| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 客家政治經濟與政策研究所在職碩士專班 === 97 === With the data collected mainly by participant observation, interview survey and complementarily by field investigation, this thesis tries to have an overall observation and exploration of the collective worships in Pai-bu-fan Settlement. This research is designed for the observation of the collective worships in different community levels, mainly the collective worships in Pai-bu-fan Settlement, from the collective worships with the settlement properties, village properties, to the pan-village properties; and, for the exploration of relationships among the people, ghosts, and gods, represented in the collective worships in Pai-bu-fan Settlement.
This thesis consists of six chapters. The topic of chapter one is introduction; chapter two is for the literature review. Chapter three is about the collective worships in the settlement, which present the ways residents seek for blessing and protection from the gods and spirits of nature to satisfy their daily needs, including the ceremony of collective worships to the heaven gods, river gods, earth gods, and the pu-du ritual to pacify the ghosts. Due to the enclosed geographic environment, these ceremony activities form an independent system of collective worships of Pai-bu-fan Settlement. Chapter four is for the pan-village collective worships. This chapter discusses how people from different settlements form social connections through different believes of gods and spirits, and how the interactions among different groups of people are linked by collective worships of gods and spirits of nature. Influenced by the division adjustment of administrative district and the improvement of transportation, the worship activities in Pai-bu-fan Settlement, including the Ping-an opera festival, with village property, in Nei-wan during the Chinese New Year and the the pu-du ritual to the ghosts, with pan-village property, during the Ghost Festival of Er-loon Temple in mid-summer, have been enclosed into the system of Er-loon Temple. Meanwhile, the participation of the Ma-zu procession of Wu-pao Temple has helped Pai-bu-fan Settlement’s collective worships to get out from the fringe of the system of pan-village property. Chapter five mainly focuses on the collective worships of application style. When encountering natural calamities, residents of Pai-bu-fan Settlement, by individual or group worship for blessing, seek for protection from their gods and spirits to get through crises. Among all, they most dread the calamities caused by “good brothers,” the wandering ghosts; therefore, the concept of the pu-du ritual has been intensified. Through activities of the pu-du ritual to pacify the ghosts, residents seek to reach a harmonious status among the people, ghosts, and gods. Chapter six is for the conclusion of this research.
This research has found certain features of the collective worships in Pai-bu-fan Settlement. The grass-roots belief of the ceremony of collective worships to the heaven gods in Hakka settlements acts as the recognition of the identification of geographical homeland. The ceremony of collective worships to the river gods originated from the engagement with the floods of Da-an River and has become a distinct feature of collective worships in the area of Pai-bu-fan Settlement. The concept of the pu-du ritual to pacify the ghosts has been intensified by the constantly occurred natural calamities; in this way, the pu-du ritual to pacify the ghosts to “good brothers” is highly emphasized in this area. The external relations which reflect the thought of giving and receiving gained from the collective worships are presented in a variation relation showing cessation, constant involvement, newly involvement of the collective worships in this area. When settlement residents encounter natural calamities, the collective worships for blessing, seek for protection from gods and spirits, are their ways and means of getting through the crises. In an overall view, the collective worships in Pai-bu-fan Settlement represent the ways the residents remain different levels of external relations among settlements and villages, deal with natural calamities, and the embodiment of seeking for blessing and protection from the gods and spirits and their emphasis on the pu-du ritual to pacify the ghosts.
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