關帝信仰與地方社會：以苗栗明德村的討論為例

Abstract

本文以「關帝信仰與地方社會－以苗栗明德村的討論為例」為題，從道光年間苗栗地區頭屋鄉明德村三座關帝廟的建立，歷經日治時期、台灣光復後至今關帝廟的發展為核心，探究關帝廟與地方社會的關係。 清領時期，因為人民防番，需要關聖帝君的保護，於是屬頭屋地區最靠近山區的老田寮庄，有了兩座關帝廟（東善堂及明德宮），而另一座位於仁隆庄的關帝廟－永春宮，原羅家金錫茂墾號祭拜觀音，到了日治時期因黃家借地扶鸞戒菸異常靈驗，於是主神變為恩主公，此為明德村社會的第一次整合。 民國57年明德水庫建立後，淹沒仁隆村大部份地區，居民紛紛遷移，於是仁隆村併入明德村，成為一村有三座關帝廟，此為明德村社會的第二次整合。 而面對一村有三座關帝廟的情形，地方精英透過天神良福、關帝祭典、進香活動，讓三座關帝廟都能香火鼎盛。而地方精英掌控地方社會最主要的因素即是信仰的本質，人民因為對村落的廟宇有著虔誠的信仰，因此雖然明德水庫建立後，在水庫中的永春宮卻依舊保留了下來，明德水庫一頭一尾的廟宇不因水庫的興建而消失，反而讓兩座廟宇的相關人員試圖透過各種祭祀活動來讓明德村的社會整合。 傳統社會一村一廟，到了明德村變為一村三廟，原本看似會把一個村落分化，實則不然，透過地方精英，關帝信仰與地方社會發生了關係，也逐漸把一個社會整合。

The topic of this essay is based on「The Worship of Kuan Di and Local Society：The Case Study of Mingde Village in Miaoli」. Based on the establishment of three Kuandi Temples in Ming De Village, Tou Wu Township, Miaoli and going through the Japanese occupation period and after restoration of Taiwan till the development of Kuandi Temple as the core, this essay explores the relationship between Kuandi Temple and local society. During the Ching Dynasty period, the people needed to defense against foreigners and required the protection from Kuandi. Therefore in the old Tien Liao Village by the mountain area that was within the Tou Wu District, there were two Kuandi Temples (Tung Xian Temple and Ming De Temple). Another Kuandi Temple was located in Yen Lung Village that was called Yung Chun Temple. Originally the Lo family Chin Hsi-Mao cultivated land and worshipped Quanyin. During the Japanese occupation period as the Huang family borrowed land and conducted divine to quit smoking, this was extremely efficacious. Therefore the main god became Enchugung and this was the first integration of the Ming De Village Society. In 1968 after the construction of Ming De Reservoir, most of the area of Yen Lung Village was flooded and residents moved in droves. Therefore Jen Lung Village was merged into Ming De Village and there were three Kuandi Temples in one village. This was the second integration of Ming De Village society. Facing the condition of having three Kuandi Temples in one village the local elites went through heavenly god blessing, sacrificing ceremony for Kuandi and incense offering activities so as to allow the prosperity of the three Kuandi Temples. The most important factor of controlling the local society by local elites was the intrinsic quality of belief. People had pious belief on the temples in the village. Therefore after the construction of Ming De Reservoir, Yung Chun Temple in the reservoir was maintained. Temples in each end did not disappear due to the construction of the reservoir and instead the personnel in these two temples attempted to conduct integration of Ming De Village through various sacrifice offering activity. For the traditional society, there was one temple for one village. However, there were three temples for one village for Ming De Village. Originally it looked like that the village would be disunited and instead it was not. Through the local elites, the Kuandi belief and local society generated a relationship and integrated a society progressively.