Jesa | |
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Korean name | |
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Hangul | 제사 |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Jesa |
McCune–Reischauer | chesa |
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Jesa (Korean: 제사, Korean pronunciation: [tɕe.sa]) is a ceremony commonly practiced in Korea. Jesa functions as a memorial to the ancestors of the participants.[1] Jesa are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor's death. The majority of Catholics, Buddhists and nonbelievers practice ancestral rites, although Protestants do not.[2]
Since their origins, Jesa has taken on a certain formality as human civilization has developed, which is sometimes called rituals in Confucianism.[3]
The Catholic ban on ancestral rituals was lifted in 1939, when Pope Pius XII formally recognized ancestral rites as a civil practice (see also Chinese Rites controversy).[2] Many Korean Christians, particularly Protestants, no longer practice this rite and avoid it both locally and overseas.[4][5][6][7][8]