臺灣漢人社會動物神靈信仰與文化之研究

漢人社會中強調「天人合一」的宇宙觀，與大自然產生和諧的相處模式，就是從遠古時期自然崇拜的信仰行為衍生出來的。現今民間信仰對象中，例如土地公、天公、地母等神明的概念，和遠古時期的自然崇拜仍具有一定程度的關聯性，只不過今日轉化成以人格形象產生出來，而台灣漢人社會的動物崇拜文化與動物神信仰也是在這樣的狀態中衍生出來的自然神群之一。自然神群可說是最普遍存在且和人民生活息息相關的一種信仰對象，而自然神群中的動物神及動物崇拜更是與傳統漢人社會文化的發展有密不可分的關係。在台灣漢人社會中處處可見動物崇拜的痕跡，例如廟宇中的虎爺信仰、義犬公信仰，建築裝飾中的辟邪劍獅，生命禮俗中的十二生肖傳統等等。這些動物神及動物崇拜的出現與存在，顯示出台灣漢人與動物崇拜文化之間的密切關係，再加上動物神祇的祭祀不但豐富了台灣漢人社會的信仰元素，更可看出台灣漢人民間信仰活潑多元的生命特質。在台灣漢人社會中對於動物的崇拜，對象非常廣泛，包括牛、馬、龍、狗、猴子、虎、貓、龜、蛇、豬等動物，甚至爬蟲類的蜈蚣，都是台灣漢人崇拜的對象，由於數量多且龐雜，故本文在選擇探討的對象時，先將人格神形象出現的動物神祇排除，例如齊天大聖孫悟空、天蓬元帥豬八戒和龍王、龍神等。接著選擇人們生活中具有重要貢獻或民間信仰中較常見、具有特殊性的幾種動物神來探討，包括有牛馬、義犬、老虎、獅子和蜈蚣等。文中主要分成上下兩篇，上篇為生活具象的動物神，主要探討的動物為牛馬和義犬。由於上述這三種動物對於傳統社會人們在生活上的幫助可說是缺一不可，故，本文將其置於同一篇進行討論。下篇為形象意象類的動物神，主要探討獅、虎和百足真人信仰，這三者相同之處在於民俗文化中所呈現的形象較為抽象，以形象和符號類的表徵出現在民俗和信仰文化中。相異之處則在於，虎和蜈蚣在文化意涵中屬較惡之物，人們在與其接觸過程中不是被老虎傷害就是被蜈蚣螫咬。然而中國不產獅，漢人社會也沒有獅害的問題，因此在動物的民俗文化中，可同時在獅子身上發現吉祥和辟邪意義在其中，屬漢人社會中的瑞獸。隨著先民們從中國移墾到台灣的過程中，將動物崇拜的民俗文化以及相關動物神信仰的現象傳入台灣後，由於在台灣移墾社會中所面對的外在環境與生活型態上的轉變，動物神靈信仰與崇拜也出現在地化現象。除了虎爺、牛將軍等動物神在台灣已出現自成一廟主神的現象外，台灣南部地區更有具宗教性、神聖性的宗教性陣頭，除了動物神神像的供奉外，陣頭出陣前後相關的宗教性儀式在當地皆具有重要的祈福、避邪驅煞、驅瘟除疫等維護地方安寧的職責與功能，例如金獅陣、百足真人蜈蚣陣等，在台灣民間信仰的體系中，十分具有獨特性。

關鍵字

動物崇拜；動物神靈；牛神；馬神；義犬；虎爺；獅崇拜；金獅陣；百足真人

並列摘要

Chinese culture emphasizes on the concept of “harmony between heaven and humans”, which derives from ancient humans worshiping nature. Although the gods which people worship nowadays such as The Village Deity, the God, Mother of the Earth look like human beings that are still related to ancient culture. Nature gods can be seen to concepts that exist in the world and closely related to people’s lives. Among these gods of nature, animals gods especially have much to do with the development of Chinese society. We can see many animal gods being worshiped in Taiwan such as the Tiger God, the Dog God, sword-lion decorations in temples, and the twelve Chinese zodiac signs. This shows the close relation between Chinese people and the culture of worshiping animals. Furthermore, it not only enriches Chinese social culture in Taiwan but also let us see the variety of the essence of life. The animal gods in Taiwanese culture include cows, horses, dragons, dogs, monkeys, tigers, cats, turtles, snakes, pigs, and even insects such as centipedes. Since they are numerous and abundant, here we will exclude the gods of which have human being similarities such as the Monkey King, the Pig, the Dragon King, and instead choose ones which are more common, special and have important contribution such as cows, horses, dogs, tigers, lions, and centipedes. There are two parts in total; the former mainly concentrates on cows, horses, and dogs, of which are gods that are seen to be as they actually are in the real world. The above three animal gods are indispensable due to their help to the world. Therefore, here we will discuss them together. The later talks about the animal gods that appear by imaginary such as lions, tigers, and centipedes. The part these three gods have in common is that they often present themselves in abstract images. The different part among these three is that tigers and centipedes are considered evil since people often are hurt or bitten by them. However, in China are no lions, so the idea of being attacked by them does not exist. In traditional Chinese culture, lions can obtain meanings such as fortune and purification. Therefore, lions represent auspicious animals in Chinese culture. When ancestors moved from China to Taiwan, they also brought this culture to Taiwan with them. Therefore during the reclamation, worshiping animal and such religions had also been localized in Taiwan. Besides the Tiger God and the Cow General God, which are the main gods in their temples, there are also religious and sacred “Din Tao” rituals that consist of praying for fortune and getting rid of bad luck and plague, such as “Shih Jenn” and “Wu Kung Jenn” in south Taiwan. These rituals are unique in the Taiwanese religious belief system.

並列關鍵字

Worship for Animals ； Beliefs toward Animal Deities ； Master buffalo ； Master Horse ； Master Dog ； Master Tiger ； Worship for Lion ； Kin Shih Jenn ； Master Centipedes