| dc.description.abstract | Inheritance and Change of Hakka Culture: Using Ancestor Worship as an Example
Abstract
Ancestor worship is the traditional virtue of the Hakka and the important folk activity. It has lasted from the ancient time to the present. The major significance is to allow the descendants to learn “careful attention to perform the funeral rites to parents, and to let them be followed when long gone with the ceremonies of sacrifice” and “being grateful”. In short, they should not forget their origin. However, with the change of society and family structure, rise of feminism and ethnic frequent interaction, cultural inheritance of ancestor worship encounters the challenges.
Thus, the purposes of this study are the following: (1) to explore the effect of change of family structure on ancestor worship; (2) to probe into effect of gender ideology on ancestor worship; (3) to explore effect of ethnic Intermarriage on ancestor worship. Upon the previous three research questions, this study aims to find the factors of inheritance of ancestor worship.
According to research findings, family structure, gender ideology and ethnic Intermarriage all influence ancestor worship. Impact of ethnic intermarriage, in particular, on ancestor worship is extremely broad, including the effects in or out of the group. Research results show that gender ideology is the key factor of intermarriage women’s ancestor worship. In other words, when women possess the power of choice, it might influence their behavior of ancestor worship.
As to the degree of effect, based on findings of this study, at present, it does not affect ancestor worship culture of the Hakka which has been lasted for generations. This study demonstrates that with the change of time, women after intermarriage have significantly different attitudes toward ancestor worship. However, since most of the women of intermarriage worship the ancestors, cultural inheritance of ancestor worship should not be disappeared. In the future, with the liberation of Taiwan society, it might lead to diversity of sacrifice culture.
Keywords: ancestor worship, gender ideology, ethnic Intermarriage | en_US |