苗栗客家地區的媽祖信仰-以苗栗銅鑼天后宮為例

Abstract

本論文以苗栗縣銅鑼天后宮為研究對象，藉由文獻探討與田野調查，發現這個客家社區的媽祖信仰的特性在於其媽祖信仰係與天神良福信仰整合為一雙元體系，共同成為社區的信仰中心。 銅鑼鄉多山地，平原較少，自古以務農為主，農業是當地客家居民主要的經濟來源。銅鑼村、福興村、朝陽村，是平原最多的地區，銅鑼天后宮建廟的地點在福興村，是人口聚集的地方。銅鑼天后宮所在地福興街在嘉慶年間就已經從庄發展成街肆，直到光緒十二年銅鑼灣的拓墾組織仍然存在，表示還未完全進入定居化、土著化的社會，銅鑼天后宮極可能在清代就已經奠定崇祀的地位。銅鑼鄉是以客家人為主的地區，從移民到銅鑼地區的祖籍地來看，以廣東嘉應州鎮平居多，廣東籍佔百分之九十以上，全鄉以四縣腔客家話為主要通行的語言。 本文的研究方法包含文獻探討、田野調查與比較研究。文獻方面以地方志、祖譜、碑文、人口統計、地方寺廟研究為主；田野調查方面，長期在銅鑼地區記錄居民的民間信仰，參與銅鑼天后宮整年的祭典活動，訪談的報導人對象是來自各行各業居住在銅鑼鄉或通霄鎮白沙屯的村民，生活在媽祖信仰構成的社會區域的一份子；在比較方面，以苗栗地區閩南社會與客家社會的媽祖信仰的綜合比較，強化論述的有效性，文化人類學的比較研究法(comparative method)有助於比對苗栗地區兩大區域媽祖文化發展的普遍性和特殊性。比較的觀點是人類學研究重要的方式可深化研究人類共通的特質，使研究的結果更具說服力。 銅鑼天后宮藉由舉辦的祭祀儀典活動，動員地方，凝聚地方的向心力，歷經百餘年不衰，是銅鑼地區的核心信仰。然而不同區域的媽祖信仰文化有諸多的變異性，比較苗栗地區閩南社會與客家社會，吾人發現銅鑼與白沙屯的媽祖信仰在結構上的導向是不同的。銅鑼的客家人除了信仰媽祖外，還有以玉皇大帝為崇拜對象的天神良福儀式，這一雙元體系使銅鑼天后宮超越了一般單一祭祀媽祖的信仰儀式，成為客家媽祖信仰的特色。

The Tianhou Temple of Tongluo Township, Miaoli County, is the subject of this study. Through document exploration and field research, it can be found that the spiritual beliefs in this Hakka community feature a dualistic system that integrates the belief in Matsu and other gods’ blessings. Tongluo Township has more hills than plains, yet agriculture has always been the main economic source for the Hakka residents. Tongluo Village, Fusing Village and Jhaoyang Village possess the most plains, and the Tianhou Temple is built in the populous Fusing Village. Fusing Street, where the temple is located, was developed from a village into a small town during the reign of Chiaching (1796-1820 A.D.) in the Ching Dynasty. Even until the 12th year of the reign of Kuanghsu (1886 A.D.), the organization responsible for the cultivation of Tongluowan still existed, which means the people had neither permanently settled in the area nor been assimilated among the natives. However, it is believed that the Tianhou Temple had established its status during the Ching Dynasty. The residents of Tongluo Township are mostly Hakka, 90% of whose ancestors came from Guangdong Province. They mainly speak Hakka with the “four-county accent.” The research methods of this paper include: document exploration, field research and comparative study. Documents such as: local chronicles, family trees, inscriptions on tablets, population statistics, and studies on local temples, were explored. In addition, the researcher of this study spent a long time recording the Tongluo residents’ spiritual beliefs, participating in the Tianhou Temple’s year-round sacrificial ceremonies, and interviewing people from all walks of life in Tongluo Township or Baishatun of Tongsiao Township. Furthermore, the comparative method of cultural anthropology is applied to comparing the Minnan society with the Hakka society in Miaoli. This method is helpful in comparing the universal and particular aspects of Matsu culture in the two main areas of Miaoli. Comparison is an important method employed in anthropology to study the common traits of humans, make statements more emphatic, and acquire more persuasive research results. For more than one hundred years, the Tianhou Temple, the center of the spiritual beliefs in Tongluo, has held numerous sacrificial ceremonies to mobilize the local people and bring everybody together. However, the belief in Matsu varies from area to area. After comparing the Minnan society with the Hakka society in Miaoli, it was found that the composition of the beliefs differ in Matsu in Tongluo and Baishatun. The Hakka people of Tongluo not only believe in Matsu but also in the god blessing ceremony in which the Jade Emperor (Yuhuang Dadi) is the principal deity. Therefore, the Tongluo Tianhou Temple stands for a distinctive dual system that transcends the ritualistic worship of Matsu alone.