康豹-鸞堂與地方社會的發展：以埔里地區為例.pdf

Spirit-writing Halls and the Development of Local Communities: A Case Study of Puli (Nantou County)*

Paul R. Katz

Research Fellow

Institute of Modern History

Academia Sinica

Abstract: In recent years, a growing number of scholars have begun to undertake path-breaking research projects on the development of communal religious traditions. However, such scholarship has tended to center on temple cults, largely ignoring the question of how modern Chinese social history was also shaped by voluntary religious associations that practiced spirit-writing. The goal of this paper is to highlight the social aspects of spirit-writing groups, particularly “phoenix halls” located in the town of Puli (Nantou County, central Taiwan).

民俗曲藝 174 (2011.12): 103–84

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* I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my research assistants, Chiu Cheng-lueh 邱正略 and Yeh Yu-lun 葉育倫, for all their hard work in collecting primary sources and field data. I have also benefitted from consulting with Mei Hui-yu 梅慧玉 and her students (especially Cheng Yusheng 鄭育陞), who are currently studying Puli’s religious life, including its phoenix halls. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the “Chinese Local Society in Historical Perspective” conference, held in Xiamen 廈門 on June 28 – July 2. Many thanks to Steven Sangren for his highly perceptive comments, and to Choi Chi-cheung 蔡志祥, Kenneth Dean, David Faure, John Lagerwey, Wang Zhenzhong 王振忠, and Ye Mingsheng 葉明生 for their thought-provoking questions. I am especially indebted to the two anonymous referees for their detailed and constructive observations.

In Puli, as well as many other parts of Taiwan, phoenix halls are home to highly diverse communities of men and women committed to the pursuit of self-cultivation, moral edification, and social activism. Their initiated members (literally “disciples of the phoenix”) tend to sub-divide into many different groups, and people belonging to one group may not necessarily play an active role in another group’s activities. In general, about a dozen or even fewer male initiates are in charge of a hall’s spirit-writing rituals. However, dozens of other initiates devote themselves to performing rites for worshipping a hall’s deities, while others manage the hall’s finances and communal activities, including philanthropy, pilgrimages, and participation in local festivals.

The historical and ethnographic data obtained during our research indicates that the rapid growth of Puli’s phoenix halls has in large part resulted from the efforts of local elites, including those who manage these sacred sites and those who perform as wielders during their rites. In addition, it is clear that phoenix halls can only thrive by utilizing extensive networks of connections with other sacred sites, including both local temples and other phoenix halls. Phoenix halls continue to impact Puli’s religious traditions today, both through their rituals and their engagement with local networks of power, while their educational and philanthropic activities have also made an impact on communal life. One might even be so bold as to say that some halls have developed according to patterns similar to those of major public temples.

Key words: phoenix halls, spirit-writing, Puli, disciples of the phoenix, communal temples.

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Introductory Remarks

In recent years, a growing number of scholars have begun to undertake innovative research projects on the development of communal religious traditions.¹ However, such scholarship has tended to center on temple cults, largely ignoring the question of how modern Chinese social history was also shaped by religious groups generally lumped together under the rubric “sectarian religions” (minjian jiaopai 民間教派; minjian zongjiao 民間宗教 in China). Such religious movements included not only large-scale redemptive societies (jiushi tuanti 救世團體, including the Fellowship of Goodness (Tongshanshe 同善社) and the Way of Pervading Unity (Yiguandao 一貫道)), but also a wide range of generally smaller yet highly active lay Buddhist, Taoist, and local religious assocations that practiced spirit-writing (fuji 扶乩/fuluan 扶鸞/jiangbi 降筆). Perhaps because so many of these groups have traditionally been labeled as “marginal” or even “rebellious”,² previous generations of scholars have largely underestimated the ways in which they could shape communal life. The goal of this paper is to rethink such conventional wisdom by highlighting the social aspects of spirit-writing groups, particularly the “phoenix halls” (luantang 鸞堂) located in the town of Puli 埔里 (Nantou 南投 County, central Taiwan) that are the subject of this paper.

