日治時期臺灣占卜文化之研究

Japanese Colonial Period

在日本殖民統治時期，臺灣總督府著手進行舊慣調查。臺灣占卜文化，傳承清朝的習俗，根源於兩個方向。第一種是臺灣早期移民從原鄉所帶來的習俗，以及第二個融合臺灣當地習俗。清朝有制定了嚴苛的法令禁止那些占卜活動，但是不能完全禁絕那些占卜活動。日本政府的調查反映了臺灣占卜習俗根深蒂固的性質。臺灣占卜文化可以分為三類。第一類為自然徵兆，透露出占卜的訊息。第二類為從占卜器具接受到指示訊息，如聖筶、聖籤。第三類為依靠神鬼的代言人巫覡、術士。神靈可以從這個中介人傳遞訊息。術士透過陰陽五行的經典，創造出一套占卜的技術來服務民眾。日本政府認為臺灣的傳統占卜是一種迷信，沒有任何科學依據。然而，臺灣知識份子對於占卜文化有兩種不同的觀感。傳統知識份子認為，占卜文化是傳承舊文化遺產的方法。至於新知識分子，他們有一個啟迪民智的使命意識，因此抱持著向傳統占卜批判的態度。

In the Japanese colonial period, Taiwan Sōtokufu conducted the old manners and custom survey. Taiwan’s divinational culture, as a heritage of the custom of the Qing Dynasty, came from two directions. The first one was a custom that was brought into Taiwan by the early immigrants and the second was the one that mixed with local custom. The Qing Dynasty had a harsh law to prohibit those divinational activities but could not put down those activities. The survey of the Japanese government reflects the deep-rooted nature of divinational custom in Taiwan. Taiwan’s divinational culture can be divided into three categories. The first is a kind of natural sign which reveals divinational message. The second receives their message from divinational tools, such as holy gao and holy lot. The third relies on the spokesman to be played by witch or wizard. The supernatural being can transmit their message from this middleman. Warlock have created a set of divinational technique for their service through the classics of the Ying-Yang and Five Elements. Japan’s government considered Taiwan’s traditional divination as a kind of superstition without any basis of science. However, intellectuals in Taiwan held two different viewpoints toward divinational culture. Traditional intellectuals considered divinational culture as a method to transmit heritage of ancient culture. As for the new intellectuals, they had a sense of mission of enlightening the people and therefore held a critical attitude toward the traditional divination.