從佛光山紐約道場看紐約華人宗教參與和社會適應

The Participation of Chinese Immigrants and Their Religion, Views from the FGS

陳家羚(Chen Chia-Ling)

指導教授 ： 楊聰榮

國立臺灣師範大學/國際與僑教學院/華語文教學系/碩士(2013年)

摘要

在美華人對宗教的態度和選擇的變化，往往因身處於以基督教為主流的社會，而備受關注。因為宗教選擇間接反映華人在美國社會地位的變化、對主流文化的適應狀況、歸屬感和族裔文化認同心理。然而，華人傳統宗教信仰，往往與歷史傳承、文化傳遞、身分認同、祖先供奉深深連結，不是能夠輕易劃分。
本研究主要以位於美東的佛光山紐約道場以及群集信眾為調查主體。佛光山紐約道場設立於紐約三大華埠之一的法拉盛，位於幅員遼闊的皇后區，其中又有地鐵七號線(#7 train)直通市中心曼哈頓，得地利、交通、地域之益，為紐約三大華埠重鎮。目前華裔人口總數居法拉盛之冠，佔整體比率29.4%，除早期台灣、香港第一批移民外，東南亞和中國大陸華人比例日漸攀升，對於華人傳統宗教的需求依舊，因此，道場寺廟普遍林立，甚至逐漸取代僑社功能，成為華人交流的主要場域的未來趨勢。
本文第一部份首探紐約華人佛教信仰，側重於了解華人佛教組織的發展進程及法拉盛佛教組織的特質。於後，詳述佛光山紐約道場開拓的契機與發展、進行宗教移植過程中，面臨在地化的衝擊與調適。第二部份，研究者將「信仰」劃分成主要影響華人適應變因，分別結合性別、世代、社經地位、家庭組織結構、政治和文化認同等因素，檢視紐約在美華人的適應能力。

關鍵字

紐約華人 ； 宗教參與 ； 佛光山 ； 法拉盛 ； 移民佛教

並列摘要

For the Chinese immigrants, living in a densely population Christian society, the Chinese thrive to identify their culture through choice of religion. Selection of religion indirectly reflects the changes in Chinese social status in the United States, the adaptation of the mainstream culture, the sense of belonging and the ideals in an ethnic cultural identity. The Chinese traditional religion is closely linked with historical heritage, cultural transmission, status identification, ancestor worship, and cannot be easily separated. Therefore, my focus is on a single Buddhist organization in New York, exploring how they operate and root deeply in a powerful mainstream religious culture. In the course of my visit and participating with the Chinese religious followers, I discover truths to an unseparable tie, religion and culture. Verifying whether the in religious choice is one of the key elements affecting their integration into the mainstream.
The focus of this study is to investigate the Fo-Guang Shan New York temple located in the eastern United States and its gathered worshipers. Fo-Guang Shan New York temple is established in Flushing, one of the three major Chinatowns in New York. It is located in the outskirts borough of Queens, accessable by Metro Line ＃7 which directly links to the heart of midtown Manhattan. Through its geographical, communicating, and territorial advantages, Flushing is one of the three major Chinatowns in New York. Currently, Chinese population of this area is the highest among an ethnic groups, accounting for 29.4%. Besides the early first tier Taiwan and Hong Kong immigrants, the proportion of Chinese from Southeast Asia and China rises steadily. They still have the demands of traditional Chinese religion, hence bodhimandas and temples are spread all over the region. They even gradually replace the function of the overseas Chinese communities. As a future trend, they may become centers for Chinese social activities.
The first part of this article firstly probes the Chinese Buddhist faith in eastern United States. It focuses on the understanding of the development characteristics of the Chinese Buddhist organizations and the progress of a Flushing Buddhist organization. Furthermore, it describes in detail the pioneering opportunity and development of New York Fo- Guang Shan temple; uncovering the process of religious transplantation, the localized impacts and adaptation challenges. In the second part, the researcher takes "faith" as the major variable which impacts the Chinese adaptation, combines respectively with factors such as gender, generation, socioeconomic status, family structure, political and cultural identity, and inspects the adaptability of Chinese in New York.

並列關鍵字

Chinese immigrants ； religious participation ； Fo-Guang ； Flushing ； Chinese Buddhism

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