保生大帝信仰的起源與發展

宋朝撰寫有關吳夲文章者，有孫瑀、楊志、莊夏、真德秀和劉克莊等五位，其撰文時間與吳夲在世相距約五十至兩百年；就地理位置而言，五人皆福建省人，與吳夲有深刻的地緣關係。此五人的作品為我們瞭解保生大帝信仰起源與形成提供了第一手史料。從宋到清代諸文，對於吳夲生平事蹟的記載詳略不一，有些內容甚且有所出入。吳夲在民間以醫神著稱，然而目前所知，幾乎沒有直接有關其生前活動的紀錄。而後人開始撰文紀念吳夲時，已經是五十年之後，且將他尊奉為神。因此，與其以歷史研究的方法考究內容真偽，不如從信仰的角度探討其在信眾心目中的地位，或許更能真切地體會並瞭解保生大帝信仰的發展情況。本文按吳夲的生平、神蹟、祀典、封號與神格等節，探討其信仰的起源和衍變。

關鍵字

吳夲；保生大帝；慈濟宮

並列摘要

Stories about Tao Wu (the original name of Baosheng Dadi) were documented by Yu Sun, Zhi Yang, Xia Zhuang, Dexiu Zhen and Kezhuan Liu in the Song Dynasty, which is around 50-200 years after the time of Tao Wu. These five people all grew up in Fujian, China, which is geographically close to where Tao Wu lived. Their written works serve as first-hand historical materials to study belief in Baosheng Dadi. From the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, there is also some documentation about Tao Wu, but the stories vary in details or even in the facts reported. Though Tao Wu was known as God of Medicine, there is no record relating to his life or anecdotes about him. It was not until 50 years after his death that people started writing about him and regarding him as a god. Thus, instead of investigating historical facts, study of how his believers perceive him may be more helpful in understanding and tracing the development of the belief in Baosheng Dadi. The present study discusses the origin and development of belief in Baosheng Dadi from his life, miracles associated with him, religious documentation, titles given to him, and his characteristics as a god.