A Re-examination of the Significance of Devotional Offerings at Daesoon Jinrihoe Temple Complexes

Abstract

This study aims to determine the significance of the devotional offerings held in Daesoon Jinrihoe Temple Complexes ( 道場 dojang) and to interpret their identity. Secondly, in the light of Korea’s history of rituals, the devotional offerings of Daesoon Jinrihoe obviously differ from the rituals of Confucianism or the ritual for Heaven and Earth ( 圜丘祭 hwanguje). Indeed, the rituals of Daesoon Jinrihoe are rather alien to both of the aforementioned rituals. Accordingly, the identity of the devotional offerings in Daesoon Jinrihoe do neither succeed to the religious and cultural tradition of Korea nor transform it. It is rather the case that Daesoon Jinrihoe’s devotional offerings should be identified as having been newly invented. In this regard, the devotional offerings of Daesoon Jinrihoe should be understood as an invented tradition that began in modern times. In other words, they are ‘invented rituals to Heaven.’