邊陲島嶼再中心化：馬祖進香的探討

Abstract

This article investigates how the people in the de-militarized Mazu islands deploy pilgrimages to reconnect themselves with both sides of the Taiwan Strait and recentralize themselves in the rapidly-changing Taiwan-China relations. In this new era, pilgrimages in Mazu have also developed forms different from those seen in Taiwan pilgrimages. Formed in the new regional politico-economy, they are a way of conveying the Mazu people’s imaginations of, and engaging with, present-day changes. This paper argues that religion is no longer the dominating factor in these pilgrimages. The source of power of pilgrimage comes not only from engaging with deities, but also from politics and economy. Mazu provides us with an excellent example of reflecting what pilgrimage is.

本文探討馬祖在解除戰地政務後，如何透過進香儀式的舉行，企圖重新連結兩岸，並建立新的區域網絡。因此，進香蘊含了馬祖人「再中心化」的渴望與想像。在新的時代中，馬祖的進香也逐漸發展出有別於台灣進香的形式。本文說明當代馬祖的進香如何結合過去「規律」與「即興」兩種不同的進香型式，發展出新的進香形態。本文論述這種新式進香的出現不但與當代馬祖所在之兩岸政治經濟局勢有關，也是當地人挪用、再造宗教儀式來呈現他們對當代變遷的理解與想像。此外，馬祖進香顯示出新時代的進香中，宗教不再有全然的支配性。相反的，儀式的力量來源往往更為多元。馬祖進香不但讓我們看到當代的進香如何有別於傳統，也挑戰了我們對過去對進香的理解。