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1. Some leading works include Adam Yuet Chau, Miraculous Response: Doing Popular Religion in Contemporary China; Thomas David DuBois, The Sacred Village: Social Change and Religious Life in Rural North China; Vincent Goossaert, “1898: The Beginning of the End for Chinese Religion?” Journal of Asian Studies 65.2: 307–36; Vincent Goossaert, “Jindai Zhongguo de guojia yu zongjiao: zongjiao zhengce yu xueshu dianfan” 近 代中國的國家與宗教：宗教政策與學術典範, Zhongyang yanjiu yuan Jindai shi yanjiu suo jikan 中央研究院近代史研究所集刊 (Bulletin of the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica) 54:169–209; Barend ter Haar, “Local Society and the Organization of Cults in Early Modern China: A Preliminary Study,” Studies in Central & East Asian Religions 8:1–43. See also Paul R. Katz (康豹), “Xifang xuejie yanjiu Zhongguo shequ zongjiao chuantong de zhuyao qushi” 西方學界研究中國社區宗教傳統的主要趨勢, Wenshizhe 文史哲 310:58–74.

2. For more on some of the historiographic issues surrounding the study of these groups, see David Ownby, “Chinese Millenarian Traditions: The Formative Age,” The American Historical Review 104.5: 1513–30; Barend ter Haar, The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History. See also

One way to more effectively consider this problem involves Vincent Goossaert and David Palmer’s thoughtful distinction between ascriptive communities and voluntary congregations. The former, which feature compulsory membership, include not only the temple cults mentioned above but also lineages and corporations; the latter, which are characterized by individual participation, encompass a wide range of groups, including those involved in philanthropy, self-cultivation, and spirit-writing.³ Voluntary congregations are also noteworthy in terms of being oriented towards individual self-cultivation in the pursuit of salvation (immortality, enlightenment). In the case of modern Taiwan, however, some spirit-writing groups have proven able to bridge the gap between ascriptive and voluntary organizations, moving from the private to the public realm and contributing to the development of communal culture.⁴

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the special double issue entitled “救世團體與現代中國的新興宗教運動 (Redemptive Societies and New Religious Movements in Modern China)”, recently published in volumes 172 (June 2011) and 173 (September 2011) of the journal Min-su ch’ü-i 民俗曲藝 (Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore).

3. David Palmer & Vincent Goossaert, The Religious Question in Modern China, pp. 24–27.

4. See for example Stephan Feuchtwang, “City Temples in Taipei Under Three Regimes,” in Mark Elvin & G. William Skinner, eds., The Chinese City Between Two Worlds, pp. 263–301; David K. Jordan & Daniel L. Overmyer, The Flying Phoenix. Aspects of Chinese Sectarianism in Taiwan; Chinese version: 焦大衛、歐大年（著），周育民（譯），《飛鸞》 . See also Philip A. Clart, “Chinese Tradition and Taiwanese Modernity: Morality Books as Social Commentary and Critique,” in Philip A. Clart and Charles B. Jones, eds., Religion in Modern Taiwan: Tradition and Innovation in a Changing Society, pp. 84–97. A broad view of these issues may be found

This is clearly the case for many of Puli’s phoenix halls, the oldest of which were founded during the early years of the Japanese colonial era (1895–1945) (see Table 1 and Map 1). In Puli, as well as many other parts of Taiwan, phoenix halls are home to highly diverse communities of men and women committed to the pursuit of self-cultivation, moral edification, and social activism. Their initiated members (literally “disciples of the phoenix” or luansheng 鸞生) tend to sub-divide into many different groups, and people belonging to one group may not necessarily play an active role in another group’s activities. In general, about a dozen or even fewer male initiates are in charge of a hall’s spirit-writing rituals. Those who actually transcribe poetic and prose messages from the gods are recognized with titles like Chief Wielder (zheng luansheng 正鸞生; zhengji 正乩) and Assistant Wielder (fu luansheng 副鸞生; fuji 副乩), while their assistants are referred to as Sand Sweeper (saosa sheng 掃砂生), Scribe (bilu sheng 筆錄生), etc. However, dozens of initiates do not directly participate in spirit-writing rituals. Many devote themselves to performing rites for worshipping a hall’s deities, especially scripture chanting (songjing 誦經 ) and the liturgies for reciting divine injunctions (qing’gao 請誥) held prior to each spirit-writing session. Others, especially members of the local elite,⁵ manage the hall’s finances and communal activities, including philanthropy, pilgrimages, and participation in communal festivals. There are also worshippers listed as “believers” (xintu 信徒) (especially on forms submitted to the government), who have the right to attend temple committee meetings but may not necessarily be initiated members of the group. Finally, large numbers of men and women who are not formal members at all visit the hall only a few times a year in order to make offerings or pose questions to the gods. To these men and women, a phoenix hall is little different from any other communal temple. Accordingly, phoenix halls might best be conceived of as voluntary associations of religious self-cultivation for initiated members that are also open to non-members and play active roles in the social and religious activities of their communities where they are located.

