DOI
10.32436/2475-6423.1189
Abstract
This essay examines how the Confucian practice of filial piety, particularly as expressed through ancestral rites and tablets, became a focal point of contention in the encounters between Confucianism and Catholicism. Focusing on the cases of the Chinese Catholic Yan Mo and the Korean Catholic martyr Yun Ji-chung, I argue that the different historical and cultural contexts in China and Korea significantly shaped how each figure understood and responded to the practice of ancestral rites. While Catholicism spread globally, local converts developed distinct theological interpretations rooted in their respective cultural traditions. Although Yan Mo and Yun Ji-chung reached divergent conclusions on the legitimacy of ancestral rites, this study shows that filial piety remained central in shaping their theological reflections, revealing the enduring influence of Confucian moral virtues within East Asian Catholic thought.
Recommended Citation
Hong, Mideum
(2025)
"Ancestral Rites and Tablets as a Site of Contestation Between Confucian Filial Piety and Catholicism: The Cases of Chinese Confucian Yan Mo and Korean Catholic Yun Ji-chung,"
Journal of Global Catholicism:
Vol. 10:
Iss.
1, Article 6. p.158-185.
DOI: 10.32436/2475-6423.1189
Available at:
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/jgc/vol10/iss1/6
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Catholic Studies Commons, Chinese Studies Commons, Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Comparative Philosophy Commons, Cultural History Commons, Folklore Commons, History of Christianity Commons, History of Religion Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Missions and World Christianity Commons, Other Anthropology Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Regional Sociology Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social History Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons