| Summary: | 碩士 === 玄奘大學 === 宗教學系碩士在職專班 === 103 === Abstract
Gong Tian Temple, the religious center of f Baishatun of Miaoli County, was founded in 1863. Its main deity is Goddess Mazu and the annual procession of Goddess Mazu covers four counties making it the longest distance, by-foot religious procession in Taiwan. One major characteristic of Baishatun Mazu procession is that it is without a fixed route. The devotees believe the direction of the procession is led by the Goddess’ palanquin itself. Only the date and number of procession days are decided by a form of divination called zhijiao, and the rest of the procession is said to be led by Goddess Mazu.
Given the conveniences of today’s transportation, why do people still want to embark on the religious procession by foot? The number of pilgrims who follow the Baishatun Mazu procession by foot (xiangdeng jiao) increase year by year, so how does one manage the expansion of the worship terrain (jisi quan)? Plus how do the instant messaging and the new generation of xiangden jiao change the landscape? Those are questions this paper aims to investigate.
The author is a native of Baishatun and this research is conducted from the perspective of a native and Mazu devotee. It will also explore the history of the Baishatun Mazu procession and the jinghuo ritual (or yihuo as in the local dialect). As a native of Baishatun, this author has the privilege to observe the procession since childhood as well as access to conduct formal and informal interviews with local elders and xiangdeng jiao. This author also took part in 2015 Baishatun Mazu procession in order to conduct more formal and thorough participant observation. All of these help to provide rich data for an ethnographic research.
In this paper, Chapter Two and Chapter Three will give a background introduction to the Mazu belief and the various rituals of Baishatun Mazu procession. Chapter Four focuses on the development and change of the procession. The author hopes that through this research the local culture might be passed on and to inspire furtherer studies Baishatun Mazu.
Keywords: Goddess Mazu, Baishatun Mazu, procession of Baishatun Mazu, Taiwan popular religion, jinghuo ritual, pilgrims by foot
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