社群流徙與信仰遷移：新加坡的安溪移民與城隍廟的分靈活動

Migration and Beliefs: The Singapore Anxi Migrants and 'Spirit Separation' Activities of the City God Temple

中國的城隍神是掌管保衛城池、負責興旺市集的神靈。城隍信仰起源於人們對自然界的崇拜，被認為是守護城池的神明，而且古代“城”是指城牆，“隍”是指牆外環繞的深溝，所以城隍的概念代表特定的空間範圍，城隍與城市是分不可的。隨著信徒的流徙與遷移，城隍神通過一種“分靈”的形式，由城市傳播到鄉村，乃至其他市鎮，所管轄的地域也就由此擴展開來或重新劃定。城隍信仰從中國腹地傳播到海外，也是通過這種形式完成的，其中包括了在新加坡的傳播。新加坡的華人人口是由不同的方言族群組成的，其中以福建社群居多。福建社群裡又以安溪和南安人占大多數，與城隍信仰的發展息息相關。新加坡韮菜芭城隍廟的城隍爺為福建安溪主神“清溪顯佑伯主”的第五副身。1918年間隨福建安溪移民落戶新加坡，其後遷移到羅弄韮菜(Lorong Koo Chye)，俗稱“韮菜芭”，韮菜芭城隍廟的名稱遂源用至今。但隨著社會結構的變化和信仰的遷移，城隍信仰在近代移民社會中經歷了明顯的改變。原本是國家祭祀成為了民間崇拜，具有特定空間意義的神祗失去了其“城市”特性，隨著信眾的遷移而分靈立廟。其地位與功能也不再僅局限於保衛城池，並逐漸朝多元性與涵蓋範圍更廣泛的方向發展。城隍神原本隸屬於官方宗教與祭祀的組合部分，卻也隨時代的轉移而蛻變成為一種普及的民間信仰。本文將說明城隍信仰的蛻變和延續，並以新加坡安溪族群的韮菜芭城隍廟為個案，探討城隍信仰在新加坡的殖民地社會乃至獨立後所經歷了角色與功能的轉變。這類型的轉變，不但沒有與城隍信仰原本所具有的特質與理念起衝突，而且在時間和空間的層次上，凸顯華人城隍信仰在中央與地方、中心與邊緣之間的轉換。

The City God, or the God of Walls (cheng) or Moats (huang), was one of the oldest and most widespread popular beliefs in Chinese religious tradition. Its origin can be traced back to the Zhou dynasty in Chinese history and is related to ancient Chinese worship of the nature. As the title suggested, the City God is confined to a particular space and boundary, and cannot be separated from the city. The worship of City God continues although the Chinese cities have undergone many changes. With the migration of the Chinese overseas, the belief was spread from mainland China to overseas Chinese societies including Singapore. The development of the City God cult in Singapore was attributed to the Fujian community, especially those from the Anxi County. The City God of Lorong Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple in Singapore is the ”Fifth Spirit” of the Anxi City God in the Fujian province, China. It was migrated to Singapore in 1918 with the early Fujian immigrants. Taking the Anxi City God as a case study, this paper examines the transformation of the City God beliefs from a deity with confined space and power to one that respond to every plea, and the migration of the ”spirit” or ”separated body” of the deity to Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia. It also attempts to demonstrate the changing paradigm between central and local, centre and periphery in Chinese religious beliefs.