海洋、宗教與觀光：布袋好美里“海上會香”的意義與價值

海上會香活動結合了宗教信仰、海洋文化及觀光旅遊，此活動是臺灣目前唯一的海陸媽祖繞境及會香活動，發生於嘉義縣布袋鎮的好美里小漁村。本研究目的在探討海上會香活動對好美里居民的意義與價值，採用探索性之方式，透過質性研究之深度訪談法瞭解魍港媽在居民的地位、海上會香活動發起的緣由和居民對海上會香活動的看法。本研究歸納整理發現如下：1魍港媽在居民心目中具有非常重要的地位，其是謙卑的化身，具有捨身救村、損己治病的情懷，以及擁有廣大神力；2海上會香活動的緣起，是在宗教信仰、居民的海洋文化、海禁解除及社區營造的四個因素作用下而成形的；3海上會香活動對於居民的意義與價值僅在於宗教上的意涵，居民期盼藉由活動的舉辦，能提升魍港媽的知名度；4海上會香活動對於活絡社區經濟上，沒有顯著的效果；在好美里未來發展為觀光資源的助益上，雖認為海上會香是一具有特色的賣點，但在其他主客觀條件下，不表樂觀。

關鍵字

海洋文化；媽祖；觀光；好美里

並列摘要

The activity of ”Incense Meeting at the Sea” (海上會香) contains three elements: sea, religion and tourism. The activity, which takes place in a small fishing village -- Haomei Village of Budai Township, Chiayi County, is the only one that Mazu takes sea route to patrol the area under her governance. The purpose of this study is to explore the meaning and value of the ”Incense Meeting at the Sea”. The qualitative method of in-depth interview was adopted to understand the status of Wanckan Mazu (魍港媽) in the residents of Haomei Village, the factors to the initiation of ”Incense Meeting at the Sea” activity, and the resident's viewpoints toward the activity. The results are shown as following: 1. Wanckan Mazu is very important to the residents, which represents modesty, sacrifice, and having great divine power. 2. The factors to the initiation of activity are religious belief, marine culture, uplifting of 'no access to the sea' policy, and arising awareness of community development. 3. The activity has more religious connotation. Namely, residents wish the activity will help promote the popularity of Wanckan Mazu. 4. The activity does little to the economic viability and is, though, regarded as a unique feature of Haomei Village, yet is not enough to help the development of tourism related industry.