節慶、信仰與抗爭－明清城隍信仰與城市群眾的集體抗議行為

Festival, Cult and Protest-The City God Cult and the Collective Protests of Urban People in Ming and Qing Times

巫仁恕(Jen-Shu Wu)

《近代史研究所集刊》 34期 (2000/12) Pp. 145-213

https://doi.org/10.6353/BIMHAS.200012.0145

摘要

過去學者將明清城市群眾的集體抗議事件稱之爲「城市民變」，而既有的研究往往忽略了這類事件與民間信仰和節慶儀式的關聯性。本文嘗試藉由城隍信仰爲例，探討民間信仰。節慶儀式與集體抗議三者之問的微妙關係。
在現代被視爲「傳統」的廟會節慶活動，實則真正普遍化地發展出來是在明末清初時期。從方志中可以看到至明末清初民間信仰的廟會節慶種類繁多，而且活動更加頻繁，空間上分佈更加普遍化。它非僅是傳統農業慶祝時令轉換節日的延長，也不是官方塑造的教化意義所能操縱。它們其實發展出特有的精神意涵和意識型態，尤其有類似歐洲狂歡節慶的顛覆及暴力因子，甚至在廟會節慶中還醞釀了群眾集體抗拒官方權威的作用。
在明清城市群眾的集體抗議事件中，往往會看到民眾將廟會節慶的儀式轉化成集體抗議的儀式，這種轉化也是經過民眾選擇過的。在明清城市群眾的集體抗議事件中，群眾最常利用的是城隍神信仰，其原因則牽涉到明代中期以後城隍神信仰的變化。
經過本文的探討顯示，明清城隍神在儀式、神格與廟宇功能等三方面都發生了重大的變化。明末以來城隍廟成爲「士民公議」時最常聚集的場所，再加上城隍廟往往是城內最大的公共廟宇，所以民眾會選擇城隍廟成爲聚眾商議與行動的場所。
又城隍神的形象漸漸地人格化，演變成具有可與陽間地方官抗衡，甚至有權懲治陽官的「陰間司法審判官」形象。同時，原來官方祭祀城隍的儀式被民間世俗化，衍生出如告陰狀、裝冥判與三巡會等儀式。因之城隍神在人格化形象與世俗化儀式的配合下，影響了明清時代一般百姓（甚至下層士人）觀念，認爲城隍神就是抗衡陽問官方或是鄉紳的最佳象徵。
所以當集體抗議行動時，民眾常會聚集在城隍廟，並藉著向神告狀、抬神與模仿審判等等城隍廟會的象徵儀式，一方面有強化抗議社會不公平現象的效果，另一方面也是想將他們種種的抗爭行動合法化。

關鍵字

廟會節慶 ； 城隍 ； 城市民變 ； 儀式 ； 集體抗議 ； 民間信仰

並列摘要

Scholars are used to calling urban people's protests in Ming and Qing cities ”urban riots,” while the existing researches often tend to ignore the links between popular religions and festivals with such protests. This paper attempts to use the City God cult as a case study in exploring the complex links between festival rituals, group protests, and popular religion.
What is now regarded as ”traditional” temple activities became popular only since the late Ming and early Qing times, and as expected, local gazetteers dated from the period recorded a great variety of temple fairs and festivals occurring with greater frequency and more popularity. These activities were not simply an extension of traditional agricultural celebrations for the changing of the seasons, nor were they containable within official indoctrination. On the contrary the government notably failed in turning these temple festivals into regulated ceremonies to maintain social order. In fact, the festivals contained topsy-turvy, violent elements as found in European Carnivals. Moreover, such festivals might also become venues for expressing collective protests against the authority of the government and the social order.
There were many such cases of collective protests in Ming and Qing cities under the chosen period of study. In the study it is witnessed that the crowds actively chose to turn festivals into collective protests, and the City God cult was the one used most frequently in such protests. The frequency of its use was connected to the transformation of the City God cult during the late Ming period.
This paper shows that the rituals, character and temple functions of the City God changed greatly during this time. The City God temple became a meeting-place for the gentry and officials to discuss public issues. In addition, as the City God temple was usually the biggest, most accessible public temple in the city, so it naturally became an ideal meeting place for gatherings and collective action.
Having gone through a figurative metamorphosis of sort, the City God's image gradually became more personalized and transformed into the Underworld Judge who had the right to punish local officials in this world. In the meantime, official rituals were secularized by these urban people who moreover initiated rituals such as filing indictments, lifting the God's image and mock ghost trials. The personalization and secularization of the City God caused urban people to consider the City God as a powerful symbol of resistance against the authority of the local officials and gentry.
Thus, when protestors gathered in the City God Temple and employed these secularized rituals such as filing indictments, lifting the God's image and mock trials of the ghost, they were trying both to strengthen the fight against perceived social injustice on the one hand, and to legitimize their collective actions on the other.

並列關鍵字

temple festival ； City God ； urban riots ； ritual ； collective protest ； popular religion

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