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in Robert P. Weller, Alternate Civilities: Democracy and Culture in China and Taiwan.

5. In this paper, elites are defined as men and women who have either attained a certain degree of social status (current and former officials and/or members of the gentry) or possess sufficient influence to shape communal affairs (landlords, merchants, temple committee chairmen, etc.). For more on this broader definition of elites, see Joseph W. Esherick and Mary Backus Rankin, “Introduction,” in idem., eds., Chinese Local Elites and Patterns of Dominance, pp. 10–13.

The historical and ethnographic data obtained during our research indicates that the rapid growth of Puli’s phoenix halls has in large part resulted from the efforts of local elites, including those who manage these sacred sites and those who perform as wielders during their rites. In addition, it is clear that phoenix halls can only thrive by utilizing extensive networks of connections with other sacred sites, including both local temples and other phoenix halls. Elite activism and networks of connections were especially apparent in the ways in which phoenix halls helped organize Puli’s Taoist offerings for communal and cosmic renewal (jiao 醮) during the early decades of the postwar era, including performing spirit-writing to determine the dates these communal ceremonies were to be held. Phoenix halls continue to impact Puli’s religious traditions today, both through their rituals and their engagement with local cultural networks of power, while their educational and philanthropic activities have also made an impact on communal life. One might even be so bold as to say that some halls have developed according to patterns similar to those of major public temples (gongmiao 公廟).

I became interested in Puli’s religious traditions while undertaking a two-year research project entitled “南投縣烏牛欄庄的族群關係 與產業變遷” (中研院主題研究計畫), which was part of the 中國地方 社會文化比較 research program led by Professor Wang Ch’iu-kuei 王 秋桂. More recently, I have undertaken a two-year 國科會 research project on Puli’s phoenix halls, entitled “鸞堂與地方社會的發展— 以埔里地區的鸞堂為例” (NSC 97–2410–H–001–112–MY2). That project’s goals have included mapping out the distribution of Puli’s spiritwriting halls, tracing their historical development, exploring the roles played by local elites, delineating their internal organization (especially the interests and agendas of different worshippers), and analyzing the significance of their rituals. During the past two years, we have examined the histories of these sacred sites, while also conducting extensive interviews with their managers and wielders. The project also undertook in-depth statistical analysis of the data collected. In addition, we have observed and recorded the spirit-writing rituals performed at these halls, paying close attention to the different types of questions worshippers pose to the gods during these rites.

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The above research agendas have drawn on scholarship on the social dynamics of spirit-writing groups, the most notable accomplishment being the book entitled The Flying Phoenix (Feiluan 飛鸞), published as the result of a cooperative research project involving Daniel L. Overmyer and David K. Jordan. Gary Seaman’s pioneering work on the importance of phoenix halls in Puli’s modern history has also proved invaluable for my own research.⁶ Wang Chien-chuan 王見 川 and Li Shyh-wei 李世偉 have done ground-breaking research on Hakka (Kejia 客家) phoenix halls similar to those discussed in this paper,⁷ while Cheng Pao-chen 鄭寶珍 has completed an M.A. thesis on the history of one such hall with close links to Puli: the Daiquan tang 代勸堂.⁸

In the pages below, I present data on the growth of some of Puli’s most venerable phoenix halls dating back to the first years of the Japanese colonial era, including the Huaishan tang 懷善堂, Canzan tang 參贊堂, Yuhua tang 育化堂, and Tongtian tang 通天堂. I also examine the roles played by phoenix halls built during the early postwar era, especially the Xingling si 醒靈寺, Xingjue tang 醒覺堂, Daohua tang 導化堂, Yanhua tang 衍化堂, and Liangxian tang 良顯堂 (see Appendix 1). Inasmuch as the Huaishan tang 懷善堂 and Tongtian tang 通天堂 currently do not perform spirit-writing rituals, fieldwork and informant interviews centered on the other seven halls listed above. Data collected from this research delineates these halls’ contributions to communal life, membership structures, mutual assistance networks, and ritual practices. However, the data presented here are by no means exhaustive; many newer halls have not been included, and there are numerous opportunities for additional research on how these sacred sites mold the formation of local communities and communal identities.

