Sungmu Lee

The Eucharist and the Confucian Chesa1

(Ancestor Rite)

As Christianity has been diffused in the world, it has encountered

various cultures and adapted them into its own liturgy. Conse-
quently, each liturgical tradition has developed multiple styles of
the eucharistie rite according to different times and places. How-
ever, in spite of the diversity of tradition, there has been the unity
in the eucharistie faith and practice. In other words, the concept of
liturgical inculturation, the unity in diversity and the diversity in
unity, has existed throughout the history of Christian liturgy.
Yet, when making the western styles of liturgy definitive and
eradicating Korean culture from the Korean Protestant liturgy, the
early Protestant missionaries in Korea in the late nineteenth
century were disconnecting the historical continuity of liturgical
inculturation. The early Protestant missionaries sought liturgical
uniformity rather than unity in diversity. As a result, the eucha-
ristie forms and contents in the Korean Protestant Church have
become almost the same as those in the American Protestant
Church. In order for Korean Protestants to create a uniquely Korean
liturgical identity and approach the Eucharist more effectively, it is
indispensable that they utilize ritual sources in Korean culture.
In order to demonstrate the great potential for Korean Protestants
to experience God more effectively through the Eucharist, I illumi-
nate eucharistie aspects in the Korean Confucian chesa (ancestor
rite), one of the most sacred rites in the minds of Korean people,
for adapting Korean cultural features into the liturgy. From a socio-
logical perspective, I study the Korean Confucian chesa, and then,
from a theological perspective, connect it with the Eucharist in the

Sungmu Lee is a pastor in the United Methodist Church in Bay Shore, New
York.

1
Chosang chesa is the full title of the ancestor rite in Korea. Chosang means
ancestor, and chesa means rite. Koreans usually call it chesa instead of chosang
chesa.

The Eucharist and the Confucian

323
 Christian tradition. My attempt is not merely to adapt Korean cul-
tural features outwardly into the Korean Protestant Eucharist, but
to signify an inner transformation of authentic Korean cultural fea-
tures through their integration into the Eucharist. I hope that this
study will encourage other ethnic Christian churches to examine
the Christian liturgy from the perspective of inculturation, to con-
nect it with their cultures, and to suggest new liturgical models for
their own churches.
The term, chesa, has been translated as ancestor worship, ancestor
rite, ancestor cult, or ancestor ceremony. Among these terms, an-
cestor worship is the most common translation for chesa. However,
there is a great possibility for westerners to misunderstand the
significance of chesa in using the term "ancestor worship."'One of
the most serious mistakes that Western Christian missionaries
have made with respect to ancestor worship was to impose the
Christian concept of worship upon the study of ancestor worship,
which was formulated within an entirely different religious context
and spiritual atmosphere from that of Christian worship. . . .We
may even destroy the very nature of ancestor worship if we analyze
it with a distinctively Western Christian conceptual tool."2 The
concept of chesa is utterly different from that of worship that west-
ern Christians have experienced and understood. Thus, in order
not to mislead westerners, it is appropriate not to translate chesa
as, "ancestor worship." The most accurate translation of chesa is
probably "ancestorrite,"as in the eucharistie rite or the baptismal
rite, but the more proper usage is to use the original term, chesa, in
Korean.

DEVELOPMENT OF CHESA I N KOREA

Although the concept and practice of chesa had been prevalent in
Korea since the period of the Three Kingdoms (18 B.C-668 A.D.), its
definitive form was established at the beginning of the Yi dynasty
(1392 A.D.-1910 A.D.), whose official religion was Confucianism.3
Since then, the Korean form of chesa has been developed through

2
Young-chan Ro, "Ancestor Worship: From the Perspective of Korean Tradition,"
Ancestor Worship and Christianity in Korea (New York: E. Mellen Press 1989) 8.
3
Sunha Ryu, Gidokgyo Yebaewa Yugyo Chesa [Christian Worship and Confucian
Ancestor Rites] (Seoul: Sungsil University Press 1991) 57-58.

