潮神伍子胥的文化闡釋

Studies of the Cultural Implications of Wu Zi-Xu, 'God of the Tides'

伍子胥是春秋時代楚國人，死後被尊為江濤之神，信仰至今仍未滅絕。子胥生前對吳國貢獻卓越，卻被吳君賜死、拋屍江中，其形象逐漸與潮濤興衰結合，甚至成為被膜拜的神靈。其間大量吸收民間的想像與傳說，再經過長時間不斷的敷演、附會，所以蘊含豐富的祭祀、習俗及神話思惟等文化意涵。首先，潮神的祭祀實為先民對怒濤狂潮的恐懼，認為必是兇猛的靈物作祟所致，再結合伍子胥的歷史形象，並吸收大量民間傳說，使兩者的形象合而為一，致伍子胥成為專司波濤的潮神。接著，子胥充滿傳奇與悲壯的一生，令人寄予無限的感佩與同情，致事蹟被神格化，是社會仰慕英雄人物的結果。再者，將具忠孝節義精神的歷史人物神格化，有助於鞏固忠君愛國思想，是當政者教化民心的工具。為此歷代主政者不斷主導祭祀、修祠建廟，促使潮神子胥的信仰流傳更廣。因此，伍子胥成為潮神的過程，可說是真實人物被神異化，並發展為信仰的現象，同時也是歷史神話化的展現。從伍子胥成為潮神的傳說與其信仰，可以發現—人們或因無知和恐懼而認為世界由神祇主宰，但歷史人物的神格卻又是人們所賦予的。或許，人類的力量才是主導世界的推手。

Wu Zixu was a native of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period (722–481 BCE). Hewas honored as ‘God of the Tides’ , also known as Chaoshen(潮神), after his death and hasbeen worshipped up till now. Wu Zixu made a great deal of contribution to Wu kingdom,but he was ordered to commit suicide by his king and his corpse was dumped into the river.His spirit was gradually associated with the rise and fall of the tides and he eventuallybecame ‘God of the Tides.’ The spirit of Wu contained abundant cultural implications ofsacrifices, customs and mythical thinking as it absorbed a great deal of folk imaginationand many legends that have been evolving through the time. First of all, our ancesotorsalready held memorial ceremonies for goddess of water because of the fear of fierce billow,which was thought to be the haunting by some violent unknown entities. The spirit ofbillow, the image of Wu Zixu and the folk legends were mixed to make Wu the only ‘Godof the Tides’ who mastered the tides and waves. Secondly, people were respectful of andsympathetic with the tragic hero Wu Zixu so much so that they worshipped him as god,which was the result of hero worship in society. Moreover, historical figures who were ofloyalty and filial spirits were symbols that could contribute to the consolidation of patrioticideas and were the tool by which the authority educated common people. Therefore,ceremonies and temples of Wu were held and built by successive governors, making thebelief in Wu more popular. The development of the faith of Chaoshen demonstrated how ahuman could be transformed to the divinity. It was part of the phenomena of faith and themythologized history at the same time. Based on what we have found, it can be said thatalthough people might believe the world is dominated by God due to their ignorance andfear, the divine right of historical figures are actually endowed with by humans. Perhaps, itis human beings that own the power of shaping the world.