明代以降的痘神廟與痘神信仰

Temples for Smallpox Gods and Belief in Smallpox Gods from the Ming Dynasty to the Republican Era

自古以來，天花一直困擾著人類，明清社會亦不例外。當家人出痘之時，病家多半會祈求神明保佑，其中掌管天花的痘神更是受到尊崇。本文主要分為七個區域，針對各地的痘神信仰加以討論，觀察痘神的多元化與專業化。明代以前，天花似乎歸屬皮膚病神掌管，後來才獨立出來。在明代，大量出現關於痘神與痘神廟的記載。痘神的性別有男有女，但整體上以女性較多。明清時期，全國各地所供奉的痘神並不相同，地域多元性相當明顯。痘神的勢力範圍，有些跨越數省（如痘疹娘娘），有些則僅限於省內一小區域，甚至小到只有一個縣（如張騫）。痘神作為神祇系統的底層小神，常與掌管子嗣的女神或地方上的一些大神，共同被奉祀於一廟之中。但也有獨立一廟奉祀的，不過例子較少。另一值得注意的現象，是痘神隨著人群移動而擴展。這類的例子，如湖廣的三霄娘娘傳至四川與陝西等地，山東的痘疹娘娘傳入遼東、進而擴散至內蒙古及新疆等地。除了勢力範圍的消長之外，痘神的內部分工也越來越細，如出現痘哥、痘姐及其他各司其職的小神。另外，清代皇室對於痘神之崇信遠甚於明朝，這也是痘神信仰擴展的一大指標。整體而言，明清的痘神信仰經歷了不斷重整與分化的過程。

Since ancient times, mankind has been plagued by smallpox, and the Ming and Qing societies were no exception. If there was a smallpox patient in the family, members of the family would pray to gods for protection. Smallpox gods were especially respected. This paper divides the whole country into seven parts to discuss smallpox gods in various regions and looks into the diversification and specialization of smallpox gods. Before the Ming dynasty, dermatitis gods apparently were in charge of smallpox disease, and later smallpox gods were separated from the dermatitis gods. Many records about smallpox gods and temples of smallpox gods had surfaced during the Ming dynasty. There were male and female smallpox gods; however, most of them were female. Many different kinds of smallpox gods could be found in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and geographic diversity was very obvious. The sphere of influence of smallpox gods varied, some spanning several provinces (such as the Smallpox Goddess), while others were limited to a small region of the province, even as small as just one county (for example, Zhang Qian). As little gods at the bottom of the system of gods, smallpox gods were often worshipped alongside fertility goddesses or other major local gods in the same shrine. However, in some rare cases, smallpox god was enshrined individually. What is worth noting is that the belief and practice of worshipping smallpox gods dispersed when people migrated. For example, Goddess Sanxiao, originated from the region of Huguang, was worshipped in Sichuan and Shaanxi; Shandong’s Smallpox Goddess was worshipped first in Liaodong and then in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. In addition to changes in the sphere of influence, the scope of responsibilities that smallpox gods were in charge of also became diversified. There were smallpox brother gods, smallpox sister gods, and other minor smallpox gods. In addition, the Qing royal family had more faith in smallpox gods than their counterparts in the Ming dynasty, and this is a major indicator that belief in smallpox gods had widely disseminated. In sum, belief in smallpox gods went through continuous reconstruction and differentiation during the Ming and Qing dynasties.