Sungmu Lee
324
"the process of combining the traditional or native Korean form of
worship with the Chinese form of Confucian ancestor worship/'4
Confucianism is a social code for living, basically focused on a
way of life in this world, rather than in the afterworld. It empha-
sizes five basic relationships among people, such as parents and
children, the king and the people, husbands and wives, friends and
friends, and the old and the young. In addition, "[Confucianism]
did not set up any pantheon of gods or distinctive priesthood, nor
did it develop any supernatural dogma. Yet, despite its non-theistic
outlook, it did take on religious elements, like the cult of the dead,
which permeated Chinese society and whose significance the
Confucianists tried to rationalize/'5
Confucian chesa is fully based on the ethic of filial piety, reflect-
ing the relationship between parents and children among the five
relationships. "Fundamentally, this virtue [of filial piety] governed
the relationship between aged parents and their offspring. The
duty for a man to care for his parents during their lifetime and to
render them a proper funeral and burial after death constituted
his greatest human responsibility. . . . In short, filial piety pre-
pared him to fulfill his responsibility to society. . . . [The spirit of
filial piety] went beyond the boundaries of this world, beyond the
death of one's parents, and it reached into the shadows of the
ancestors. In a true sense the family comprised not only the living
but also the dead. . . . Filial piety after death had to be continued
in the same spirit as before but in a different form."6 Filial piety
provides a moral foundation for chesa in serving one's parents not
only while they are living but also after they die. If filial piety is the
first step of self-cultivation in Confucianism, then chesa is an
essential expression of filial piety. Chesa affirms that even death
cannot separate one from one's parents. ^
Even though Korean chesa is based on Confucianism introduced
from China, its forms and contents have become different from the
Chinese by adapting the Korean language, Korean food, and
Korean native religious features into the liturgy. For example,

4
Ro, 10.
5
George Minamiki, The Chinese Rites Controversy: From its Beginning to Modern
Times (Chicago: Loyola University Press 1985) 3.
6
Ibid., 4-5.

The Eucharist and the Confucian

325
 Korean chesa does not reflect the Chinese Confucian view of
humankind. According to the pre-Confucian view of humankind,
' "man is composed of the earthly aspect of the soul (jp'6) and its
heavenly aspect (hurt). . . . When a man dies, p'o returns to the
earth and hurt disperses, as it were, into the air."7 In other words,
the spirit of humankind did not include that of an eternal being in
pre-Confucianism. "Even during the Neo-Confucian period, the
cosmological significance of ancestor worship was still poorly
developed because the Neo-Confucian ideas of ch'i (material force)
and liturgy (principle) were not related to the idea of gods and
spiritual beings. . . . Thus, ancestor worship, even for the Neo-
Confucianists, had little cosmological or ontological significance,
and its moral significance was still the dominant aspect of ancestor
worship."8
The lack of a cosmological dimension in Chinese Confucianism
resulted in adapting native Korean religious features into chesa.
"Specifically, Shamanism played an important role in providing an
adequate world view for ancestor worship. The shamanistic world
view provided an effective way of relating life to death, and the
world of a departed spirit to the world of man. Ancestors were
supposed to possess the power to create calamities for their de-
scendants or to give them blessings. Thus, ancestor worship, with its
moral,ritual,and cosmological aspects, now (during the Yi Dynasty)
became a rich religious form of worship in Korea. Ancestor worship
was no longer a ritual exclusively belonging to the Confucian
tradition, but rather it was the most important and popular family
ritual for all Koreans regardless of their religious affiliations, until
Christianity was introduced."9 As chesa was inculturated into
Korea, it became a powerful institution and the most sacred rite in
Korean culture. "[Chesa] was a sacred symbol in which all Koreans
found meaning and purpose for their lives and the enhancement
of their sense of belonging. Without both ancestor worship and
family, Koreans lost the sense of meaning of their existence."10

7
Ro, 14.
8
Ibid., 15.
9
Ibid., 16.
10
Wi Jo Kang, "Confucian Elements of Korean Culture with Special Reference to
Ancestor Worship/' Korean Cultural Roots: Religion and Social Thoughts, ed. Ho-Youn
Kwon (Chicago: North Park College and Theological Seminary 1995) 169.

