清水早年地名叫牛罵頭或寓鰲頭，本論文研究的目的，是要從清水紫雲巖在庶民生活層面的重要意義，來彰顯清水地方聚落形成的歷史脈絡與發展軌跡。牛罵頭五十三庄聚落的地方信仰，與地方文化的生活實踐模式，是地方場域一種深刻的信仰經驗，與地方鄉土的深層文化內涵。並且透過一系列神聖的象徵儀式，組織成某種有秩序的整體，形成了地方具體的文化體系。本論文之研究內容，可分為四個主要部份： 一、牛罵頭聚落五十三庄之構成與歷史演變。二、清水地方庶民生活與紫雲巖的關係：「蔡源順商號」、「楊同興商號」、「鰲峰書院」、「清水神社」等，對地方發展之影響。三、以清水紫雲巖為核心的清水地方場域性構成，與神聖空間佈局。四、牛罵頭的地理傳說與地靈結構。 本論文主要探討：清水地方聚落的發展，有一些深層的歷史脈絡可尋，而這幾個脈絡的發展，從研究中發現正好都集中在「清水紫雲巖」，同時由「清水人」的鄉土認知，對地方場域的生活實踐模式，提出在地文化的詮釋。 In the early days, Chingshui was called ＂Niu-ma-tou＂ or ＂Yu-aur-tou＂. The purpose of this study is to manifest the historical traces and developmental patterns in Chingshui, as under the direct or indirect influence of Chingshui Tzu-Yun Buddhist Temple. The Tzu-Yun Buddhist Temple served as the center of faith for 53 villages of Niu-ma-tou. and the local cultures are a strong, religious experience in this land. Through a series of ritual practices, this Temple has combined with local cultures to form an organized geographic entity which in turn formed specific local cultural systems. The result of this study is divided into four major sections: 1. We have explored how the Tzu-Yun Buddhist Temple had become the religious center of the 53 villages before 1794. 2. This study has discovered that the entrepreneurs of ＂Tsai Yun-shun＂ and ＂Yang Tung-hsing＂ had affected the local development of Chingshui and they all kept a tight connection with with the Tzu-Yun Temple. Also, the ＂Wen-chang Confucius academy,＂ ＂Au-feng Confucius Academy,＂ and ＂Wen-chang literati associations＂ were all established in 1845, as related organizations of the Temple. 3. This study also presented the spatial structures of the local township. Basically, this spatial structure is a deployment of the sacred spaces of Ching-shui, as formulated by a yearly practice of divine pilgrimage over two hundred years. 4. This study has systematically recorded those local sayings and oral histories related to the geomancy of Ching-shui Tzu-Yun Buddhist Temple, of how this feng-shui geomancy exerted auspitious powers onto the local developments. This study mainly discusses the development of Chingshui settlement as related to its religious center: the Ching-shui Tzu-Yun Buddhist Temple. We also provide an interpretation of how local people looked at their feng-shui geomancy and local culture.
