| 摘要: | 學界以往對台灣民間十大信仰所作的排名，最難決定的厥為土地公信仰，因其分布雖然普遍卻較少登記，故難以全面的調查統計。而晩近發生的變化，就像桃園巿官方支持民間團體完成的調查，確定這種「聚落小區」的土地神信仰，既是社區生活共同體的文化標誌，其活動也是一種「組織型」的信仰型態。當地巿長宣稱其分布密度全國最高，關鍵的原因就在土地廟的管理、經營，乃地方頭人與儀式專家間能密切的合作，道教的正一派道士或釋教的香花和尚，在年例的春秋二祭中主持三獻禮的祈謝活動。官方即借此從民國97年起有計畫的推動「土地公文化節」，活用這種地方文化資源，官、民共同創造區域性的文化標誌。利用這些調查作為基礎，省思早期即立石、植樹為社，乃是異於開漳聖王的分香式移植，因而提出一種「理念性移植」的説法，確定土地公的信仰類型，即是有斯土始有斯神的信念。在地發展為一種神道文化，形成祭祀土地公的祭典儀式，既有儒家的祭典、民間的例祭，也有道教與釋教中人的參與，在地方社會形成一種「複合」圖像。在此即考察官、民共同推動的土地公信仰及「文化節」活動，説明基層社會的祭祀可與官方互動，而春祈秋報的年例性祭典，道教或釋教的「作三獻」即與社區活動配合，使里社小區獨立舉行的儀式，不受官方與知識精英的控制，即可出現地區性的「標準化」現象。由此觀察土地信仰在現代化的過程中，並未被淘汰反而能與社區活動密切結合，其背後的決定性力量，從家族性的「小區原群」轉變為「社區新群」，並借此與官方的權力互動。其次則可觀察在地的儀式專家，像火居道或香花僧，在年例的祭祀中與地方家族、意見領袖合作，使新舊社區的民眾接受其宗教活動。最後則從當前城市空間的變化，觀察許多土地公廟的公園化、或與學校校園共同存在，既可維護人與土地的和諧關係，也可作為社區教育、鄉土教材的範例，體現漢人宇宙觀所蘊含的環境倫理：厚德載物與生養資財。選取桃園一地的祀事為例，論證神道文化仍能普遍的存在，且能深入社區居民的生活世界，即可考察祭祀儀式存在的義理與實踐，就在其能獲得現代民眾的認同，提醒人與土地之間仍舊存在的生態關係。在祭祀儀式與文化節慶的熱鬧中，若能與時俱進而賦予一種新環境倫理，則土地公信仰的持續存在就有現代的新意。
It used to be the most challenging task for scholars to decide how to rank the worship of the Earth God (土地公Tudi Gong) into the ten major popular religions in Taiwan. Although the worship of the Earth God is widespread, few register officially, and thus it is hard to do a thorough survey and accounting. However, this situation has changed recently, as we see in the surveys done by local institutes, which are supported by the Taoyuan City. They confirm that the worship of the Earth God in “small residential areas”(聚落小區juluo xiaoqu) bears cultural marks of the communities, and its associated activities are characterized with elements typical for “organizational religions.” The mayor of the Taoyuan City claims that they have the highest distribution density of the Earth God temples among all the administrative areas in Taiwan. This high density is majorly caused by a certain management and operation of the temples, as well as by the intimate cooperation between the local gentry and ritual professionals, such as the Zhenyi (正一) Daoists and the Buddhist Xianghua monks (香花和尚), who are in charge of the blessing events of the Three Offerings, as they take place annually in spring and autumn. Based on this culture, the Taoyuan City has deliberately held the “Cultural Festival of the Earth God” since 2008. This is a policy that well uses cultural sources of localities, and that both the official and the people are involved to create a cultural mark for a region.Based on these surveys, I suggest that the early tradition of erecting rocks and planting trees as signs of a comunity (社she) is distinct from the transplantation of sharing incense (分香fenxiang), as we see in the case of the Sacred King of Kaizhang (開漳聖王). I argue for a thesis that I term “concept transplantation” (理念性移植) and confirm that the worship of the Earth God should be categorized as a religion rooted in the idea of “possessing the land prior to worshipping its god” (有斯土始有斯神you situ shi you sishen). This faith has developed regionally into a culture of Shen Dao (神道), as well as a series of religious rituals for worshipping the Earth God. These rituals involve Confucian rites, regular folk worships, and participations of Daoist and Buddhist personnel. They together form a picture of plurality. The present paper investigates the worship of the Earth God and the events of “Cultural Festivals” that are run by the official and local people. Such investigation demonstrates that, on the one hand, local communal rituals are able to interact with the official, and that, on the other hand, as the annual spring and autumn rituals are carried on with the cooperation between the Daoist or Buddhist rites of the Three Offerings and communal activities, the rituals are held independently in local communities without being intervened by officials and literati, and in turn we see a local phenomenon of “standardization.” These rites and activities help us to study that, in the process of modernization, the worship of the Earth God is never eliminated but, on the contrary, it is closely combined with community activities. The decisive force behind this phenomenon has turned from “small original groups” (小區原群xiaoqu yuanqun), which is rooted in kinship, into “community new groups” (社區新群shequ xinqun). And these new groups are capable with interacting with official authorities. Moreover, a research on these rituals gives us an opportunity to observe the cooperation between local ritual professionals (such as Huoju Daoists 火居道 and Xianghua monks) and local clans and leaders in annual rituals. These rituals help people in both new and old communities to accept the religious activities of the Earth God. Lastly, along with the current changes of urban space, we see that a majority of the Earth God temples either have transformed into public parks or have coexisted with school campus. In this way, a harmonious relationship between human and earth is maintained, while it becomes a model for community education and teaching materials for local culture. People would learn the environmental ethics embedded in the Han Chinese cosmology: the universe maintains a high virtue so that it bears all the creatures, and thus we are ought to grow and to nurture its sources and supplements.In the present paper, I examine the ritual activities of the Taoyuan City as a case study, and argue that the Shen Dao culture is still able to continue and prevail, while it penetrates into community residents’ life. A research on the ideology and practice of the rituals demonstrates that this worship is recognized by modern people, as it reminds them the ecological relationship between human and earth that still exists in modern society. If a new environmental ethics can be imposed on the ritual ceremonies and cultural festivals, the existence of the Earth God worship will obtain a modern meaning. |