Sungmu Lee
326
 C O N F U C I A N CHESA A N D C H R I S T I A N I T Y
Christianity first encountered Confucian chesa when Matteo Ricci,
the Jesuit missionary, entered Beijing and presented his gifts to the
Chinese emperor in 1601.11 Matteo Ricci and the early missionaries
in China tried to learn and understand Chinese culture, including
Confucian chesa, in order to spread the Christian gospel. Their atti-
tude toward Chinese culture was different from that of the early
missionaries in Korea who attempted to eradicate from Korean
Christianity the aspects of Korean culture which they thought
were superstitious. In his True Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven,
"[Matteo] Ricci avoided all negative attitudes toward Confucianism
and its culture; rather he took it to be a preparation for Christianity.
His mission policy was that of accommodation through learning/712
Therefore, in the early period of Chinese Christianity, there was no
conflict between Christianity and Confucian chesa, which provides
a valid contrast in describing the Korean situation in which there
have been serious conflicts between Christianity and Korean chesa
since Christianity was introduced first by Roman Catholic mission-
aries and later by Protestant missionaries.
"The stand that Ricci and the other early Jesuits took and the
judgment they made on the rites question derived from their con-
viction that there was no evidence that the rites were superstitious
in their original form. They were persuaded that the rites at this
early period of development were essentially civil and social in
practice. . . . In the last analysis, they had as their end the cultiva-
tion of hsiao (filial piety) and through this the peace and harmony
of Chinese society/'13
However, the age of controversy regarding Chinese chesa began
in China from the mid-seventeenth century, when Dominican mis-
sionaries regarded it as religious and superstitious. Through the
almost one hundred year controversy, finally, Pope Benedict XIV
"made it clear in 1742 that the Confucian ceremony of ancestor
worship was not permissible in the Catholic Church. The Chinese

11
Minamiki, 15.
12
Myung Hyuk Kim, "Ancestor Worship: From the Perspective of Korean
Church History/' Ancestor Worship and Christianity in Korea, 22.
13
Minamiki, 21.

The Eucharist and the Confucian

327
 Church followed the new instruction as well and as a result met
with great difficulties and even persecution in 1784/'14 Thus, all
missionaries in China were supposed to "take the oath against the
Chinese rites according to its formula — otherwise they were
liable to be recalled by their superiors and sent back to Europe/'15
In this situation, Catholicism was introduced to Korea via China
in 1784. In 1790, the early Korean Catholic Church wondered about
the practice of Korean chesa and heard from the priests in Beijing
that Korean chesa was incompatible with the doctrine of the
church.16 Therefore, the early Korean Catholic Church prohibited
the believers from practicing Korean chesa, which caused the Yi
Dynasty to severely persecute Roman Catholics in Korea. The
prohibition of Korean chesa represented direct opposition against
the moral norms and polity of the Korean government. As a result,
the Korean Catholic Church had more than 10,000 martyrs by 1880.
However, in the mid-twentieth century, the Roman Catholic
Church began to approach Chinese chesa from a new perspective.
In 1939, the newly elected pope, Pius XII, declared that "in a
modern age in which the spirit of traditional customs has greatly
changed, Confucian ancestor worship should be regarded merely
as a civil rite to express filial affection to ancestors."17 As a result, it
was finally nullified through the two century controversy that the
missionaries should take the oath against Chinese rites, because
"their symbolism and meaning would not be judged simply from
the standpoint of European and Judeo-Christian culture."18 In 1940,
the Korean Catholic Church had changed its attitude toward
Korean chesa in "allowing such behavior as bowing in front of a
corpse, a tomb, or a picture of the deceased; burning incense in
front of a corpse or at the ancestral worship; and preparing and
offering foods in memory of the deceased."19
Yet, the Korean Protestant Church has never approached Korean
Confucian chesa with a new perspective, but rather prohibited the

