兩岸關帝文化一脈相承

關帝文化在海峽兩岸世代相承、深入人心，是中華文化的一個重要組成部分，正如著名愛國人士于右任先生曾為臺灣一關公廟題聯所說:“‘忠義’二字團結了中華兒女;《春秋》一書代表著民族精神。”

一

臺灣有大大小小近千座關帝廟，它們都是在古代從海峽西岸的福建東山島分靈過去的。

東山島與臺灣隔海相望，是臺胞重點祖居地，也是傳播中華文化的前沿碼頭。名聞遐邇的東山島關帝廟，始建于明洪武二十年(1387)，號稱全國五大關廟之一，被譽為“海峽第一關廟”，是臺灣關帝廟(宮)的香緣祖廟。《臺灣寺廟大觀》記載:“全臺關帝廟都是明清時期從閩南東山島的銅陵關帝廟分靈過去的。”

1995年1月11日，東山島關帝神像應邀“出巡”臺灣半年，首開直航臺灣之先例，被臺灣媒體稱為“海峽春回暖，破冰使者來”。有報道說:“東山關帝廟主神關圣帝君應邀出巡臺灣，引得島內數十萬信眾，全島轟動。此乃四十多年來大陸神像跨越海峽之首例。”2009年10月29日，東山島關帝神像再次應邀赴臺灣進行為期3個月的“出巡”。1992年至2012年，海峽兩岸關帝文化旅游節在東山島連續舉辦了21屆，每一屆都有大批臺灣和海外信眾前來謁祖祭拜，學術團體舉行文化研討，各界名人紛紛題詞贈匾。2008年，這一文化節被國務院臺灣事務辦公室列為全國對臺交流重點項目，從而成為促進海峽兩岸交流交往、和平發展的重要平臺，并起到相當的推助作用。

在臺灣，各行各業幾乎都崇拜關公，許多家庭的廳堂正中的位置都是掛關帝像及其對聯的。過年過節以及農歷五月十三日關帝誕辰，臺灣信眾都要隆重備辦牲禮，虔誠地頂禮膜拜，祈求關帝“關護”家庭、事業、前途、健康，等等。臺灣這種奇特的關帝文化信俗與香緣祖廟所在地東山島百姓自古共奉關帝為祖，“戶戶皆掛關帝像，家家都是關帝廟”的信俗奇觀一脈相承。兩地民眾有共同的方言、生活傳統、心理習慣、思維方式和價值取向，組成了一個共同的文化信仰。

二

關帝崇拜熱有著悠久的歷史。唐總章三年(670)，陳政、陳元光奉旨開發閩南，帶來了家鄉所奉祀的關羽神像，作為戰士們的心靈依托。宋大中祥符年間(1008-1016)，真宗召頒天下崇祀關公。當時，東山設置四鋪，駐鋪兵，皆奉關公。明洪武年間(1368-1398)，太祖下令天下郡縣建武廟以崇拜，春秋二祭。東山關帝廟位于銅山古城中岵嶁山下，依山臨海，氣勢巍然。羅貫中的名著《三國演義》的誕生，使關公的地位躍居歷代名將之上，成為“古今第一將”，正如一副對聯寫的:“漢朝忠義無雙士;千古英雄第一人。”明清時期，關公完成了“侯而王，王而帝，帝而圣，圣而天”的由人到神的改造過程，天下所建關廟均稱關帝廟，儒、釋、道三家爭相把關帝拉進自己的教門，讓他代表中華民族傳統道德的完美形象。

關公由“萬世人杰”上升到“神中之神”，不僅成為戰神，而且兼及財神、文神、農神。可以說，他是我國民間諸神中威風八面的保護神，受到朝野官民的普遍祭祀，被稱為“武王”“武圣人”，與“文王”“文圣人”孔子并肩而立。關帝文化是儒家傳統文化核心“大一統”“致人倫”愛國愛民思想和“忠、勇、仁、義、禮、智、信”道德精神的集大成體現，同時兼容了道教和佛教的思想內涵，具有鮮明的民族文化特色。千百年來，關帝已成為朝野上下共奉、三教九流同尊、四海五洲華人皆祀的萬能之神。關帝崇拜至今已成為一種超乎信仰的價值趨同的文化現象。臺灣和東山島關帝文化獨具閩南區域特色和海洋文化特點，集中、典型地展示了海峽兩岸地理、血親、文化、經濟與政治軍事諸方面的關系，更是蘊涵著民族團結國家統一的重大積極意義。

