provide motivation and a purpose for living by its ideologies. Even so, ancestor worship could not prevent change. Between the new religions that came around, the spread of ideas from around the world, and modern science, ancestor worship rituals had to become less obligatory to its followers to perform. They saw that other people were living successful, happy lives without practicing ancestor worship to gain aid from their ancestors, and so their ritual offerings for honoring their ancestors became less necessary in order to keep practitioners of ancestor worship. This belief system also combined its beliefs with other ones that came after ancestor worship to keep itself alive, even though these belief systems originally did not have anything in common with ancestor worship besides filial piety. This might ensure that even if ancestor worship dies out, at least some of its ideals will live on in another belief system, but if that belief system dies out as well, a whole supporting structure for a part of the culture is gone too.