- 學位論文
神人間的宴王饗宴-以臺南西港刈香為例
The Feast of The Gods: A Study on Sigang’s Incense-Serving in Tainan
摘要
2009年正式被文建會列為「國家重要民俗文化資產」的西港王醮，近來在宗教觀光的復興風潮下，常以「王船祭」一稱為人所熟知。超過二百年歷史的西港王醮融合宗教信仰、祭祀禮儀、民俗藝陣等文化意涵，特具地方特色。王醮活動主要作用在驅瘟除疫，藉由請王巡境、宴王祭儀、點艙送王等儀式，以讓地方獲得淨化。臺南西港刈香的宴王宴在送王之前舉辦，以儒家祭儀呈現人與神之間「禮」的呈現，人與神在獻祭的過程中的精神交流，在宴王宴裡面得到體現；而另一方面，時代的近步，許多祭儀亦因時間的改變而有另一種面貌，除了以儒家獻禮為主軸的宴王，亦可見講求華美裝飾以「滿漢全席」為主軸的宴王，這兩種呈現的是截然不同的祀神之宴。然因受觀光世俗化影響，近來參與香科祭典香客卻有沈浸於活動表面喧鬧之喧賓奪主氛圍，而忽略其真正的信仰內涵。據此，本研究特藉由調查王醮儀典與獻供菜餚搭配的宴王儀式以了解此有趨觀光化之民間信仰活動的宗教意義。研究發現藉由獻供以求得報償的儀式，乃是常民文化的表現，並且透過宴王宴此一儀式之舉行，得以將祭禮儀式保存傳承，且透過三年一次的刈香獻禮儀式，將人、自然、地方三者的關係重覆循環，達到一個平衡的狀態，並且賦予犧牲供品文化意涵以傳達人、神之間的關係及訴求，因此王醮儀典中的祭祀儀禮具有豐富的文化意義。
並列摘要
The Plague Offering in Xi-kang, included in the Important National Culture Heritage by the Council for Culture Affairs in 2009, has been called “Wang Chuanji” over the past years when the trend of the religious tourism started to revive. The Xi-kang Plague Offering is a tradition more than 200 years old. It comes with local characteristics and has integrated religious beliefs, worship etiquette, and the folk performance. With the Royal Lords’ inspection, the Wang-yei-feasting, and the Royal Boat Sending ritual, people reach their main purpose of Plague Offering, that is, to get rid of pestilence and purify the place. However, due to the impaction of tourist secularization, there are more and more pilgrims only immerse in the hustle atmosphere rather than focus on the true intention in the ceremony. The study thus intends to examine the Plague Offering ritual and its Wang-yie-feasting to clarify the religious meanings, which has been more and more tourist-oriented. It is the folk culture to request the reward through the ritual of offering oblations. Therefore, the Plague Offering ritual is full of rich culture significance. The research finds that the ritual which requests for the reward by offering sacrifices is a representation of civic culture. Through holding the feast of the gods, people can preserve and pass down the ritual of sacrifice. In addition, the ritual also makes the relation between people, nature, and community keep circulating to be a balance condition by being held every three years. And the ritual gives the culture meanings to the sacrifice to convey the relation and requirements between people and spirits. As a result, the ritual of sacrifice in the Wang boat’s ceremony is equipped with bountiful culture meaning.