Confucianism was originated from China and introduced to Korea. However, our ancestors made this philosophy Korean traditional one which is more profound in contents. The practice of Korean Confucianism which was based on loyalty and filial piety was required of all the people as well as the rulers in Korea.
Zhuxi's Family Ritual(『朱子家禮』) was introduced from Yuan Dynasty in China by An, Hang (安珦) in Goryeo Dynasty in 1286(12 years of King Chungryol). In Joseon Dynasty, people not only acted Funeral ritual conforming to the principle of the Zhuxi's Family Ritual but also did other rites which were not originated from China. These traditional Korean Funeral ritual, which express the belief or thinking about afterlife, are different from China's rites. Researching the meaning of these rites is important in recovering Korean spirit and passing traditional culture.
According to Zhuxi's Family Ritual, conventions including wedding are based on Funeral ritual and ancestral rites, which means these Funeral ritual and ancestral rites are the fundamental elements in all of the rites. The reason why these rites are important among other Confucian rites is that people can get immortality through these rites in Confucian traditions. In this tradition, a person's death is not an isolated, death which is disconnected in life but immortal connection which is passed down from ancestors to descendants. In addition, a dead person does not perish, but continues his life through living people's memories using ancestral rites. Thus, Funeral ritual make a person face death calmly and tie ancestors and descendant into one life, which makes a person's life and death the connected one, not the separate ones.
In this thesis, the primary text is Zhuxi's Family Ritual(『朱子家禮』), which is the classic ritual guide book in China. I also used Guidebook for Funeral Ritual(『喪禮備要』) in Korea by Shin, Uikyoung(申義慶) and Kim, Jangsaeng (金長生), which reflects Korea's custom, and Guidebook in Four Rites(『四禮便覽』) in Korea by Lee, Jae(李縡), which is the practical guidebook of Guidebook for Funeral Ritual.
In the latter part of the Goryeo Dynasty, Zhuxi's Family Ritual was introduced and Joseon Dynasty adopted Confucianism as Josean's ideology. These Confucian rites were kept well until the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty. But through enlightenment period and the Japanese colonial period, our traditional rites were regarded substandard and replaced by Christian western cultures which were introduced after Independence of Korea and the Korean War. Since then, under the economic development and materialism, our Funeral ritual have changed a lot.
In modern times, while it is good for Funeral ritual to be simplified in terms of economy, traditional culture and filial piety also changed a lot. In the past, we have strong filial piety based on Confucianism. But nowadays, we can see with ease the climate of looking down on seniors as living in nuclear family units becomes common. Filial piety is an important cultural heritage in Korea. Our ancestors considered filial piety the greatest virtu and did their best to respect and take care of seniors and perform ancestral rites. This principle of filial piety is the primary source of Korean philosophy. Therefore, we should keep this filial piety philosophy based on Confucianism through the Funeral ritual. In addition, we should make our rites which is fitted in modern life based on our traditional custom.
Well-maintained Korea's traditional customs are our own cultural heritages unequaled to any industrialized country. Therefore, Modern Funeral ritual should lead the bereaved to the comforting and soothing life as did traditional rites. I hope meaningful Funeral ritual will spread in Korea improving the meaning of death and inheriting traditional culture and rites.