14
Kim, 23.
15
Minamiki, 76.
16
Kim, 24.
17
Ibid., 25.
18
Minamiki, 203.
19
Kim, 25.

Sungmu Lee
328
believers from practicing it. The reason is that the Korean Protes-
tant Church has been continuously influenced by the instructions
of the early American missionaries in the late nineteenth century
who regarded Korean rites as idol worship. Thus, modern Korean
Protestants need to realize those aspects of chesa that were mis-
understood by the early missionaries and to determine what should
be revived for the sake of their faith. George Minamiki notes: "The
meanings of the rites, it should be remembered, are not altogether
subjective and arbitrary. They are greatly influenced by the cultural
environment and social milieu in which the rites are practiced. The
bows, the bending of the knees, the offering of flowers and incense,
the use of candles and spirit tablets are all part of a particular
society — in this case, in the Far East. They have to be understood
in that context and not as they may exist or may have developed in
the Western world. The cultural milieu gives its own peculiar,
sometimes subtle, meaning to these ceremonial actions."20
For the early American missionaries, making a deep bow21 at the
ancestral tablet during the ritual of chesa was an act of idol wor-
ship, but, for the Koreans, it was a gesture of honoring their elders,
just as they had done when their ancestors were alive. This mis-
understanding of the early missionaries is based on the form of
Korean greetings. In the past, Koreans made a deep bow to their
parents and grand parents every morning and every evening, <
which was a norm based on filial piety. Modern Koreans still prac-
tice making a deep bow on special occasions, such as New Year's
Day and on parents' birthdays, or when they meet after not seeing
one another for a long time. Making a deep bow in the Korean
society is just one example of a formal greeting. It is not an act of
worship.
Further, another of the early missionaries' misunderstandings of
Korean culture was caused by the misinterpretation of the ances-
tral tablet at chesa as an idol. However, "the ancestral tablet or
picture itself is not an idol. It can become an idol when it is wor-
shiped. . . . [Yet], the ancestral tablet is none other than an image

20
Minamiki, 208.
21
A deep bow is usually made in the living room or parents' room. To do so,
Koreans kneel down, put their hands on the floor, and put their heads on their
hands.

The Eucharist and the Confucian

329
 or a symbol that recalls the dead ancestor. Thus, in [this] view the
ancestral tablet becomes a memorial."22 Therefore, making a deep
bow to the ancestral tablet or picture at chesa is not an act of idol
worship, but a beautiful tradition that God has given to Korean
people who express their respect for their ancestors or their elders,
just as they did when their ancestors were alive.

E U C H A R I S T I C ASPECTS I N KOREAN C O N F U C I A N CHESAl

T H A N K S G I V I N G , ANAMNESIS ( C O M M E M O R A T I O N ) ,
C O M M U N I O N , THE WORK OF THE SPIRI T
Korean ancestor rites have three forms: charye (general ceremony),
sije (ceremony for the time), and ktje (Chesa or ceremony for the
memorial).23 Korean Confucian chesa is performed at home on the
day of the death of the ancestor. The forms and contents vary
according to different regions, but they are generally based on the
following order.
ι. Lighting incense (punhyang): Sticks of incense are lit and
placed in a censer. The incense cleanses the ritual site. The
principal participant prostrates himself before the ceremonial
table and bows twice.
2. The descent of the spirit (kangsin): The ancestor(s) is/are
invited to descend from heaven. The principal participant
pours wine in a cup and bows twice.
3. Participation by the spirit: The ancestor(s) is/are welcomed.
All participants bow twice.
4. Offering food: Food is offered to the ancestor(s). Noodles, rice,
and soup are placed on the table, which is already laden with
other foods. Spoons and chopsticks are placed on the table.

