馬來西亞巴里文打潮州社會與拿督公信仰

從故鄉到異土，華僑下南洋，面臨了渡海拓荒等考驗，故將既有的信仰帶到南洋，是解鄉愁更是尋求心靈的慰藉。回溯馬來亞華人移民史，傳統神明的供奉通常是因地域籍貫而擇之，如潮州社群供奉玄天上帝、廣府社群供奉關公等。馬來西亞霹靂州吉輦縣的巴里文打是一個潮籍華人社會，卻沒潮籍保護神的供奉，這是個非常獨特的現象。在19世紀開墾至今，當地沒有地緣、業緣或血性組織，取而代之的馬來西亞本土化的神明崇拜－拿督公。作為當地「地頭老爺」的拿督公如何扮演凝集當地華人社會和傳承潮州文化的角色？這項研究是以巴里文打拿督公信仰為研究個案，探討本土神明崇拜和與當地華人社會的建構，分析本土神明崛起和馬來西亞潮籍社會傳統祭祀對象的轉變，進而討論以拿督公信仰作為地頭老爺的奉祀現象。

關鍵字

潮州社群；拿督公；地頭老爺

並列摘要

From homeland to 'othering' land, the Chinese moved to Nanyang to seek their fortunes. They were facing the threats not only in crossing the South China Sea, but also in cleaning and exploration the new land. They brought along the belief from their hometowns, for both nostalgia of hometown and blessing. Trace the Malaya Chinese migration history, the deity worship always connected with regional dialects based. For instance, Teochew community worshiped the Xuantian Shangdi; Cantonese worship Guandi. Parit Buntar of Malaysia is a Teochew dominant society but there are no Teochew protected deities found. Since 19^(th) the Chinese cultivate this area, there are no regional, consanguinity or guild association. Datuk Kong, the localised deity became core of the Chinese society, with the laureate of "Local Lord" as society cohesion and inheritance of Teochew culture. The purpose of the research is to probe into the interaction between local deity with the Chinese society, by studying Parit Buntar and Datuk Gong temple. The paper will discuss the rising the local deity, transformation of deity worshipped by Malaysia Teochew community, and the phenomena of the Teochew society worship Datuk Kong as Local Lord .