幽明之間:“見鬼人”與中古社會

"Those Who Can See Ghosts":An Aspect of Shamanism in Medieval China

中古時期的見鬼人溝通生人與亡魂,預測禍福,活躍於政治舞臺;在社會生活中,他們看宅地、招亡魂,影響了人們的日常生活和精神世界;在醫療領域,他們連綴亡魂,解釋病因,也産生了重要影響。在醫療、驅鬼、返魂等方面,見鬼人與佛道兩教存在競爭關係,並且遭到排斥和打擊。而佛道兩教雖然排斥巫者,但是在一些技術層面,卻是借鑑了巫術的解釋和方法。不論醫者,還是宗教人物,在救死扶傷或者驅除惡鬼之後,時常借助見鬼人的嘴,驗證自己的醫藥或者法術的功效。在很多情況下,見鬼人充當了證言提供者的角色。

Jiangui ren,or 'those who can see ghosts',provided service of communicating with ghosts and making common people see the beloved in the other world.Compared to systematic beliefs Jiangui ren's theory enjoyed more freedom in describing ghosts and spirits.The belief rooted in Chinese civilization insisted on the unification and separation between body and spirit while Buddhism denies the concept of 'spirit'.However,this conflict did not prevent Buddhist monks from producing and representing ghost stories on their own terms.Jiangui ren faced the competition from not only Buddhism and Daoism,but also doctors.The competition rose from two main fields:1) communicating with the other world and spirit-recalling and 2) saving lives from illnesses,especially epidemics.Jiangui ren usually acted as witness in the stories told by doctors,Buddhist monks and Daoist priests due to their ability to see ghosts.