[[alternative]]A Study on the Temples of Earth-deity in the Litou-dien Area--An Approach to Understand Locality and Spaces of Settlement

[[abstract]] 本論文主要探討南屯地區土地公祠分佈與聚落發展的關係。從土地公祠的管轄範圍、水圳、農田水系、祭祀組織與活動，來理解土地公祠的分佈脈絡與其功能。嘗試透過人們日常生活的實踐、透過地方民間信仰認知與儀式之進行，來探討人文地理環境結構與歷史之變遷，以及台灣常民文化如何建構神聖空間及地方場域。 祭拜土地公，是台灣人民的日常生活習慣中之既存事實。在自然生態與人文社會秩序裡，土地公提供牠的庇護力量，對庄頭聚落農田之保佑，護衛四水朝來福祿長，以及五穀豐收等，扮演著各種重要的生活與生產上之功能。本研究的重要發現是，土地公祠的座落位置與空間朝向，可以與聚落形成不同之關係，可以分別扮演不同之功能。譬如，農田守護神、水圳守護神、聚落守護神、商家守護神、地靈守護神等等。所以，土地公在地方與生態脈絡裡，其實具有多層次的作用。 另外，本論文試圖從土地公祠去理解地方之水系脈絡，再由水系脈絡去瞭解地方場域的整體結構。發現在農業社會裡，水系對地方聚落及村庄至為重要，而地方場域與水資源，共同成為一種整體性的空間結構關係。 總之，由南屯犁頭店地區的探討與研究，本論文發現，土地公本身形成了一種特殊的地緣關係與地理景觀。這是其他地區或其他文化傳統所沒有的一種地域人文現象。尤其，其中所蘊涵的各種「生態、聚落、地方」三者的深層關係，已有初步研究成果呈現。[[abstract]] This study is an exploration of the relationship between the worship of earth-deities and the development of human settlements in the Nan-tuen District of Taichung. The local temples for earth-deities can be seen quite often in the rural area of Nan-tuen. They function as important worshiping places, as well as social and emotional centers for the residents in the area. Upon further scrutiny, this study finds that these earth-deity temples have been involved with all levels of local life, forming an interesting and important system by itself to understand the spatial structure of this specific locality. Earth-deity worship is a very common ritualistic behavior in the daily life of Taiwanese people. The power of the earth-deity can be felt in how people conceive their natural environment, including how the rivers should bring fortune and blessings to the area, and how the crops can become bountiful every year if the area can gain protection from the earth-deities. Also, the societal decorum and the rituals of worship that were connected with the belief of earth-deities are numerous, including they can bring good fortune to local businesses, and keep the house safe from the fire disasters and floods, etc. Further, an obvious portion of the earth-deity temples are located by the rivers that run through the area. With an analysis of the river system in the area, we can discover how the temples form an interesting spatial structure by itself. We can thus realize that the so-called ＂place＂ or ＂locality＂ also has a structure that was constructed by the natural environment, the development of the farming settlements, and the river system, and the earth-deity worship in the local daily life. All in all, this study has unveiled the spatial structure of locality, through a systematic study on the temples of earth-deities in the Nan-tuen area. The earth-deity belief regarding nature and culture, and its conception of natural and man-made environment, formulated a most unique landscape and cultural scene for this area