移動的宗教空間與儀式展演：以兩岸媽祖進香為例

Shifting Religious Space, and Ritual Performance: The Mazu Pilgrimage across the Taiwan Strait

本文引用宗教人類學大家Max Gluckman的衝突理論，與Victor Turner的儀式展演理論，來討論兩岸之間最紅神祇媽祖的進香謁祖儀式的宗教與社會意義。Gluckman主張儀式具有調節社會角色與社會群體之間衝突的功能，使得社會透過儀式展演之後，得以恢復平衡而繼續運作。Turner進一步認為，儀式有如一場社會劇，社會各種勢力之間的矛盾與緊張，經過儀式展演之後，得以化解，並得到淨化。媽祖信仰自從1980年代恢復兩岸之間的進香謁祖儀式之後，帶動兩岸民間信仰的交流，功不可沒。然而，存在於不同區域的媽祖信仰之間有靈力強弱與位階排行高低的比賽，造成媽祖信徒之間的緊張與競爭。有賴一場一場的進香與謁祖儀式，讓信徒之間可以化解齟齬，讓信仰可以持續並達到更高更新層次的合作。本文以2011年福建永春迎請臺灣新港媽祖的儀式為例，來說明兩岸媽祖信仰之間的競合關係。

After the lifting of Martial Law in 1987 and the opening of cross-Strait trade, transportation, and postal service between Taiwan and China in 2000, pilgrimages to China have become a routine activity for many temples and believers in Taiwan. Religious communications between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have influenced religion in Taiwan and in China. As a result, there has been a trend toward competition among temples in Taiwan, and temples seek to shore up their competitive positions using the rhetoric of legitimacy. For its part, religion in China faces an era of modernization of temple organizations and the recovery of ritual. Finally, the cross-border investigation of folk religion in Taiwan and China requires that anthropologist develop novel methods for working with informants while they are on the process of pilgrimage. This paper focuses on the cross-Strait pilgrimage from Xingang Temple in southern Taiwan to China in 2011, and the author uses Max Gluckman's concept of ritual of rebellion and Victor Turner's theory of ritual performance to discuss cross- Strait pilgrimages, and looks at the pilgrimage ritual as a symbolic mechanism for releasing social-political tensions between Taiwan and China.