| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 台灣歷史文化及語言研究所 === 101 === Abstract
“Gua-zui-hiou”, a civil religious custom in Taiwan, is a religious ritual for gods to recruit soldiers and augment their armed forces. Erecting altars alongside the water, gods recruit all the non-worshiped spirits as holy warriors to protect their reigning area. This study is to research the process of “gua-zui-hiou” which had been held at Chi-Ci Temple in Zhi-Guang, Kaohsiung in 2010 and the implications for the society and culture. Since the ritual hadn’t been attended in time, the primary of research had been executed by analyzing the recorded video of the whole process, shot by Da-Yi recording company which was employed by Chi- Ci Temple and interviewing the attendees of the temple, the priests of Daoism and the disciples in order to representation the ritual of “gua-zui-hiou”.
Based on the ritual of “gua-zui-hiou”, the research introduces the main worshiped gods and important times and rituals of the Chi-Ci Temple to further explore the location where the ritual has been held and represent the video of the ritual of “gua-zui-hiou” and analyze its social and cultural meanings.
Through the analysis of the research, three social and cultural implications have been discovered. (1) Religious implication: The ritual of “gua-zui-hiou” had been developed from the combination of the Taiwanese customs based on the fear of evil spirits and frequently severe floods and shipwrecks in the early age of Taiwan. (2) Social implication: Believers’ chasing for peaceful mind and spiritual well-being has been satisfied by the ritual. No matter what motivates the communications between temples, all transactions will be affected by practical reasons. (3) Cultural implication: Through the ritual of “gua-zui-hiou”, believers resolve and reduce the fear and the sense of crisis toward evil spirits.
People’s desire for approaching good fortune, avoiding misfortunes and eliminating all kinds of troubles had been satisfied by “gua-zui-hiou”, originally a ritual designed to prevent the invasion of evil spirits but ultimately transformed to request the ghosts to protect the community. Constructed by people, the thinking patterns and operating behaviors toward the relationship among humans, ghosts, gods and supernatural powers possess more intact expressions and interpretations through the implementation and transformation of the ritual.
Key words: gua-zui-hiou, ritual, Chi- Ci Temple, non-worshiped spirits, soldier-recruit, visual representation
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