風水與報應：一個臺灣農村的例子

Feng-shui and Retribution: A Case Study from a Southern Taiwan Village

本文討論Maurice Freedman提出的風水議題。Freedman認為人死後氣會經過屍骨影響到子孫，子孫為了自己的幸福，常常央請風水先生到處尋找吉地埋葬祖先。已經成了一副骨頭的祖先好像除了被子孫利用外，根本無可奈何，祖先的骨骸像是傀儡一樣被子孫操弄。而子孫各房之間為了自己最大的利益，總是找對自己最有利的地點，因而造成各房之間的爭執。Freedman的說法後來引起一些人類學家的討論。emily ahern根據她在臺北縣三峽鎮溪南的例子首先反駁Freedman的說法。她認為祖先的骨骸要是被葬在好地方就會庇佑子孫，被葬在壞地方會致禍於子孫，顯示祖先的骨骸有其自主的作用，而不是Freedman所說的傀儡。接著李亦園、韓國的任敦姬也各自提出他們不同的看法。在本文裡，筆者指出，對Freedman來說，天理而不是風水才是影響子孫吉凶休咎的最終因素，因此祖先的骨骸是被動還是主動根本不重要。換句話說，風水只是報應的手段而已。筆者根據在臺南山區一個小村落的資料來討論Freedman所提出的風水問題，筆者認為葫蘆的例子基本上支持Freedman的說法，也就是說地理是個機械式作用的機制，葬在好地方就庇佑子孫，葬在壞地方也致禍於子孫。但是葫蘆人普遍相信地理之外還有更高的天理在干預，也就是天理昭彰善有善報，惡有惡報的觀念。

Maurice Freedman argues in his various discussions of feng-shui (風水)that the dead are made over into the passive pawns of their descendants andprofessional geomancers. Simply put, descendants seek a favorable fend-shui sitefor the burial of their dead in order to reap the rewards of wealth, numerousoffspring, and high official rank. The extent literature already includesseveral discussions of Freedman's analysis of Chinese fend-shui. Emily Ahern,for instance, suggests that it is the ancestors in the graves rather than theabstract forces of qi( 氣 ) who are the source of the benefits that flow from anadvantageous feng-shui site. ancestors in graves with good fend-shui are happyand helpful to their descendants; ancestors in graves with bad feng-shui areunhappy and punish their descendants. Ahern thus argues that ancestors retaintheir own volition and agency in passing out fortune and misfortune. Yih-yuanLi, Dawnhee Yim Janelli and other scholars provide yet other perspectives onFreedman's discussions of feng-shui, In this article, I use field data from HuluVillage, in southern Taiwan, for yet another perspective on Freedman's owninterpretation of feng-shui and how other researchers have critiqued thatinterpretation. Residents of Hulu Village hold that feng-shui worksmechanically, but its consequences are filtered through the principles ofheavven (tian-li 天理 )and retribution (pao-ying 報應 )so that the otherwisemechanical consequences of feng-shui are themselves reoriented in line withlocal moral principles.