在地化的女性宗教空間與性別實踐－新加坡、馬來西亞先天道齋堂的案例考察

Abstract

中國民間宗教先天道於19世紀中葉傳入馬來亞，在新馬地區相對自由的宗教生態下「在地化」發展，創建了不少承自同一道脈但風格迥異的教派齋堂。坤道齋堂在齋姑的領導下，為女性提供了自我組織和培力的場域，成為在中國文化認知中較為稀見的女性空間。先天道在新馬地區刊印與傳播寶卷的情況，晚至20世紀70年代仍可發現，説明宗教經卷對先天道在地發展的作用。其它「在地化」的發展軌跡如承自羅教《五部六冊》的「八部龍經」、與海峽殖民地「娘惹」文化相結合的齋堂、或逐漸與大乘佛教相融合的近況，成爲觀察中國傳統宗教域外發展的獨特案例。本文聚焦齋堂「在地化」的特徵及其作為「性別空間」的定位，從主導性、宗教性、服務性及傳播性等面向探索其在新馬地區的發展歷史與現狀，並從先天道坤道修煉的議題，思考性別意義的成型。

Xiantian dao, a Chinese popular religious group, spread to Malaysia in the mid-nineteenth century, and developed in the relatively free religious environments of both Singapore and Malaysia, whereby many vegetarian halls were created by various religious denominations.These vegetarian halls stemmed from the same religious tradition, but their forms were widely disparate. Female vegetarian halls, under the leadership of vegetarian nuns (zhaigu 齋姑), offer a space for women`s self-assembly and empowerment, and have become a female space relatively unseen in the Chinese cultural sphere. Evidence of the printing and dissemination of precious scrolls by Xiantian dao in Singapore and Malaysia can be found as late the 1970s, illustrating the role of religious texts in the local development of Xiantian dao. Other trajectories of localized manifestations, such as the mutual integration of the Babu longjing 八部龍經 (＂Eight Volumes of Dragon Scriptures＂) from Luo Jiao`s 羅教 Wubu liuce 五部六冊 (Five Books in Six Fascicles) with Straits-born Chinese (Peranakan Chinese) culture in vegetarian halls or the gradual fusion of these venues with Mahayana Buddhism, have become unique cases to observe the development of traditional Chinese religion outside of Mainland China. From the perspective of leadership, religiosity, service, and the dissemination of textual materials, this article focuses on vegetarian halls, their localized characteristics and their status as a gendered space, before turning to an exploration of the historical development and present status of halls in Singapore and Malaysia. Finally, it reflects on the formation of meanings of gender from the question of cultivation practices at Xiantian dao`s female vegetarian halls.