臺中市萬和宮金屬鐘研究－－試論其所反映的產銷問題

A study of the metal bell in Wanhe Temple, Taichung–On the issue of production and sales raised by the temple

萬和宮所在地舊稱「犁頭店街」，宮內主祀媽祖當地稱「老大媽」。根據大正14年（1925）調查《寺廟臺帳‧臺中州大屯郡》資料，萬和宮係居住在犁頭店一帶的12大姓氏為基礎共同興建，至雍正4年（1726）竣工，定名「萬和宮」。萬和宮內保存有早期金屬鐘2座，分別署有道光年款與昭和年款，根據檢測，其材質為鉎鐵和青銅。臺灣早期廟宇大鐘，因金屬原料取得不易，鑄造業尚未發展，故多是由大陸沿海地區輸入。從鐘體落款來看，產地有廣東、福建、浙江、江蘇、安徽等地。而據本文考證，萬和宮文物館鉎鐵大鐘體的「福省鑄人林國璉」，為福州蓮宅鑄匠，其產銷範圍擴及全臺，甚至東南亞地區也見其觸角。至於萬和宮所見日治時代青銅鐘，鑄造者高橋才治郎，係京都知名佛具製造商，其產品也見於臺灣。臺灣寺廟在日治時期後段，使用日本京都梵鐘產品，是相當常見的。上述現象說明了臺灣到日治時代後期，和中國大陸間貿易受到戰爭對峙而中斷，因此，大型鐘器不再向對岸訂製，轉向日本本土訂做。而萬和宮的兩件梵鐘鑄造地點，恰巧反映了臺灣大型金屬供器產銷轉變的情形。

The temple that stands on the street formerly known as“Plowshare Shop Street”venerates its patron goddess Matzu, also called by locals“Lao Dama”(Honourable Big Mother). According to the document“Temples in Taichung City–Datun County, Taichung Prefecture”dating to 1925, Wanhe Temple was built by the 12 named major families living around Litioudian and on completion in 1726 (the 4th year under the reign of the emperor Yong Zheng of Qing dynasty) it was named Wanhe Temple. There are two metal bells preserved in Wanhe Temple. Following analysis the two bells are proved to be made of pig iron and bronze, and bear inscriptions from the reigns of Emperors Dao Guang (1782-1850) and Showa (1926-1989) respectively. Due to the difficulties in obtaining suitable metals and the rudimentary development of the local foundry industry, the bells used by temples in Taiwan in earlier times were imported from the coastal area of China. Judging from the cast inscriptions on the bells the possible production sites include Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, etc. According documentary research in this project the inscriptions on the cast iron bell in Wanhe Temple read“Founder of this bell–Lin, Guo-lian of Fujian,”this bell was made by an iron founder of Lianzhai, Fuzhou. Iron crafts by this founder were sold all over Taiwan and even in some places in Southeast Asia. Turning to the bronze bell in Wanhe Temple, this was cast during Taiwan’s Japanese colonial period. Its founder was a Japanese artisan, Takahashi Saijiro, who was a renowned Buddhist equipment maker in Kyoto. His products were also exported to Taiwan and during the latter period of Japanese rule temples began to use these great bells made in Kyoto. From the above facts, it becomes clear that during the latter part of Japanese rule, trade between Taiwan and China was halted because of the war and as a result big bells were not ordered from China. In their place, people began to order them from Japan. Consequentially, the places of production of the two great bells in Wanhe Temple reflect a change in the conditions of production and sales of big metal wares in Taiwan.