澎湖小法當前之傳承初探

A Preliminary Study on the Current Practices of Little Priest Heritage in Penghu

2013年3月18日，「澎湖小法祭祀科儀」公告為縣定民俗，澎湖小法文化的文化資產身分認定，說明這項傳統文化與地方生活的緊密關係。這些年來，小法招訓一直是廟宇傷透腦筋的難題，孩子參與意願不高，家長接受度有限，皆是構成傳承與否的基本阻礙。有別於過去農業時代，當今的澎湖小法傳承必須隨時代變遷而有所因應，面對當代社會的少子化、升學主義、醫學發達、家庭教育等趨勢，其未來走向將何去何從，會是宮廟神職人員、公部門文化單位以及聚落居民共同需面對的議題。本研究目的之一，探析現今小法傳承的培訓情形，以作為澎湖小法傳承斷層與否之理解；目的之二，自法師長的認知角度，探討小法文化傳承的當代變遷與採取的因應措施，包括宮廟的應對策略與當今小法培訓的模式。本文主要研究途徑是觀察研究與深度訪談，執行期間（2018年至2021年）筆者實地走訪澎湖風櫃溫王殿、後寮威靈宮、西文祖師廟、東衛天后宮等宮廟，瞭解目前小法人力組成、成員狀況、培訓過程以及服務項目等。研究發現，女性小法的出現，乃基於地方宮廟履行每年日常祭祀或節慶的人力結構轉型。再者，提供招生誘因或放寬招生條件，是吸引各方人士投入小法行列的變通方式，因此甚至出現選用鄰村小孩參與該村宮廟小法培訓的情形。

On March 18, 2013, the Penghu Little Priest Veneration Ritual was designated as a county-level folk custom. The importance of the Penghu Little Priests in local cultural heritage reflects the close relationship between traditional culture and local life. Over the years, the recruitment of Little Priests has remained a problem for temple leaders because of children's unwillingness to join the Little Priests and their parents' lack of acceptance of the profession. Because Penghu is no longer an agriculture-focused region as it was in in the past, the Little Priests heritage practices must be adjusted accordingly. The current social trends of low birthrates, credentialism, advanced medicine, and new family values in contemporary society have rendered the future of the Little Priests uncertain, which is a problem facing temple clergies, public cultural departments, and residents. The objectives of this study were as follows: 1. analyze the current situation of training for new Little Priests to determine whether Little Priest heritage in Penghu is facing a crisis and 2. explore the changes in and countermeasures adopted to preserve Little Priest heritage from the perspective of the head ritual master. Little Priest heritage based on modern thinking involves integrating coping strategies developed by temples and the current Little Priest training practices. In this study, we visited Fong Guei Wenwang Temple, Houliao Weiling Temple, Xiwen Zushi Temple, and Dongwei Mazu Temple in Penghu from 2018 to 2021 to investigate the current composition, member status, training process, and service items of Little Priests through observation and in-depth interviews. We discovered that the emergence of female Little Priests was caused by the transformation of the workforce structure of local temples in response to annual veneration rituals or festivals. Incentives for joining the Little Priests may help attract recruits from all walks of life. In some cases, children have been recruited as Little Priests at temples in neighboring villages rather than in the villages they reside. Training through beating and scolding no longer aligns with modern educational philosophies.