英文摘要 |
Tossing divination blocks is a method for the Taiwanese folk religious believers to request the responses from deities. They not only ask deities for guidance, seek advice for unsolvable decisions but also pursue good fortune and avoid disaster in the hope of staying from the advices of deities. In the silent praying, the communication as a bridge is built up between God and human beings. This is an important folk custom in Taiwan which is recorded in the historical archives in Tang and Song dynasties. With the evolution of divination blocks in memories, it reappears in the contemporary temples in Taiwan as well as a dynamic field between "commitment and recordation."
The person who tosses the divination blocks commits to his sense of hesitation and uncertainty, desires a peaceful future and records these three changing phases of Yin (moon) and Yang (sun) (St. divination blocks for agreement, laugh divination blocks for silence and angry divination blocks for refusal). However, as for the phenomena of the standing divination blocks, which means that the divination blocks do not fall down on the ground on Yin side or Yang side instead of standing on the ground. This "in-betweenness" between Yin and Yang cannot be interpreted from the historical archives with the words of deities. This paper aims to translate the phenomena of standing divination blocks, to dig out its religious meaning and to comprehend the words of wisdom within this interesting religious ritual in Taiwan. |