語言訛傳與儀式混同－閩台「關三姑」民俗及其傳說的考察

早期，閩台地區曾流行有一種稱為「關三姑」的占卜民俗，民間也有稱它為「三歲姑」、「椅仔姑」或「冬生仔娘」者。相傳，此一民俗是為了弔念一位年僅三歲、卻被虐死在椅子上的小姑的冤魂；但也有說是為紀念一位因撿鞋時不慎掉落糞坑而溺斃的女孩。此外，更有學者認為此俗最早是一種以小女孩來獻祭土地以祈求大地豐收的巫術儀式，故而認為「三姑」是引領人們「落陰」的靈媒或「陰間之神」，因而使得相關的民俗與傳說染上了神秘的色彩。然若從迎祭的時間、儀式的內容，以及廁神信仰的遺留等三方面來考察，則可發現「關三姑」民俗實與中國古代的「迎紫姑」俗信具高度的繼承性。故本文特別針對閩台地區早期流傳的「關三姑」、「椅仔姑」及「冬生仔娘」等民俗，與中國古代的「迎紫姑」俗信之關聯性進行更系統性地討論，一方面除更清晰地梳理其間的繼承性，同時並運用神話學研究中著名的「語言疾病說」原理，從中國的「迎紫姑」之俗在傳播的過程中，因名稱的變異及方言的使用致訛傳，以釐清其變異為閩台地區的「關三姑」、「椅仔姑」與「冬生娘仔」的民俗與傳說之過程；及後來又因與另一種牽亡的巫術「關落陰」，因儀式的相近致所採用的曲調相同等因素而產生了混同的現象，並藉此探討民俗與傳說的互動互生關係。

關鍵字

迎紫姑；關三姑；椅仔姑；冬生仔娘；關落陰

並列摘要

Back to the Japanese colonial era, once in Taiwan-Fukien area there was an occult divination ritual called 關三姑（kuan-sam-koo）, which was also known as 三歲姑（sann-hue-koo）, 椅仔姑（i-a-koo） and 冬生仔娘（tang-sinn-niu-a）. According to the legend, the ritual was to mourn a three-year-old girl who was mistreated to death in a chair by her sister-in-law. Some other sources suggest that it was to commemorate a girl who accidentally fell into a cesspit and drowned. In addition, some scholars believe that the ritual could be traced back to a witchcraft ceremony in which a little girl was sacrificed to the land for invoking abundant harvests. The chosen little girl was recognized as the intermediary or the deity of underworld through which people could have access to the underworld. Thus the folk custom and legend of ＂kuan- sam- koo＂ had been wrapped in a shroud of mystery. If placed side by side with the 迎紫姑（yin- tse-goo） dated back to the ancient China, 關三姑（kuan-sam-koo）shares a lot of similarities with its Chinese counterpart in terms of time performed, ceremony details and the general belief of the toilet goddess. This article aims to discuss the connection between 迎紫姑（yin-tse-goo） and 關三姑（kuan-sam-koo）, 椅仔姑（i-a-koo） , 冬生娘仔（tang-sinn-niu-a） ─on the one hand to shed a new light on their connection and succession, and on the other hand by applying the ＂a disease of language＂ theory to examine the mismatch in sounds (pronunciations) and dialect borrowing during the process of their variations, and to study the intermixture of using the same melody with the ＂view overcast fall＂ due to their similarities in ceremony to further demonstrate the interconnection and interdependence between rituals and legends.