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6. Gary W. Seaman, Temple Organization in a Chinese Village, in Lou Tzuk’uang 婁子匡, ed., Asian Folklore and Social Life Monographs, volume 101.

7. Wang Chien-chuan 王見川 and Li Shyh-wei 李世偉, Taiwan de zongjiaoyu wenhua 臺灣的宗教與文化, pp. 253–78; Wang Chien-chuan 王見川 andLi Shyh-wei 李世偉, Taiwan de minjian zongjiao yu xinyang 臺灣的民間宗教與信仰, pp. 293–338.

8. Cheng Pao-chen 鄭寶珍, “Rizhi shiqi Taiwan daonei Kejia diqu luantang fazhan: yi Xinzhu Jiuqionglin Feifengshan Daiquan tang weili” 日治時期臺 灣島內客家地區鸞堂發展 —以新竹九芎林飛鳳山「代勸堂」為例 , MA thesis, Graduate Institute of Hakka Cultural Studies, National Central University.

The Growth of Puli’s Phoenix Halls

The town of Puli is located in Nantou, Taiwan’s sole land-locked county situated in the heart of this island nation. Its settlement by Han Chinese migrants began relatively late, and sparked a series of bloody uprisings during the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Qing state attempted to gain control over this area by encouraging a series of migrations of Plains Aborigines (pingpuzu 平埔族), the largest of which, involving the relocation of over 2,000 people from Western plains villages to the Puli basin, took place in 1823. Prior to the 1870s, the majority of Puli’s inhabitants were Plains Aborigines (Hoanya 洪 雅, Pazeh 巴宰, and Taokas 道卡斯), as well as Mountain Aborigines (Atayal 泰雅).⁹ The situation began to change during the late nineteenth century, when the Qing court enacted its “opening the mountains and pacifying the Aborigines” (kaishan fufan 開山撫番) policies, sending civil and military officials to the Puli area to encourage its economic development. In 1878, the Regional Commander (zongbing 總兵) Wu Guangliang 吳光亮 (fl. 1878–1888) constructed a city wall around the town of Puli, and the increased official presence helped spark a wave of Han Chinese migration.¹⁰ Of those Han Chinese who settled in Puli, Hoklo (Heluo 河洛) Quanzhou 泉州 natives resided in the town (where they engaged in commercial enterprises), while Zhangzhou 漳州 natives were scattered among Plains Aboriginal communities. The Hakka resided in the hills surrounding the Puli basin.¹¹

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9. Detailed information on the history of this area may be found in Liu Chihwan 劉枝萬, Taiwan Puli xiangtu zhigao 臺灣埔里鄉土志稿; Liu Chih-wan 劉枝萬 and Shih Chang-ju 石璋如 et al., eds., Nantou xianzhi gao 南投縣 志稿; John R. Shepherd, Statecraft and Political Economy on the Taiwan Frontier, 1600–1800, pp. 390–93.

The development of Puli’s sacred sites played a vital role in the historical processes described above. Based on Appendix 1, we can see that Puli’s oldest temple is the Hengji gong 恒吉宮, which was founded in 1871 (some accounts claim this took place in 1824). This temple was dedicated to the goddess Mazu 媽祖, and attracted the support of both Han Chinese and Plains Aborigine elites. Another venerable temple, the Futong gong 福同宮, was dedicated to martial deities renowned for warding off Aboriginal incursions, namely Cankui zushi 慚愧祖師 and Xuantian shangdi 玄天上帝. A third, the Yimin ci 義民祠 (founded in 1887), reveals the importance of Hakka migration in Puli’s development (see below).

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10. Chiu Cheng-lueh 邱正略, “Shoufan huko ji yange diaocha zhui yizhu (Nantou tin Puli shebao bufen)”《熟蕃戶口及沿革調查綴》譯註（南投廳 埔里社堡部分）, Jinan shixue 暨南史學 8:260–61; Teng Hsiang-yang 鄧相 揚, Xunmi Puli Kejia taohuayuan: Nantou xian Puli zhen Kejia ziyuan diaocha qimo baogao 尋覓埔里客家桃花園—南投縣埔里鎮客家資源調 查期末報告, p. 21.

