Korea’s Path of Liturgical Inculturation: Ancestral Rites in Confucian-Christian Interplay, Social Change, and Women

Abstract: This study examines how Korean Christianity reconfigures Confucian ancestral rites ( je-sa ) through liturgical inculturation, focusing on gender, ritual agency, and cultural transformation. Traditional je-sa , rooted in Confucian filial piety ( hyo ) and ritual propriety ( rye ), has long reinforced patriarchal kinship structures by vesting ritual authority in eldest sons. However, the rise of Christian memorial services ( ch’udo-rye ) has redefined ancestral remembrance, replacing sacrificial offerings with Scripture, prayer, and hymnody while preserving Confucian ritual aesthetics. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interdisciplinary scholarship in theology, anthropology, and Korean studies, this paper argues that ch’udo-rye constitutes a hybrid practice where women—mothers, daughters, and daughters-in-law—emerge as ritual leaders and theological interpreters. Their leadership challenges Confucian and ecclesiastical patriarchies, enacting moral agency rooted in care, memory, and theological creativity. By analyzing case studies and Catholic-Protestant adaptations, this study shows how ch’udo-rye negotiates tensions between cultural continuity and Christian eschatology, transforming gendered ritual orders into relational ethics of remembrance and hope. It further engages feminist and postcolonial theology to theorize women’s ritual agency as “compassionate disruption,” reframing filial piety toward mutual care and inclusive communal belonging. Ultimately, ch’udo-rye exemplifies liturgical inculturation as a dynamic process of cultural negotiation, moral reimagination, and social renewal. It highlights how Korean Christian women’s ritual leadership fosters communities grounded in justice, relationality, and shared flourishing, offering a vision of rituals as living practices that sustain memory, shape identity, and transform society.