臺灣王爺信仰文化的陸域性格初探

Abstract

本研究的目的，在於對臺灣王爺信仰文化的陸域性格進行認識。一般咸認，因放流王船的盛行，臺灣的王爺信仰與海洋文化乃緊密關聯，然而透過新竹、苗栗長興宮地域的考察，並以人文生態學的角度分析王爺信仰與居民生活方式的關連時，卻發現當地的王爺信仰文化，並不帶有濃 厚的海洋性格，反而是以農業的陸域性格為主。藉由這個事實發現，並從該地區王爺香火擴散過程的口傳歷史為基礎，本文提出一個臺灣王爺信仰的文化變遷假說，留待未來驗證，即：隨著漢人由南往北、由海邊往內陸的開墾，王爺信仰傳入農業生產區後，導致了臺灣島內早期王爺信仰的海洋性格，漸漸轉變為以陸域性格為主。

The purpose of research is trying to explore the land personality of Taiwan Wang-ye belief culture. Generally speaking, because it is prevalence for the exile of the Wang-ye ship, the Wang-ye belief and marine culture are related closely in Taiwan. But investigate through the fieldwork, and analyze the relationship between Wang-ye belief and resident's life style through human ecology, we find that there isn’t much the marine personality in Wang-ye belief, but land personality mainly at the Chang-xing Temple Area on Xin-zhu &Miao-li. Based on the front fact and other oral history for the diffusion of Wang-ye belief, the text proposes a hypothesis to explain the cultural changes of Taiwan Wang-ye belief culture: after the Hans cultivated gradually from the south to the north, from the seashore to the inland in Taiwan, and the Wang-ye belief was diffused into the agriculture area, it caused Taiwan Wang-ye belief culture to change from the marine personality to the land personality little by little.