11. Hung Min-lin 洪敏麟, Taiwan jiudiming zhi yange (dier ce) 臺灣舊地名之沿革（第二冊） , pp. 491–92; Chiu Cheng-lueh 邱正略, “Rizhi shiqi Pulide zhimin tongzhi yu difang fazhan” 日治時期埔里的殖民統治與地方發展, PhD diss., Department of History, National Chi Nan University; TengHsiang-yang 鄧相揚, “Puli zhen Kejia tuoken gailüe” 埔里鎮客家拓墾概略, Shuishalian zazhi 水沙連雜誌 42:21–32.

See also Teng Hsiang-yang 鄧相揚, “Pingpu zuqun tuoken Meishequn chuantong lingyu de chutan 平埔族群拓墾眉社群傳統領域的初探,” paper presented at Shuishalian quyu yanjiu xueshu yantaohui: Liu Chih-wan xiansheng yu Shuishalian quyu yanjiu 水沙連區域研究學術研討會：劉枝 萬先生與水沙連區域研究, October 18–19, 2008.

Puli’s oldest phoenix hall, the Huaishan tang 懷善堂, is said to have been founded as a City God temple in 1846 (some sources list the year 1888), and converted into a phoenix hall in 1900 due to the efforts of elites like Shi Baichuan 施百川 (1876–1919), Shi Yunchai 施 雲釵 (1901–1960), Chen Shilian 陳石鍊 (1900–1974), and Liu Wantong 劉萬通 (1924–2010).¹² Other phoenix halls were founded shortly thereafter, including the Canzan tang 參贊堂 (1902), Tongtian tang 通天堂 (1909),¹³ and Yuhua tang 育化堂 (1911).¹⁴ Another leading phoenix hall was the Xinghua tang 醒化堂. Originally founded in Rinan 日南 as a private altar in 1907, it was built as a separate hall in 1917 and relocated and reconstructed in Ailan 愛蘭 as the Xingling si 醒靈寺 in 1949.¹⁵ These halls had close links to Puli’s main vegetarian halls (zhaitang 齋堂), including the Shantian si 善天寺 (1888), Jiuling si 久靈寺 (1904), and Jueling si 覺靈寺 (1905).¹⁶ The leadership of these halls reflects the ethnic patterns described above. Taking Puli’s downtown phoenix halls as examples, of the Huaishan tang elites for whom we have data, 11 were Hoklo and only 1 Hakka; the figures for the Yuhua tang are 11 Hoklo, 1 Hakka, and 2 Plains Aborigines. In the case of the Canzan tang, which was founded by Hakka elites, the fig-

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12. Huaishan 懷善 , pp. 21–23; Pan Qixian 潘祈賢 , ed., Puli Yinghai Chenghuang miao yange 埔里瀛海城隍廟沿革, pp.13–25; Puli Yuhua tang 埔里育化堂, Pomi zhen 破迷針, pp. 37–38.

13. Puli Tongtian tang 埔里通天堂, Dengguang liushi nian 鐙光六十年, pp. 1–11; Teng Keng-yang 鄧鏗揚 and Lai Min-hsiu 賴敏修, eds., Puli qu simiao hongdao xiehui jinian tekan 埔里區寺廟弘道協會紀念特刊, p. 36.

14. Yuhua tang bianji weiyuanhui 育化堂編輯委員會, Zhaoping gong Yuhua tang jianshi 昭平宮育化堂簡史, pp. 12–13, 23–24.

15. Xingling si 醒靈寺, Xingling si jijin 醒靈集錦, “Xu” 序, p. 2; Caituan faren Taiwan sheng Puli Xingling si 財團法人臺灣省埔里醒靈寺, ed., Xingling si zhuankan 醒靈寺專刊, pp. 4–6.

16. The latter two vegetarian halls were founded by members of Puli’s Hakka community. See Cai Jinchuan 蔡錦川, Canzan suijin disan ji 參贊碎錦第 三集, pp. 36–37; interview with Cai Jinchuan (2007.10.25).