三

臺灣著名學者林再復在《閩南人》一書中寫到:“關帝廟，被稱為‘武廟’，以激發忠誠義勇之氣。”關帝在臺灣還被當成司命祿、佑科舉、治病除災、驅邪辟惡、誅罰叛逆、巡察冥司乃至招財進寶、庇佑商賈等“萬能之神”。

臺灣漁民對關公備加崇拜。臺灣四圍皆海，歷史上百姓多以捕魚為業。由于過去科技落后，漁民常遭臺風海嘯襲擊，生命財產得不到保障，故有“行船跑馬三分命”之說。臺灣漁民歷來以兄弟伯叔相稱，他們需要人與人之間有一種“風雨同舟，生死與共”的義氣，以能同心協力與無情的災害抗爭，這與關公的“寢則同床，恩若兄弟”、“不求同年同月同日生，但求同年同月同日死”的忠義思想正好合拍。因此，漁民要比其他職業的人更加崇拜關公，漁家人也更為豪爽，更重義氣。

遠古時，東山島因海退多次出現與臺灣連成一塊的景象，形成橫亙海峽的“東山陸橋”，史前人類就曾通過陸橋聯系臺灣。南宋末，東山島守兵與元兵激戰不敵，敗退臺灣，和當地人民共同拓荒墾業。東山島人向臺灣移居時，大都遵循著一個習俗，離開前習慣到島上的關帝廟進香朝拜，禱祝圣帝賜予香火，分靈崇祀。他們將關帝廟的香火袋掛在胸前或奉在船上，到臺灣后就在當地建廟奉祀或者在家中供奉關帝。在東山島關帝廟主殿，有明末著名理學家黃道周撰書的楹聯:“數定三分，扶炎漢，平吳削魏，辛苦倍常，未了一生事業;志存一統，佐熙明，降魔伏虜，威靈丕振，只完當日精忠。”臺灣許多關帝廟里也有這副從東山島祖廟傳去的對聯，可見兩岸關帝廟香緣源遠流長。

歷史上，東山島與臺灣兩岸海運業十分發達。明萬歷年間(1573-1620)，有位陳姓船主將船中奉祀的關帝神像送到臺灣鳳山(現高雄市)，并建文衡殿，成為臺灣南部最早的關帝廟。清嘉慶年間(1796-1820)，東山島關帝廟分靈到臺灣北部，在礁溪建廟供奉，成為臺灣北部最早的關帝廟。隨著墾拓事業的發展，村莊、社區不斷出現，臺灣關帝信仰文化也從縣城鄉鎮傳播到僻遠的漁區，直至遍布全臺灣，成為全島主要的文化信仰。明末清初時，臺灣許多地方修建關帝廟還特地到東山島請泥水匠、木匠。

海峽兩岸同胞對關帝信仰、關帝文化無限崇拜，由衷仰視，慷慨敬奉，長盛不衰，這是因為關帝精神集中體現了中華民族的精神:對國以忠、待人以仁、處事以智、交友以義、作戰以勇，代表了忠、義、勇、孝、悌、信的傳統美德和“富貴不能淫、貧賤不能移、威武不能屈”的人文特質。從祖國大陸分靈的數以千計的臺灣關帝廟，成了海峽兩岸的民族文化象征。臺灣關帝信眾組織一次又一次的朝圣之旅，追源謁祖，已成為海峽兩岸民間交流的重要橋梁。

(本文照片除署名外，由作者和沈闊提供)

The Culture of Emperor Guan across the Taiwan Strait

By Zhan Hua

Guan Yu， a famous general (died in 219) of the Shu Han Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period， is widely respected as the epitome of loyalty and righteousness for centuries. In general worship， Guan Yu is referred to as Emperor Guan or as Lord Guan. Temples and shrines dedicated exclusively to Guan can be found in parts of Chinese mainland， Hong Kong， Macao， Taiwan and other places with Chinese influence in East Asia such as Vietnam， South Korea and Japan.