22
Jung Yong Lee, "Ancestor Worship: From a Theological Perspective," Ancestor
Worship and Christianity in Korea, 84.
23
Ho Nam, Liturgical Inculturation in the Marriage and Funeral Rites of Korean
Protestants (Ph.D. Dissertation: Drew University 1999) 140�41. "Charye is performed
regularly every month and on special holidays, such as, by lunar calendar, on the
first day of the New Year and on the 15th day of August which is called Chusök,
the Harvest Moon Day. Sije, a seasonal rite, is held by the entire clan once a year
in the tenth lunar month at the grave site, whereas Kije is held on the day of the
death of the ancestor/'

Sungmu Lee
330
5· Making the first offering and reading the invocation: Wine is
offered and an invocation is read. The invocation states that
the humble dishes have been prepared by descendants who
cannot endure their sorrow. The descendants entreat the
ancestor to enjoy the offerings.
6. Making the second offering: Wine is offered again. In the
past, women were not permitted to attend these ceremonies,
but now they are allowed to participate. The principal woman
participant offers wine and bows four times. Women always
bow twice as many times as men, because in accordance with
traditional cosmology, women represent yin, and it takes two
yin to make one yang, the male element.
7. Making the final offering: Wine is offered once again, prompt-
ing the ancestor(s) to eat his/her/their fill.
8. Waiting for the ancestor(s) to eat: The ancestor is encouraged
to have more food. The spoon and chopsticks are stuck verti-
cally in the rice bowl.
9. Leaving the room: The light is then turned out and everyone
leaves the room. The idea is to allow the ancestor(s) to eat at
leisure if he/she/they is/are shy.
10. Opening the door: The participants open the door and reenter.
They make sure to cough a few times before opening the door
to avoid surprising the ancestor(s).
11. Putting rice in soup: In order to prompt the ancestor(s) to eat
more, three spoonfuls of rice from the ritual offerings are
placed in the ancestors'bowls of soup.
12. Bidding farewell to the ancestors' spirit: Wine is offered and
all participants bow in farewell to the ancestors' spirit.
13. Burning prayer paper: Now that the ancestor(s) has/have
departed, the spirit tablet is moved to its original place and
the prayer paper and wishing paper are immolated in an act
of cleansing.
14. Taking away the food: All food is cleared from the ceremonial
table.

The Eucharist and the Confucian

331
 15. Eating the ceremonial food (ümbok): The food from the cere-
monial table is thought to hold the ancestor's spiritual touch.
Sharing the food brings the ancestor's grace to living
relatives.24

There are significant eucharistie features in the Korean traditional

chesa, such as thanksgiving, anamnesis (commemoration), com-
munion, and the work of the spirit.
First, the Korean Confucian chesa includes strong expressions of
"thanksgiving." After the first offering, a principal celebrant recites
a written invocation: "Dear father /mother, because of your endless
grace as great as the heaven, we have another anniversary of your
death. We miss you so much that we make a deep bow, offering
various dishes. Please come to us and accept what we have pre-
pared for you."25 The invocation implies that since their ancestors
have cared for them during the past year, the participants could
have another year. They give thanks to their ancestors for their
grace, keeping them safe in everyday life. The expression of thanks-
giving to their ancestors is even stronger in charye performed on
the fifteenth of August, according to the lunar calendar, which is
called Chusok, Harvest Moon Day. Korean ancestor rites are filled
with the expressions of thanksgiving to their ancestors, which is
one of the significant eucharistie features.
The word "Eucharist," derived from the Greek word,
"eucharistéo,"16 is commonly translated as "thanksgiving." Yngve
Brilioth indicates that "in the second century'eucharist'becomes
the regular name for the rite — perhaps in imitation of the usage of
Hellenistic Judaism, for in Philo the word is used of various ritual
acts — and at the same time the note of thanksgiving is evermore
strongly accentuated."27 The Eucharist in the early church was
dominated by "thanksgiving," related to praise, wonder, and

24
Young Duk Kim, "Ancestral Rites," Korean Cultural Heritage Vol TV (Seoul:
Korea Foundation 1996) 48-49.
25
Ryu, 76.
26
James F. White, The Sacraments in Protestant Practice and Faith (Nashville:
Abingdon Press 1999) 100.
27
Yngve Brilioth, Eucharistie Faith & Practice (London: S.RC.K. 1930) 18.

