中秋社祭與南臺灣的社樹信仰

The Mid-Autumn She Sacrifice and the She Tree Cult in Southern Taiwan

楊玉君(Yu-Chun Yang)

《民俗曲藝》 169期 (2010/09) Pp. 1-44

https://doi.org/10.30157/JCRTF.201009.0001

摘要

中秋節雖然是以賞月爲主的節日，但在民間信仰中會發現鄉間常見的大樹公、石頭公、及土地公等等，也大部分以中秋爲其神誕日。這些起源於自然崇拜現象的神明，年深日久才被擬人化、體制化，但究其信仰之根本，其實都算是「社祭」的種種變異。崇拜社的目的在祈求婦人及作物的豐產，社神也就成了多產及豐饒的象徵。在節日期間舉行的社祭兼具賦與及加強人類生命力的功能，因此有不少信眾在中秋節來向代表社的大樹公祈求成爲祂的「契子」。
農人在中秋節到田裡插「土地公枴」，以答謝社神土地公，是臺灣南部社祭的一種形式。在雲嘉南地區更與古老的「迎紫姑」、「偷戲」等習俗相結合，發展出一特殊的變異形態。貌似特例的此一變異，實際上仍根源於對土地、大樹的信仰，最終的目的在於祈求人畜豐產。

關鍵字

中秋 ； 土地 ； 社樹 ； 土地公枴 ； 紫姑 ； 偷戲

並列摘要

The focus of Mid-Autumn Festival has always been the moon. Yet one finds several folk deities, such as tree god, stone god, earth god, etc., also celebrate their ”birthdays” on Mid-Autumn Festival. These deities originated from primitive natural worship and in time came to be personified. The nature of such cults can still be considered as variations of the she sacrifice. The purpose of she sacrifice is to pray for the fecundity of women and crops. The she deity thus became a symbol of fertility. She sacrifice offered during festivities both endows and reinforces vitality. As a result, believers appeal to the she-representing tree gods on Mid-Autumn Festival to ”adopt” their children and be the children's divine guardians. Also on Mid-Autumn Festival, famers install ”earth god's walking stick” onto their fields to show gratitude towards the deity. It is a form of she sacrifice commonly seen in southern Taiwan. In Yunlin, Jiayi and Tainan regions, the ”earth god's walking stick” merged with such customs as zigu spirit medium and ritual stealing. The custom, though seemingly unusual, is still rooted in the cult of earth and big trees, of which the ultimate purpose is to pray for human and livestock fertility.

並列關鍵字

Mid-Autumn Festival ； earth ； she tree ； earth god's walking stick ； zigu ； ritual theft

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