漢人社會的整體論觀點與祭祀圈研究

Holistic Theory on the Han Chinese Society and the Research in the Religious Sphere

祭祀圈理論的提出是為了說明台灣社會的結構，因此對它的理解應該放在有關漢人社會整合的理論脈絡下來考察。本文認為每一種解釋漢人社會整合的理論背後都預設了特定的「社會」、「文化」與「歷史」等概念，我們有必要檢視這些理論所預設的這些概念，釐清它們為漢人社會整合之研究所帶來的視野與限制，以便能夠將此一研究議題不斷往前推進。放在這樣的脈絡下來看，本文主張祭祀圈理論有必要檢討其將社會視為由團體組成的社會觀，將社會看成由多重關係體系交織而成的網絡，並證明祭祀體系是人們透過祭祀活動將多重社會關係體系關連在一起的結果，是漢人為應付社會生活的各種需求而生產社會的獨特方式。為了說明這一點，我們必須證明宗教是一個不可化約的歷史動力，必須分析民間信仰活動背後的實踐邏輯如何成為一個整合各種社會關係體系的文化機制，並透過對宗教角色的正確理解，將文化視為詮釋漢人社會史時的結構性因素。

The theory of the 'religious sphere' (tsi-su-chuan) was proposed to explain the social structure of Taiwan. We should try to understand it in the context of all those theories about the integration of Han Chinese society. This essay holds the idea that every theory about the integration of Han Chinese society presupposes specific concepts of 'society', 'culture' and 'history'. It is necessary to find out the perspectives and biases that these concepts contain in order to further advance research in this area. This essay suggests that the theory of 'religious sphere' that views society as consisting of groups should be amended such that it views society as consisting of multiple social systems. Furthermore, the theory should demonstrate that the system of religious practice serves as the mechanism that dictates how multiple social systems are integrated. This is the distinctive way in which Han Chinese create their society in response to the practical needs of social life. In order to do that, we should prove that religion is an irreducible historical dynamic, analyze the practical logic of religious activities and demonstrate how it can be a cultural mechanism that integrates different types of social systems. Through this proper understanding of the social role of Han Chinese folk religion, we should additionally view culture as an essential factor for interpreting the history of Chinese society.