Sungmu Lee
332
adoration of the Lord. In the Didache28 is found the expression of
thanksgiving in the Eucharist of the early church: "We thank you,
our Father, for the holy vine of David. . . . We thank you, our
Father, for the life and knowledge. . . . For yours is the glory and
the power through Jesus Christ forever. . . . We thank you, holy
Father, for your sacred name. . . . Above all, we thank you that
you are mighty. To you be glory forever."29 As in the Didache,
thanksgiving is one of the main subjects in the Eucharist of the
early Christian Church.
However, thanksgiving in the Eucharist became a minor theme
enuring the medieval period. "The pervading spirit [in the medieval
Church] was one of penitential gloom, focusing on the unworthi-
ness of those present rather than the supreme worth of God. The
mass had become a highly individualistic groveling before God
because of human sin. . . . There is little joy there for the damned."30
The eucharistie metaphor of thanksgiving was not fully recovered
during the sixteenth century Reformation. For example, although
Cranmer approved of the sacrifice of praise in the Eucharist, he
still reflected on the penitential attitude based on late-medieval
piety, as in the "Prayer of Humble Access": "We be not worthy so
much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table."31
The penitential tendency prevailed in the Eucharist until modern
Protestants began to stress the joyful aspect of the Eucharist as
thanksgiving in the 1960s. "Biblical studies have . . . made us
realize the strong continuity of Jewish worship and early Christian
worship. In particular, the Jewish means of giving thanks by recit-
ing God's saving acts has come to the forefront. . . . Certainly the
tide has turned in the direction of emphasizing the eucharist as
thanksgiving. What seems newest is actually, as so often happens,

28
"The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Commonly Called the Didache/' Early
Christian Fathers, ed. Cyril C. Richardson (New York: Macmillan 1970) 161. The
Didache is a compilation of various documents including the organization,
liturgy, and customs in Christian communities, dating from the late-first century
to the mid-second century.
29
Ibid., 175-76.
30
White, 100-01.
31
The Two Books of Common Prayer of King Edward The Sixth, ed. Edward Cardwell
(Oxford: Oxford University Press 1852) 302.

The Eucharist and the Confucian

333
 also the oldest layer in the Christian tradition/732 The eucharistie
prayer in the United Methodist Church supports a shift from one
of penitential gloom to one of joyful thanksgiving in the Eucharist:
"It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to
give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth/'33
Korean Protestants have a great advantage in recovering the
joyful feature of the Eucharist as thanksgiving, in that the Korean
traditional chesa is filled with the expression of thanksgiving. One
of the features of Korean religious sentiments is to actively and
joyfully celebrate a religious event. If modern Korean Protestants
earnestly inherit the wisdom of blending religious solemnity and
human joy as in the Korean Confucian chesa, they will be able to
experience not only pious repentance but also joyful moments
with the assurance of salvation in the Eucharist.
Another vivid eucharistie feature at chesa is commemoration or
anamnesis. Koreans perform chesa on the day of the death of an
ancestor, remembering his/her life and death. Yet, they prepare the
altar table in chesa for two people, so that the souls of a husband
and wife may come and eat together. That is, Korean ancestors are
invited into chesa twice a year, one at their own chesa and the other
at their spouses' chesa. Before chesa, participants open their front
door so that their ancestors' spirits can come in. They prepare a
regular meal that their ancestors customarily ate when they were
alive. During the ritual, they also pour wine into a cup several
times for their ancestors and accumulate it in a special bottle for
the participants. They also move the spoons and chopsticks34 from
dish to dish, so that their ancestors can eat various foods. Then, the
participants leave the room for a while, so that their ancestors eat
comfortably in the event that they are shy. In addition, when the
participants come back to the room, they cough a few times in
order to let them know that they are coming back. They act as if

32
White, 103-04.
33
The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing
House 1989) 9.
34
The Korean utensils include a spoon and chopsticks, unlike the utensils of
many other Asian nations.

