A Case Study of Folk Culture of Wandering Immortals with Characteristics in Fujian and Taiwan

Qingshan Wang, whose full name is Qingshan Ling An Wang Zun, is the patron saint of Qingshan in Hui 'an County, Sanyi, Quanzhou, Fujian. He not only has the divinity of mountain god and administrative god, but also has the function of judicial god, which is equivalent to the duke of Sanyi. Therefore, Castle Peak King has gods such as judges, aides of Yin and Yang departments and general Fan Xie, and often has patrol and unannounced visits. The main purpose is to observe the good and evil within the jurisdiction and catch the evil. Japanese scholar Kiichiro Suzuki pointed out in the book "Wedding and Funeral Sacrifice and Mid-year Behavior of the Old Xi Guan in Taiwan Province Province" that the function of hunting patrol in the Wangshi Dynasty in Qingshan was also related to the belief in the prince. With the reclamation of Sanyi immigrants in Quanzhou, Taiwan Province Province, the belief in Castle Peak King in Taiwan Province Province is expanding day by day, and its most famous temple is Castle Peak Palace in Mongga.

Goodbye Monga: The Sudden Visit of King Qingshan

Lunar calendar 10 The annual "Welcome to the King of Castle Peak" is an annual grand event in Mongga, which is also commonly known as "Bye-bye in Mongga". The ceremony lasted for four days, including unannounced visits in the first two days, a national tour on the third day, and Wang Qingshan's birthday on the fourth day. No matter day or night, the war generals will gather together to compete, the magic soldiers will March all over the country, and the believers will gather together to worship, and the guns will come and go, and the scene will be lively and enthusiastic. ...

Mengga Castle Peak Palace, located in Guiyang Street, Taipei, was built in the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856) and dedicated to Ling 'an Zun Wang, referred to as Castle Peak King for short. Together with Taipei Longshan Temple and Qingshuiyan Ancestral Temple, it is also called the three major temples in Mengjia and listed as a third-class monument.

According to legend, during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, a great plague occurred. Fishermen from Hui 'an County, Quanzhou, Fujian Province were invited to Mengga with the statue of Qingshan King, hoping to level the plague with divine power. After the sick people came to pray for protection, many people recovered, so the number of believers increased and they raised funds to build temples, which has a history of 150 years.

Castle Peak King is not only regarded as a powerful god who can eliminate the plague, but also, like Lord Huang Cheng, has a local patron saint who grasps the justice of the underworld, punishes evil and promotes good.

"Unannounced visit" refers to the night patrol of the gods, with the purpose of expelling evil furuncle, visiting people's sufferings and catching evil spirits. Because night patrol is an action to catch ghosts and ward off evil spirits, in order to prevent evil spirits from running in, the doors and windows of early residents are closed, and adults will prohibit children from watching and urge them to go to bed early. However, there is no such thing as avoiding evil spirits now.

This paper records the night patrol on the second day of the festival (national calendar 65438+February 7/lunar calendar 65438+1October 2 1). The activity starts at four o'clock in the afternoon, starts from Castle Peak Palace, bypasses Mongga and Ximen, and finally returns to Castle Peak Palace.

"Ma Bao Zi" is the pioneer of the national night patrol. Its task is to explore the road and inform the news, and to beat gongs and drums along the way to inform the believers that teams from all over the country are about to arrive. Ma Bao's costume is quite strange, wearing a hat, carrying a paper umbrella, portable gongs and sandals on her shoulders, a moustache and a pair of reading glasses.

Although Ma Baozi's skirt looks a little slippery, it has special significance. For example, a hat and a paper umbrella can protect Ma Bao from the wind and rain on the road, his glasses should distinguish right from wrong, and his two beards are like swallows, which mean words (swallows) and letters.

Followed by the "messenger" is the "land sedan chair", which is the guide of the unannounced night patrol team.

Head flag, western lantern, color card, drum pavilion, etc. The responsible persons of various propaganda agencies attended the ceremony.

The leader composed of large gods is one of the representative leaders of temple fair activities. In the south, this large god is called "God" and in the north, it is called "Daxian". Generally speaking, gods usually appear in groups and rarely appear alone. When King Qingshan was on patrol, the common immortals were General Xie (the seventh Lord), General Fan (the eighth Lord), Judge Wen and Judge Wu.

Daizai's figure is about twice as tall as the average person. One person wears a condom and carries it, striding forward, letting the idol's hands swing greatly to demonstrate sternly.

Seven lords and eight lords, one tall, one short, one white and one black, are messengers of the underworld. Their duty is to catch evil spirits and monsters and maintain order in the underworld. They are indispensable gods in night patrols and unannounced visits.

Gentle, pink-faced judge (right), whose duty is to investigate people's morality, record good and evil, and make a judgment. You can see the judge holding a writing brush in one hand and a judgment in the other. Majestic military judge (left), whose position is a civil judge, is responsible for executing prisoners' crimes, with five flags behind him and holding instruments of torture.

A string of "salty cakes" will be hung around the neck of Daxian Daizai. These round cakes with holes in the middle are things to pray for peace. It is often seen that believers are scrambling to grab "salty cakes" and pray for peace.

Immediately after the formation of Daizi, there was a "deacon team" and a "long-legged card". In addition to the title of God, there are words such as silence and avoidance on the long-foot card. The "sweeper" with gongs is an official who clears the way for the gods and cleans up the dirt, polluted air and ghosts along the way.

The Eight Generals Regiment, the guardian of the Castle Peak King before driving, consists of eight generals and a gourd boy. Because they are armed with shackles and instruments of torture, they are called cangue generals and lock generals (four each). General cangue was red-faced, wearing a red overskirt to show his right shoulder, General Lock was green, and General overskirt was wearing a green one to show his left shoulder. All eight generals wore official hats and showed their fangs. The boy holding the gourd is said to be the incarnation of the white crane and the guide in the "Eight Generals Group", also known as the guide boy.

The weapons held by the Eight Generals Regiment are cangue, lock, tiger tag, fire tag, hammer, broadsword, tiger head brake and nail plate.

The "Eight Generals' Regiment" here is not an "Eight Generals' Regiment". Besides the different faces, shapes and basic members, the actions and steps are also different. Generally speaking, the action of "Eight Generals" is more feminine than that of "Eight Generals".

Headlights, horsehead gongs, whistles and horns are all led by Master Qingshan. They commanded, cleared the way and announced the arrival of the gods.

Finally, there is the sedan chair of Castle Peak King.

In order to make the sedan chair stay longer, some temples and altar heads will send sentry teams to pick up the car and set off fireworks waterfalls to block the sedan chair.

At the last stop of the night tour, I will take a bus back to Castle Peak Palace, and Tai Zai, the Great Immortal, will hold a ceremony of "going too far" and then return to the temple. Excessive fire means purity, excessive idol means that evil spirits are not possessed, and excessive believers mean blessing and eliminating disasters.

When Daxian returned one by one, Castle Peak Palace was crowded with worshippers.

Finally, Castle Peak King also returned to drive, ending his night trip.