由水子到嬰靈：現代臺日社會中早夭胎兒祭祀之比較研究初探

在醫療技術的發展下，視胎兒為生命的概念逐漸在現代社會中普及，而此生命觀的轉變，也帶來了新興宗教信仰現象的產生。指稱流產、死產、墮胎等未能出生的胎兒及早夭嬰幼兒之詞－嬰靈－在1980年代的臺灣出現，並逐漸為人所知。以嬰靈相關現象為主題的研究多指出其源於日本的「水子供養」，但對於日本的水子供養卻鮮少有完整性的描述。類似於嬰靈的概念，「水子」在日本亦泛指未能出生的胎兒及早夭新生兒，而祭祀水子的儀式則多以「水子供養」一詞作為統稱。「嬰靈」和「水子」浮現於臺日社會的背後，涉及兩地共同的現代性問題，然而此概念是如何凝聚為相應儀式，並廣泛流行及融入當地社會當中，乃是需要更近一步檢視的問題。本文首先針對先行研究進行回顧，其次說明早期臺日社會中對於夭折胎兒和孩童的對應方式。隨後針對戰後日本水子供養的發生過程進行簡單介紹。而立基於此，筆者將焦點轉回臺灣，並著眼於因「嬰靈供養」而喧騰一時的宗教團體，藉此回顧1980年代嬰靈相關信仰興起的過程和樣貌。而後再針對臺日雙方之儀式實踐進行檢討和比較。企圖重新梳理臺灣嬰靈相關信仰的日本傳來說，並且進一步點出兩者在儀式實踐上的方向和課題。

關鍵字

水子；嬰靈；墮胎；現代宗教；臺日比較研究

並列摘要

As medical treatment and technology have developed, the idea that a fetus is a life has gradually become more widespread in contemporary society, and such changes in concepts of life have engendered new religious beliefs and phenomenon. Yingling嬰靈 (infant spirits), a term that indicates miscarried, stillborn, or aborted fetuses and infants who die quite young, emerged in Taiwan in the 1980s, and people gradually became familiar with it. Much of the research focused on the subject of yingling related phenomenon indicates its origin in Japan's mizuko kuyō 水子供養(water children memorial rituals), but rarely does this research provide a comprehensive account of this. Like the concept of yingling, mizuko in Japan generally refers to the premature death of unborn fetuses and newborns, and the memorial rituals to mizuko are designated collectively as mizuko kuyō. The background to this emergence of yingling and mizuko in Taiwanese and Japanese society involves similar contemporary issues in both places; however, the questions of how this concept coalesced and how corresponding rituals emerged still require further investigation. In this article, I first aim to review prior research on this topic, and then explore methods related to premature death fetuses and infants that were utilized in earlier periods in Taiwanese and Japanese society. Thereafter, I offer a simple introduction of postwar mizuko kuyō. On the basis of these discussions, I then turn the focus to Taiwan to concentrate on the religious groups that have arisen in response to calls for yingling gongyang嬰靈供養 (infant spirit memorial rituals), and through this, review the rise of beliefs related to yingling and their manifestation in the 1980s. Then, I discuss in depth and compare the ritual practices of both Taiwan and Japan. This article is an attempt to reexamine the account of the Japanese origin of Taiwanese yingling beliefs, and to further point out the direction of these ritual practices in both Taiwan and Japan along with some related questions.