Sungmu Lee
334
their ancestors are present at chesa. This feature is not just an act of
remembrance, but an act of anamnesis.35
"For ancient Jews and early Christians, remembrance was a
corporate act in which the event remembered was experienced
anew through ritual repetition. To remember was to do something,
not to think about something./,36 Since anamnesis is beyond the
meaning of remembrance, it is difficult to translate the term into
modern English. However, unlike the Westerners, Koreans not
only have an equivalent word for anamnesis, chumo,37 but also
reflect on its concept in their traditional chesa. Thus, it is necessary
for Korean Protestants to adapt the features of anamnesis at their
traditional chesa into their liturgy, so that they have the opportu-
nity to experience vividly the image of anamnesis in the Eucharist.
Third, the Korean traditional chesa reflects the eucharistie meta-
phor of communion. At the end of the ritual, they eat the ceremo-
nial food. According to the strict age order, the participants drink
the rice wine that they have accumulated. Even if one does not
drink the alcoholic beverage, he/she pretends to drink or just wets
his/her lips with a drop. Every participant is supposed to share the
wine from which, they believe, their ancestors have come and
drunk. Then, they also share the meal that their ancestors, they
believe, have eaten. By sharing the food and wine, the participants
naturally feel the vibrant and meaningful sense of communion
with each other as well as the spirits of their ancestors, which
reflects one of the significant eucharistie metaphors.

35
James White explains the difference in meaning between anamnesis in Greek
and "remembrance" in modern English, in his text, Introduction to Christian
Worship (Nashville: Abingdon Press 2000) 233: "No single English word conveys
its full meaning; remembrance, recalling, representation, and experiencing anew
are all weak approximations. Anamnesis expresses the sense that in repeating
these actions one experiences once again the reality of Jesus himself present."
Robert Cabié also mentions the meaning of anamnesis, in his text, The Church at
Prayer Vol. II: The Eucharist (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press 1986) 28: "In the
biblical acceptance of the word, 'to remember' is not simply to refer back to the
past, as it is in our modern languages. The celebration takes us into the very
memory of God himself, for whom 'a thousand years are as a day,' makes us
contemporary, after a fashion, with his wonderful deeds in the past."
36
Laurence Hull Stookey, Eucharist (Nashville: Abingdon Press 1993) 28.
37
The Korean traditional chesa is also called chumoche, which means chumo rite
or anamnesis rite.

The Eucharist and the Confucian

335
 The eucharistie concept of communion with those who have died
in the faith has been developed in the Christian liturgy, especially
by the Roman Catholic Church. For example, in inculturating the
existing liturgy, the Zairean Roman Catholic Church included the
invocation of the African ancestors as well as the Christian saints
at the beginning of the mass. "After a general invitation to prayer,
it takes the form of a litany, addressed not only to the usual catego-
ries of saints, but also to the African ancestors. It is a very direct
appeal to something very deep in African religious consciousness,
a profound sense of communion with the ancestors/'38
The Protestant tradition does not reflect the concept of the com-
munion with those who have passed away in the faith through the
Eucharist as much as the Roman Catholic tradition does. Yet, some
denominations in North America include that image. The eucha-
ristie prayer D in the Episcopal Church prays: "Remember all who
have died in the peace of Christ, and those whose faith is known to
you alone; bring them into the place of eternal joy and light. And
grant that we may find our inheritance with [the Blessed Virgin
Mary, with patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, (with )
and] all the saints who have found favor with you in ages past. We
praise you in union with them and give you glory through your
Son Jesus Christ our Lord/'39 In addition, most denominations in
North America, in celebrating the Eucharist on All Saints Day
(November 1) or All Saints Sunday (the first Sunday of November),
specify the communion with those who have died in the faith. For
instance, the United Methodist eucharistie prayer for All Saints Day
includes "Renew our communion with all your saints, especially
those whom we name before you — Name(s) — (in our hearts)!"®
On the other hand, the Korean Protestant Church, although the
Korean traditional chesa is filled with the sense of communion with
the spirits of their ancestors, does not even celebrate All Saints Day
or All Saints Sunday. The Korean Methodist New Book of Worship

38
Raymond Moloney, "The Zairean Mass and Inculturation" Worship 62 (1988)
436.
39
The Book of Common Prayer (New York: The Church Hymnal Corporation 1979)
375·
40
The United Methodist Book of Worship (Nashville: The United Methodist Pub-
lishing House 1992) 75.

