| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 台灣文化及語言文學研究所在職進修碩士班 === 98 === This paper is intended as an investigation on the historical changes a special rite of the ghost’s festival that was held in Toucheng, where is located in the northeast of Taiwan. The place is named “Toucheng” that could be said the first reclamation’s town in other words. Traditionally, there is a particular rite of ghost’s festival that is called “chiang-ku”, that has continued to be hold until now almost 90 years in this town. The meaning of chiang-ku could be said to robe those sacrificial food under the special table about 30 meters high at the end of the rite on occasion of ghost’s festival.
Historically, there was very popular that was held the chiang-ku in many part of Taiwan during the Ching dynasty. Now, the chiang-ku was held rarely except in Toucheng and in Hengchun, the most south town of Taiwan. We will re-examine historically those different periods of chiang-ku in Toucheng. It was first reported by newspaper in 1923 during the Japanese era, and it was held more or less on a regular basis until 1936. After the World War II, the chiang-ku was represented religiously once again, but it was interrupted due to the martial law. Until the martial law was ceased, the chiang-ku was held regularly in Toucheng and the religious event was regarded as the most difficult folk activity in Taiwan, which attracted many participators climbing as a sport or a competition.
In this thesis, I want to argue the evolution of chiang-ku’s meaning from the religious to the other development. Based on Durkheim’s theory on the sacred and the secular, I discovered that the folk activity had shifted slowly from its original sacred meaning. This path of change, however, was not directly. After the martial law, the chiang-ku was simply regarded as an unforgettable collective memory. And now, it was also become an image of Taiwan’s culture and moved away its religious origin. Increasingly, it was aligned itself with the secular society in Taiwan.
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