臺南宮廟「送天師」的變遷

臺南府城如新建或修建落成之廟宇，屆期會舉行建醮廟會一番熱鬧，接連數日之道教科儀繁瑣複雜，吸引著不少信眾與觀光客前往共襄盛舉，並以送天師遶境活動做為建醮過程完美結束。參與廟宇主事者精心設計所費不貲，募集十方善信捐獻香油錢不惜重金，規劃遶境隊伍進行順序其目的，呈現出人神同歡共樂並為地方禳災祈福保境安民，該慶典活動成為眾所期望之事，吸引許多觀光客遠地前來到府城觀賞，間接活絡地方經濟。本篇研究每年臺南市歲末年終，廟宇建醮慶典結束之時，會舉行送天師活動，參與活動的廟宇會精心規劃活動內容，遶境的隊伍吸引著大量群眾觀賞，由民間社會慶典活絡臺南產業發展增進經濟熱絡。作者於1980-2017年長期親自參與田野考察，隨著社會發展進步對於送天師活動，是否有無特殊變化做為本篇論述重點。今昔的送天師遶境隊伍延綿數公里，藝陣表現存在著那些特色，該議題做為論述焦點之一。送天師活動之獨特性檢視出社會影響，做為本研究論述重點。 When a new temple was built in Tainan, Taoism's ritual ceremony will be held to celebrate with elaborate and complicated ritual activities for several days, which attract quite many believers and tourists to join these activities. The ending of this Taoism's ritual ceremony is perfected with Tian Shi Pilgrimage. The host temple spends a lot of effort in the planning of this pilgrimage and a huge amount of money donated by believers in order to show the joy shared both by people and god as well as to pray for avoiding disasters and protecting local residence. This celebration activity has become a desired major event, attracting a huge number of tourists afar to Tainan and indirectly promoting local economy. This study focuses on the ceremony of Departing of Tian Shi at the end of the Taoism's ritual ceremony held at the end of every year. Participating temples have wellplanned activities and their pilgrimage processions attract a huge crowd. This civil social celebration activates the economic development and prosperity in Tainan. The author of this study personally participated in the field trip regarding this celebration for a long period of time from 1980 to 2017. The focus of this study is to discuss whether social development has brought unique changes in the ceremony of Departing of Tian Shi. Another aspect of research in this study is the characteristics expressed in the artistic performance brought by the pilgrimage groups stretching for a few kilometers in the modern days and in the past. Furthermore, this study identifies the social impact resulted from the unique nature in the ceremony of Departing of Tian Shi from the perspective of anthropology.