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336
(2002) presents seasonal eucharistie prayers, such as Advent,
Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Thanksgiving
Day, but excludes All Saints Day.41 When Korean Protestantism has
intentionally been against the Korean traditional chesa, it has un-
intentionally eradicated the eucharistie image of communion with
ancestors or saints from the liturgy.
Fourth, the Korean traditional chesa reflects on the action of the
spirit, as in the Eucharist as the work of the Holy Spirit.42 Although
the work of the Holy Spirit is not directly mentioned in the New
Testament, it was soon emphasized in the early Christian eucha-
ristie practices. In the Apostolic Tradition (c. 217), the early Chris-
tians prayed to God, "Thou wouldest send Thy Holy Spirit upon
the oblation of Thy holy Church, Thou wouldest grant to all Thy
Saints who partake to be united [to Thee] that they may be fulfilled
with the Holy Spirit for the confirmation of their faith in truth/'43
In the early church, the work of the Holy Spirit had become indis-
pensable in consecrating the elements.
However, in the Western Church, the priest was regarded as the
one playing a major role in the consecration, rather than the Holy
Spirit. As a result, "the Holy Spirit was marginalized in the eucha-
ristie consciousness of the West, simply being rattled off in doxo-
logical formulas pro forma/'44 Although some sixteenth-century
Reformers, especially Calvin, tried to revive the major role of the
Holy Spirit in the Eucharist, their efforts had not been fully inher-
ited until recent years. Since the Second Vatican Council, most
mainline churches in North America have included the epiclesis in
the eucharistie prayers in revising their liturgical sources for public

41
Sae Yebaesö [The Korean Methodist New Book of Worship] (Seoul: The Korean
Methodist Church Publishing House 2002) 141-63.
42
James White, Sacraments as God's Self Giving: Sacramental Practice and Faith
(Nashville: Abingdon Press 1983) 59-61. James White adds two more eucharistie
images: The action of the Holy Spirit and the foretaste of the final consummation
of things, to the five key eucharistie images in the New Testament that Yngve
Brilioth presents in his text, Eucharistie Faith & Practice: Evangelical & Catholic,
18-69: Thanksgiving, Communion and Fellowship, Commemoration, Sacrifice,
and Christ's presence.
43
Gregory Dix, The Treatise on the Apostolic Tradition of St Hippolytus of Rome
(London: SPCK1968) 9.
44
White, The Sacraments in Protestant Practice and Faith, 114.

The Eucharist and the Confucian

337
 worship. For example, the eucharistie prayer in the United Meth-
odist Church contains the epiclesis: "Pour out your Holy Spirit on
us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them
be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the
world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood/'45
Korean Protestants have the great advantage of experiencing the
image of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist, in that their
traditional chesa reflects this eucharistie metaphor. Korean people
believe that the spirits of their ancestors come and eat the food
and the wine at chesa. After that, the food and wine is believed to ( j
hold the ancestors' spiritual touch. Sharing the food and wine
brings the grace and blessing of ancestors to living relatives.

These sentiments, based on the Korean traditional chesa, thanks-

giving, anamnesis, communion, and the work of the spirit, are
natural for Koreans. However, as mentioned before, the practice of
chesa has been forbidden in the Korean Protestant denominations,
influenced by the early missionaries who misunderstood Korean
culture and regarded chesa as idol worship. While the Korean
Catholic Church has permitted its believers to practice Korean
traditional rituals at chesa since 1940, the Korean Protestant Church
has not officially made any positive comment on the Korean tradi-
tional chesa. Korean Protestants need to reconsider their traditional
chesa and to retain it as much as possible, because chesa is a very
important part of Korean culture, reflecting Korean people's senti-
ments. In addition, in adapting the significant eucharistie features
at chesa, Korean Protestants have the great potential of experienc-
ing God more effectively through the Eucharist. When the Eucha-
rist and the Korean traditional chesa enrich and respect each other
without damaging each other's identity, Korean Protestants experi-
ence God more faithfully, more effectively, and more naturally
through the Eucharist filled with their cultural characteristics.

45
The United Methodist Hymnal, 10.

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