儒敎 祭禮의 構造와 意味- 忌祭를 중심으로

Abstract

This is a study on the Structure and Significance of Confucian Ancestor-memorial Ceremonies as a part of establishing a foundation for the modernization of the traditional ceremonies. There is a Confucian view of life and death, reflecting that the life is not ceased from the death but lengthen even after the death in Confucian Ancestor-memorial Ceremonies. In the ceremonies, therefore, it is regarded as important for us to have to wait upon our dead ancestors as live ones with all our heart. The ceremony also has become a device maintaining the relationship between ancestors and descendants even after the ancestors' death. The procedure of the ceremony is as follows. Beginning to rapport with the dead ancestors through purification, thinking them alive and treating with wine and food, it finally ends in sharing the ceremonial food between children, relatives and neighbors. Especially the food shared at the end of it is a medium of the harmony among the neighbors as well as the kinsfolk. The ancestor-memorial Ceremony carries out the ethical, social and educational role being required in human society with the memorial ritual for the dead ancestors. In conclusion, the ceremony is not only a religious function serving God but also a kind of cultural activity having led the Eastern society with a various social roles.