「五教同源」論述的社會建構：從民初救世團體到當代一貫道

The Social Construction of the ''Five Religions, One Origin'' Discourse: From Redemptive Societies to Contemporary Yiguandao

本文嘗試描述並分析華人宗教中「五教同源」論述的萌生與演變歷程，聚焦於宗教生態與政教關係對綜攝模式造成的影響，本文將以新的解釋架構指出該論述的三階段演變歷程。首先是在地萌生階段，民國初年，中國華北地帶的華人宗教場域出現一波短暫但顯著的結構變遷態勢，當時，新出現的救世團體成員須體察儒釋道耶回五教的核心使命，修身救世，平息戰亂。這一階段，華洋接觸的宗教生態與時鬆時緊的政教關係促成「對話式」的綜攝模式。第二是異地想像階段，二次戰後，臺灣的鸞堂與戰後來臺的一貫道，在鸞文或訓文中持續出現五教教主或五教聖人的新神聖範疇，但其內容以通俗儒家或道德格言為主，並未與基督教或伊斯蘭教產生實際的宗教交流。這一階段，不對等的宗教生態與高度管制的政教關係形成「化約式」的綜攝模式。第三是多地連結階段，1990年代起，美國與英國主要移民城市出現了原屬基督教、天主教、猶太教或伊斯蘭教等當地西方人成為一貫道信仰者的現象，這一階段，「根源式」的綜攝模式出現在多元並立的宗教生態及宗教自由的政教關係之中。其後，「五教同源」的全新理解，也傳回臺灣與新加坡、馬來西亞等華人道場，促成宗教的創新。

This paper aims to describe and analyze the emergence and evolution of the ''five religions, one origin'' discourse. Focusing on the influence of ''religious ecology'' and ''state-religion relations'' on the ''patterns of syncretism,'' I propose an analytic framework and point out three stages in the evolution of this discourse. The first stage is the ''local emergence'' in the early Republican era (1912~1949) in North China, characterized by a series of temporary, but significant, structural changes. In this stage, newly founded ''redemptive societies'' had to acknowledge the core mission, i.e. cultivating one's moral character and aiming for salvation and world peace, shared by five religions, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and Islam. The religious ecology, featured by the contact between the East and the West, and the state-religion relation, sometimes loose and sometimes tight, gave rise to the ''dialogic'' pattern of syncretism. The second stage called ''displaced imagination'' took place in Taiwan after the end of World War II. In Taiwan's planchette writing and Yiguandao's spirit writing after it was relocated in Taiwan after the War, words from the founders of five religions could still be found and even a new category of saints -five religious saint - was worshipped in Yiguandao's ceremony though the main focus was on the popular aphorisms from Confucianism or related to morality and there was no religious exchange either with Christianity or with Islam. In this stage, asymmetrical religious ecology and strong regulation of religion led to the ''reductionist'' pattern of syncretism. The third stage is ''multi-sited connections'' in the 1990s of the global era when westerners, originally Christians, Catholics, Judaists, and Muslims, were converted into Yiguandao followers in some immigrant cities in the U.S. and the U.K. In this stage with the ecology of multiple, coexisting religious beliefs and the state-religion relation emphasizing religious freedom, the pattern of syncretism is based on the discourse of ''one origin.'' Afterwards, a new understanding of the ''five religions, one origin'' discourse has been transmitted back to Chinese Yiguandao fields in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, contributing to religious innovation.