臺灣天主教的祖先敬拜禮儀

Abstract

祖先在漢人文化裡占有很重要的位置，幾乎每一個家庭都有祭拜自己祖先的習俗。以前研究人類宗教的人類學家，都研究一般民間宗教信徒，本研究將以天主教徒為主。什麼研究對象僅限於天主教範圍之內？因為從過去到現在，在中國天主教歷史當中，這個現象成為教會最大的爭論題目。即使到現在雖然“敬祖”這種禮儀已被天主教會准許了，但是這方面的爭論還持續著。Freedman(1958)，許烺光 (Hsu 1967)以來，人類學家對漢人祭拜的研究，一直綿延不斷。在台灣，過去數十年來的研究，譬如Ahern (1973)，Wolf (1974)，Harrel (1974)，李亦園 (1976)，王崧興 (1976)，等之學者的研究（詳看參考書目），已使我們對漢人祖先祭拜的現象，祖先祭拜與風水，分家，親屬的關係有了非常清楚的瞭解。研究要分析的田野地區是在台北市萬華區大理街175巷2號，「大理街復活堂」。這座教堂有一百位教友左右，本堂神父是來自於比利時的聖母聖心會（C.I.C.M. Congregation of Immaculate Heart of Mary)。主教會之內也有不少的禮儀關於祖先祭敬，我簡短的來提出一些：先教友在彌撒中，要為自己的祖先及一切亡者祈禱。在彌撒經文中祈禱說：「求你也垂念所有的祖先和去世的人，使他們享見你光輝的聖容」（感恩經第二式）。外在每年11月，煉靈月中，特別為亡者祈禱：「使他們分享基督的勝利，也能早登天鄉，仰瞻造生救世的真主，永享無窮的福樂」。恩已亡日及清明掃幕節，在教會公墓都特別追恩亡者，教友可以為已故親友之意向奉獻感恩祭。春節，堂區感恩禮之後皆有祭敬祖先的儀式，表達飲水恩源、緬懷先祖得孝恩。不少堂區教友也樂於將祖先姓名登錄在聖堂內的共同牌位上，並嵌上遺像，便於主日進堂祈禱時追念他們。上述所提到以前研究漢人宗教的人類學家已使我們對漢人祖先祭拜的現象，祖先祭拜與風水，分家，親屬的關係有了非常清楚的瞭解。而前輩人類學家的研究，都是建主在研究一般漢人民間宗教的信徒之上，本人將研究台灣的天主教徒，來瞭解受到國外宗教影響的漢人，如何面對祖先祭拜。此，本研究計畫期望能為深入瞭解祖先祭拜的現象提供新的貢獻。主教祖先祭拜的現象已被廣泛地討論與研究，但是大部分的研究者只是去瞭解神學或禮儀方面的問題。反之，本人的目標並不是解決神學或禮儀方面的問題，而是透過一個象徵人類學的研究方式去瞭解天主教的敬祖現象，以此更深刻地去研究上述所提到的象徵整合與宗教的本土化的現象。

Ancestors are considered one of the most important points in Han (漢) culture, every family, every Chinese must pray for his ancestors. This concept permeates all the complex and deep Han culture, and it is very present in the everyday life of most Han people.any anthropologists who have studied the religion of the Han people in Taiwan and in China have met this cultural phenomenon. Since Freedman (1958) and Francis Hsu (Hsu 1967), anthropologists have continued to research and study the worship of ancestors among Han people. In Taiwan, the research of the last decades was performed by many distinguished anthropologists. I will only cite Ahern (1973), Wolf (1974;1976), Feuchtwang (1974) Harrel (1974), Li Yih-Yuan (1976), Wang Song-hsing (1976), etc. The studies of these have already helped us deeply comprehend the phenomenon of Han’s ancestors worship, and the relation between the ancestors'' worship and geomantic omen, lineage, kinship, family division, and so on.y research will mainly focus on how Taiwanese Catholics honor their ancestors and how these rites represent a link between the two cultural systems, the Han popular religion and the Catholic one. In most Taiwanese Catholic homes, it is quite common to find ancestors altars in the living room, or at least, pictures representing familiar ancestors. During the Chinese New Year, Taiwanese Catholics burn incense, offer food and wine at the ancestor’s tablets, and inside the churches particular ceremonies are performed in honor and remembrance of the ancestors. These are considered ways of venerating the dead.aiwanese Catholics, especially if freshly converted, often wonder whether ancestor-veneration (as a priest told me, ancestor-worship is a misnomer) is compatible with the Catholic faith. It is a question with a history that has very deep roots, which dates back four centuries ago, to the beginnings of the time of Matteo Ricci (limadou利瑪竇). Actually, in the course of history, these kinds of practices have been the most controversial point inside the Chinese Catholic Church, raising a debate which protracted itself for centuries. Even today, if these kinds of rituals have been allowed by the ecclesiastic authorities, the dispute, although in different ways, is still continuing.s we will see the so-called cult of ancestors had a significant influence not only within the Catholic Church, but it also raised a long discussion inside the Christian Protestant Church (Addison 1925). Looking outside the Christian contest, these practices and their cultural implications also deeply influenced the religious symbols of the Buddhist tradition (Teiser 1996; Chun-Fang Yu 2001; Batairwa 2006).