織女信仰與女性民俗文化－兼及七夕詩文的性別批評

本文以女性研究的角度，探討織女的女神特質，以及七夕習俗所具有的女性色彩，並兼及七夕詩文的性別批評。織女具備豐收女神、女紅神、婚姻神、育兒神的神職，因此而衍生的七夕習俗，則顯現女性專屬節日的意義。女性崇拜織女神，以穿針乞巧等女性活動慶祝七夕節日，凸顯女性同盟與女性欲求公開化的多重意義，充分反映女性集體心理的投射。在七夕詩文中，男性詩人將織女塑造為神女、思婦，形成典型的書寫，也反映男性心中理想女性的形象。但少數男性斥責織女為淫惰之癡女，則代表過度的道德訓誡，也反證七夕習俗的女性屬性十分穩固，因此引起父權文化的焦慮。女詩人的七夕詩詞則以劉令嫻、李清照、朱淑真、許權為代表，她們的作品分別透露女性友誼的溫馨，女性對朝朝暮暮的愛情之渴求，以及對七夕乞巧的反思。本文認為織女身上的神性、女性與母性，都較其他女神獨特，但當代臺灣社會七夕節日的女性色彩卻逐漸減低，織女與七夕仍是個待續的民俗與女性研究的主題。

關鍵字

織女；女神；女性研究；七夕；民俗

並列摘要

This paper is proposed to discuss the characteristics of the Weaving Goddess (織女) and the customs of the ”Seventh Eve” (七夕) which bear feminist significance. The Weaving Goddess is a real magic goddess to Chinese women. She is the goddess of harvest, needle works, marriage and children's nursing. July 7th, the so-called ”Seventh Eve”, is a holiday in honor of her. On this day, young girls meet together to thread needles under the moonlight. By this activity, they may pray for being more capable and smart. They may also pray for the good marriage in the future. The girl's carnival is called ”Chi-Chiau-Hui” (乞巧會) which belongs to girls only. So this day is called the Girl's Day or the Daughters' Day in ancient China. The married women pray for a baby or raising their children carefully to the Weaving Goddess on the ”Seventh Eve”. Thus we may say that ”Seventh Eve” is a feminist holiday. In those ”Seventh Eve” poems, the poets describe the Weaving Goddess as a beautiful woman in the heaven or a tender woman with lovesickness. They praise her and admire her very much. A few poets blame her as a lazy and sexy woman. Obviously, this kind of criticism is unfair and full of patriarchal biases. On the other hand, the poetesses state their sisterhood, their wishes of marriage and thinking about their fates in their ”Seventh Eve” poems. The poetesses' work is therefore closer to female experience and their minds.