出塵入俗：近代馬來半島的香花齋姑（1930-1970）

Stepping into the Streets: The Xianghua Lay Nuns in Malaya, 1930-1970

香花齋姑，俗稱「齋姑」、「齋嬤」、「齋姊（姐）」—操客語施演「香花」度亡法事、獨立住持私家庵廟或承包社區公共廟宇經營權的女性儀式專家，在近現代馬來半島華人民眾宗教生活中，其能見度和重要性足堪與佛教僧人、道教道士並駕。馬來半島初代香花齋姑主要來自近代中國著名僑鄉—廣東梅州地區，她們不僅體現了20世紀前期華南民間喪俗科儀展演之女性化（feminization）與娛樂化的新興發展趨勢，更是彼時「過番」英屬馬來亞（British Malaya）的華人女性移民中少數具有專門技術職能者，在宗教專業領域足可與男性從業者分庭抗禮。這些在華南原鄉傳統中「出家」但不削髮、獨身「住庵」不入尋常婚嫁之途的女性儀式宗教師，從中國移居馬來亞後，其特殊的性別身分、宗教傳統、職業文化使得她們成為海外華人移民社區中邊緣卻又動見觀瞻的群體。在他者有色的凝視與迥異於原鄉的生存處境下，馬來亞香花齋姑箇中多數雖猶勉力為當地華人社群提供多元宗教服務以求安身，卻也逐漸走向了與家鄉先輩同儕分殊的發展道路。本文以馬來（西）亞霹靂州（Perak）香花齋姑半世紀的經歷為例，試圖探究馬來半島香花齋姑群體從中國南來的歷史背景、社會生活與職涯處境，同時藉此進一步思索：近代華人獨身女性在走出原生家庭與家國之外的同時，如何進入和融入海外華人移民社區，在此間立足與生息，抉擇謀劃生涯。

Xianghua Zhaigu香花齋姑(vegetarian women/lay nuns of the“incense and flower”religious tradition) are female ritual experts who perform the xianghua香花(“incense and flower,”a local Buddhist ritual tradition in eastern Guangdong) funeral rites in the Chinese Hakka dialect as well as preside over private temples independently or are contracted to manage public temples. In the Malay Peninsula (previously known as“Malaya”before 1957) during the 20th century, the visibility and importance of these ritual experts rivaled that of Buddhist monks and Taoist priests within the religious life of Chinese immigrant communities. The earliest xianghua zhaigu groups in Malaya were primarily from the Meizhou梅州region in Guangdong, a renowned emigrant community in modern China. These groups not only exemplified emerging trends of feminization and entertainment within the funeral rituals in South China during the first half of the 20th century, but were also among the few specialized professional women among Chinese female immigrants who migrated to British Malaya in the same period. In the field of religious expertise, they could compete with male practitioners.
While most female xianghua ritual experts in Meizhou did not become Buddhist nuns, they remained celibate and lived in nunneries or temples, deviating from the traditional marital paths of Chinese women in general. Upon migrating from China to Malaya, these single women occupied a distinctive social position, straddling the interface between laypeople and nuns. Their unique social identity, shaped by both religious tradition and occupational culture, often positioned them at the noticeable margins of Chinese immigrant communities. This article utilizes the half-century experience of the xianghua zhaigu groups in Perak, a state of Malaya, as a case study, investigating the historical background, social dynamics, and career status of this female religious community that migrated from South China. Furthermore, it reflects on how modern Chinese single women, upon departing from their birth families and homeland, entered and integrated themselves into overseas Chinese immigrant communities, subsequently establishing their identities and planning their careers.