Jesa vs. Charye: Why My Family Just Quit Korea's Ancestral Rites — and Why We're Still Going Home This Chuseok

Starting this year, my family isn't doing jesa or charye anymore. It was my father's decision. He said he didn't want my mother and daughters-in-law going through the trouble of it every single time, any longer. But writing this post, I realized I should first lay out what jesa and charye actually mean — and how they're different.

Ritual-table

Quick Answer

• Jesa is the broad term for the Confucian memorial rite held at night on the anniversary of an ancestor's death. Charye is the simpler version held during the day on holidays like Chuseok and Seollal, honoring multiple ancestors at once. Think of charye as jesa's holiday-specific version, nested within the larger tradition.
• According to a 2026 Hankook Research survey, only 27.3% of households planned to hold Chuseok rites this year — down from 74.4% in 2016, less than half in a single decade. My family quitting isn't some isolated decision; it's part of a nationwide shift.
• Ritual-table food varies sharply by region. Andong and the inland Yeongnam region favor octopus and dombaegi (salted shark meat); the Honam region favors skate; Seoul/Gyeonggi typically features dried croaker; Jeju often includes tilefish and abalone.
• Traditionally, the eldest son handles jesa. My father wasn't the eldest son, yet he'd been the one carrying it out for years. There's a reason for that.

1. Jesa vs. Charye: The Actual Difference

A lot of people treat these two words as interchangeable. Strictly speaking, they're not.

	Meaning
Jesa	A Confucian memorial rite held at night, on the anniversary of a specific ancestor's death. Meat-centered offerings.
Charye	A simplified rite held during the day on major holidays (Chuseok, Seollal), honoring multiple ancestors at once.

Interestingly, charye actually started as a Buddhist tea-ceremony practice. Over the Joseon dynasty, it merged with the Confucian jesa format, and today the two look nearly identical in practice. So it's not far off to think of charye as "the holiday version of jesa."

2. Ancestral Rite Food, Region by Region

What actually shows up on the table looks quite different depending on where you are in Korea.

• Andong and the inland Yeongnam region (inland North Gyeongsang): Boiled octopus and dombaegi (salted shark meat) are the signature items. There's a popular explanation tied to the hanja for octopus, 文魚 (mundeo) — where 文 (mun) means "writing" or "literature" — as a wish for descendants' scholarly success, which is why yangban families in the region reportedly favored it. I should be clear that this is a widely repeated folk explanation, not something confirmed by rigorous etymological research. Dombaegi is considered just as essential in Andong — there's a saying that a jesa can't be properly held without it. Both foods reached these inland areas historically through seafood shipped in from the coastal city of Uljin, through Andong, Bonghwa, and Yecheon.
• Honam (Jeolla) region: Skate is a fixture. In South Jeolla it's usually steamed or served raw; in North Jeolla it's more often pan-fried as jeon.
• Seoul/Gyeonggi region: Dried croaker shows up often.
• Jeju region: Local delicacies like tilefish and abalone are common.

3. Why My Father — Not the Eldest Son — Carried This On

Traditionally, jesa duty falls to the eldest son. My father wasn't the eldest son, and yet he carried out jesa for years. Here's why: my uncle's eldest son (the family's rightful heir for this duty) passed away, and the second son became a pastor, which took him out of the picture for a Confucian rite. With no clear successor left, my father ended up stepping into the role.

4. Why We're Stopping This Year

As time passed, my father got older, and I think he also concluded it just didn't fit with the times anymore. So this year, he announced that we're stopping both jesa and charye entirely. In their place, he set new terms: at Seollal, the family gathers, says hello, eats together, and hangs out. At Chuseok, everyone's free to do whatever they want.

As the numbers above show, this isn't just our family's story. The survey showing only 27.3% of households planning Chuseok rites in 2026 backs that up. More families are also pre-ordering ritual foods like jeon and skewered meat online, or outsourcing the entire ritual-table setup to a service.

5. Still Going Home This Chuseok, Even So

Even though my father said we're free to do whatever we want this Chuseok, I'm still heading to my parents' place. Not because there's a rite to perform — just because I miss them. Losing the formal ritual doesn't mean losing the feeling behind it. That's something this year made clear to me all over again.

FAQ

Which is more formal — jesa or charye? Jesa is the more formal of the two. It honors one specific ancestor at night with meat-centered offerings, while charye honors multiple ancestors during the day, in a comparatively simpler format.

Do all Korean households still perform jesa and charye? No. A 2026 survey found only 27.3% of households planned to hold Chuseok rites — a sharp drop from 74.4% in 2016. Families quitting entirely, like mine, are becoming more common too.

Why does ancestral rite food vary so much by region? It largely comes down to what was locally available. In Andong and inland Yeongnam, octopus and dombaegi arrived through regional trade routes; in Honam, it's skate; in Jeju, it's local seafood.

Conclusion: The Form Changes, the Feeling Doesn't

Jesa and charye differ in name and in character, and both traditions are shrinking fast across Korea right now. My family is part of that shift too. But losing the formal ritual doesn't mean losing the relationship behind it. Instead of a ritual table, just showing up and sharing a meal turns out to be enough — that's the lesson this Chuseok is teaching me all over again.

3 Things to Try Today

1. If you know a Korean friend or your spouse's family, it's fine to casually ask how they're handling jesa and charye this year — practices vary a lot by household these days.
2. If you ever get the chance to see a ritual table in person, pay attention to which regional foods show up.
3. Remember that the relationship matters more than the format — prioritize seeing family during the holidays, regardless of whether the formal rite happens.

3-Line Summary

1. Jesa is the nighttime Confucian memorial rite for a specific ancestor's death anniversary; charye is its simplified daytime holiday version.
2. As of 2026, only 27.3% of households plan to hold Chuseok rites — this tradition is fading fast across Korea.
3. My family is stopping jesa and charye this year too, but I'm still visiting my parents this Chuseok regardless of the ritual.

Related post: Why Koreans Give Red Ginseng at Chuseok — But Almost Never to Their Own Parents

Sources: Hankook Research/Gallup Korea survey coverage on jesa/charye attitudes (Seoul Economic Daily English, September 19, 2026); regional ancestral-rite food reporting (Nongmin Ilbo, MBC News, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Money Today).