On Women and Chinese Ritual Food Culture in Penang and Singapore

在馬來西亞和新加坡，由於印度教徒和穆斯林不食豬肉，所以無論從日常飲食還是節慶食物都很容易將華人與他們區分開來。在華人範圍內，佛教、道教和基督教教徒不同的社會價值觀和宗教觀也通過飲食表現出來。虔誠的佛教徒在節慶時只提供素食，道教徒則準備供奉神靈的肉類，而華人基督徒認爲他們持有現代價值觀，因此不爲祖先或神靈供奉食物。儘管宗教信仰不同，華人在飲食方面的共性讓他們享有共同的文化身分。婦女在這種多宗教、多民族的環境中主理飲食，一方面起到彰顯宗教差異的重要作用，另一方面也在促進民族文化聯合層面發揮不可低估的作用。她們還常常變換用於節慶場合的飲食，或爲了適應自己的口味，或使其符合自己的價值觀，亦或爲了滿足自己的精神需要。因此，婦女在文化變革方面的作用也不容忽視。

關鍵字

基督教；道教節慶；飲食；民族身分

並列摘要

In Malaysia and Singapore, both ordinary and festival foods broadly distinguish ethnic Chinese from Hindus and from Muslims, who do not eat pork. Within the Chinese population, Buddhists, Daoists, and Christians also express different social and spiritual outlooks in their food practices. Strict Buddhists make only vegetarian offerings, Daoists prepare sacrificial offerings of meat, and Chinese Christians, who describe their outlook as modern, do not offer foods of any sort to ancestors or deities. Nonetheless, broad commonalities in Chinese food culture perpetuate a sense of shared identity irrespective of religious affiliation. As food experts in this multi-religious, multi-ethnic setting, women play an important role in the simultaneous reproduction of religious distinction and ethno-cultural unity. Women also sometimes act as agents for change, modifying ritual practices to suit their own taste, values, and sentiments.