THE TRANSFORMATION OF WOMEN’S ROLES IN KOREAN JESA RITUALS

(An Analysis of Ernst Cassirer’s Philosophy of Symbolic Forms)

Authors

  • Fernanda Fakhrudina Universitas Gadjah Mada
  • Sartini Fakultas Filsafat Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
  • Wahida Okta Khoirunnisa Fakultas Filsafat Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
  • Muhammad Ilham Elfarhani Fakultas Filsafat Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21154/ijougs.v7i01.12801

Keywords:

Kepemimpinan Perempuan, Rekonstruksi Gender

Abstract

The transformation of Jesa in contemporary Korean society has reflected a shift in symbolic meaning driven by changes in family structure, modernization, and women's active participation in ritual practices. Women have no longer merely performed supportive domestic roles but have emerged as cultural agents who reinterpret the symbolic elements of Jesa, including altar arrangement, the selection of ritual offerings, spatial organization, and their positions within the ceremonial procession. In many families, women's participation as ritual leaders has demonstrated the resemanticization of hyo (filial piety), shifting it from a patrilineal obligation toward a more egalitarian and contextually grounded form of ancestral veneration. Through the symbolic perspective of Ernst Cassirer, these transformations can be understood as a process of reconstructing symbolic forms that reshape the network of meanings sustaining the cultural identity of Korean families. Women function not only as interpreters and custodians of symbolic continuity but also as creators of new ritual configurations that enable Jesa to remain relevant amid the dynamics of contemporary social change.

References

REFERENSI

Artikel Jurnal

Baik, Chung-Hyun. “Some Influences of Confucianism on Korean Christian Family Life: Confucian? Christian? Or Confucian-Christian?” Theology Today 76, no. 3 (2019): 242–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040573619859019.

Bell, Markus. “Performing Death and Memory: Ancestral Rites of North Koreans in Exile.” Korean Studies 45, no. 1 (2021): 141–64. https://doi.org/10.1353/ks.2021.0007.

Bradley, Hallie. “How To Perform A Korean Jesa Ceremony.” The Soul of Seoul (Korea), 20 Desember 2024. Korean Culture Edisi.

El Amine, Loubna. “Women, Rituals, and the Domestic-Political Distinction in the Confucian Classics.” Political Theory 52, no. 1 (2024): 90–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/00905917231191464.

Gigante, Michael John, Joshua Stone, Daniel Druckman, dan Ming Wan. “The Rise and Fall of the Confucian Long Peace: A New Dataset for Analyzing Regional Conflict Management in East Asia (1598–1894).” Journal of Conflict Resolution 69, no. 10 (2025): 1827–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220027251322900.

Hyoung-Jin, Moon. “The Rite of Passage and Folklore of Koreans.” International Area Review 8, no. 2 (2005): 191–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/223386590500800210.

Kim, Dohee. “How modern lifestyles are reshaping South Korea’s ancestral rituals : Amid rapid social changes, jesa, a ritual practice, sees a shift in its practice and purpose among Koreans of all ages.” Korea Pro (Korea), 1 Desember 2025.

Kim, Jibum, Jae-Mahn Shim, dan Sori Kim. “Confucian Identification, Ancestral Beliefs, and Ancestral Rituals in Korea.” Religions 13, no. 1 (2022): 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13010043.

Kim, Jungsun, Yuanfei Li, dan Fenggang Yang. “A Spatial Analysis of Shamans in South Korea’s Religious Market.” Religions 16, no. 10 (2025): 1327. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101327.

Kwon, Heonik. “Legacies of the Korean War: Transforming Ancestral Rituals in South Korea.” Memory Studies 6, no. 2 (2013): 161–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698012473687.

Lee, Chang Hyeon, dan Young Kim. “Jongka, the Traditional Korean Family: Exploring Jongka Food in the Context of Korean Food Categories.” Journal of Ethnic Foods 5, no. 1 (2018): 40–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jef.2018.02.006.

Lee, Chang Hyeon, Young Kim, Yang Suk Kim, dan Young Yun. “Ancestral Ritual Food of Korean Jongka : Historical Changes of the Table Setting.” Journal of Ethnic Foods 5, no. 2 (2018): 121–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jef.2018.06.001.

Nam, Kyung-Hee. “Li (禮), or Ritual Propriety: A Preface to a Confucian Philosophy of Human Action.” Diogenes 62, no. 2 (2015): 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0392192117703052.

Podestatovä, Vera. “Ancestor Worship in Contemporary Korea.” Palacký University Olomouc, 2022. https://library.upol.cz/arl-upol/cs/csg/?repo=upolrepo&key=93142961547.

Rösch-Rhomberg, Inge. “Hierarchical Opposition and the Concept of Ŭm-Yang (Yin-Yang). A Reevaluation of Values in the Light of the Symbolism of Korean Rituals for the Dead.” Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH Bd. 89, no. H. 4./6. (1994): 471–91.

Wang, Hwa Yeong. “Confucianism and Rituals for Women in Chosŏn Korea.” European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 13, no. 2 (2021): 91–120. https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.2021.3308.

Zulueta, Johanna O. “Negotiating Gender and Kinship within Multicultural Families in Non-Highly Urbanised Areas of South Korea.” Genealogy 8, no. 2 (2024): 76. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8020076.

Buku

Cassirer, Ernst. An Essay On Man An Introduction to a Philosophy of Human Culture. Yale University Press, 1944.

Cassirer, Ernst. The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms Volume 2: Mythical Thought. Vol. 2. Yale University Press, 1955.

Edward Y.J., Chung. Korean Confucianism Tradition and Modernity. The Academy of Korean Studies Press, 2015.

Palais, James B. Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions: Yu Hyongwon and the Late Choson Dynasty. Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. University of Washington Press, 1996.

News

Ji-hye, Shin. 6 in 10 Koreans Skip Ancestral Rites during Chuseok. 3 Oktober 2025. https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10589228.

Lee, Rachel. “Opinion: the signs of patriarchy in Korean ancestral rituals.” Los Angeles Times (California), 13 Agustus 2024.

Min-sik, Yoon. Over Half of Koreans Say They Won’t Continue Jesa: Survey. 30 Oktober 2023. https://v.daum.net/v/HmgUEnKwAG.

Palais, James B. Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions: Yu Hyongwon and the Late Choson Dynasty. Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. University of Washington Press, 1996.

Downloads

Published

2026-07-05

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 01 (2026)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Fernanda Fakhrudina, Sartini, Wahida Okta Khoirunnisa, Muhammad Ilham Elfarhani

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

All articles published in ijougs are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Under this license, authors and readers are free to:

  • Share. copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format

  • Adapt. remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under the following terms:

  • Attribution. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

  • Non-Commercial. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

Notices:

  • The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

  • No additional restrictions. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

For the full legal code of the license, please visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/