What people now know about the general are generally fictionalized stories， mostly found in novels， plays and legends. Worship of Guan Yu is an important part of Chinese Culture， as testified by nearly 1，000 Emperor Guan Temples in Taiwan.

There are about one thousand Emperor Guan Temples of all sizes in Taiwan. They are all derived from the temples on Dongshan Island， Fujian Province. Dongshan Island and Taiwan lies close to each other across the Taiwan Strait. This island is a key ancestral land of Taiwan compatriots and is the forefront of the spread of Chinese culture.

The famous Emperor Guan Temple on Dongshan Island， which is built in 1387， is one of the five biggest Emperor Guan Temples in China. It is a national cultural heritage unit under the national protection. On January 11， 1995， the statue of Emperor Guan on Dongshan Island was demonstrated in Taiwan for half a year. The event was described as the emperor’s inspection tour around the island. Hundreds of thousands of local believers came to worship Guan. On Oct 29， 2009， invited by Dong Zhaoshan Emperor Guan Temple， Gaoxiong County， Taiwan， the statue of Emperor Guan on Dongshan Island went to Taiwan for the second time. This time， the emperor’s inspection tour lasted another three months.

Since 1992， Fujian Province has held 21 Emperor Guan Cultural Tourism Festivals held in Fujian， pulling pilgrims in from Taiwan and overseas. The festival was listed as a major event of culture exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan Island in 2008 by the State Council of China. It plays an important role in promoting the mutual contacts and exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.

People in Taiwan and Fujian share the same dialect， tradition， life habits， and value. Local residents of Taiwan adore Guan Gong since antiquity. For a long while in history， life in Taiwan was extremely hard. It was hard to make a living. Guan Yu gave them a moral model: loyalty， righteousness， courage. With the shared value， people worked together and treated each other in this way in order to have a better opportunity to survive and prosper. Guan Yu is also considered a god that blesses scholars in their imperial examination， awards good people， and punishes and exorcises evils.

One-third of the people on the island believe in this god. Families and companies in Taiwan usually have a shrine in a central place for the statue of Emperor Guan. They hold a worship ceremony in honor of Guan at important festivals and celebrate his birthday， praying for his protection and blessing in life and business.

Fishermen in Taiwan worship Emperor Guan in a special way. They take the god as their brother and believe he would protect them from typhoon and tsunami when they go out fishing. Fishermen adore Emperor Guan more than the other people do in Taiwan. The way they behave themselves in everyday life and on the sea reflect the value embodied in Guan Yu.

The worship of Emperor Guan in China has a quite long history. It could be traced back to Song Dynasty (960-1279). After the famous Chinese classical literary masterpiece “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” written by Luo Guanzhong was published in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)， Guan Yu became the most favorite general in history as people know it.

The apotheosis of Guan Yu occurred in stages. The emperors of China gave Guang Yu many posthumous titles since the Song Dynasty. During the Ming and the Qing (1644-1911) dynasties， Guan Yu became as Emperor Guan. The temples of Guan Yu were all renamed as Emperor Guan Temple. Guan Yu became integrated with Confucianism， Buddhism and Taoism. He is a perfect image of Chinese traditional value.

This general deification turned Guan Yu into a god widely worshipped in Fujian and Taiwan. The faith in Guan Yu is one of many things Taiwan and Fujian people share， testifying to a cultural and historical bond.

The general worship of Emperor Guan across the Taiwan Strait reflects the abundant spiritual cultural life of the Chinese nation. The loyalty， bravery， righteousness and wisdom of Guan Yu are the traditional virtues that sustain the spiritual civilization of China， especially on the either side of the Taiwan Strait. The 1，000 Emperor Guan Temples in Taiwan derived from the temples on Chinese mainland are the symbol of national culture shared by people in Taiwan and mainland. The pilgrimage of Emperor Guan to the mainland organized by the believers in Taiwan has become the bridge of people-to-people culture exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.