土司政权与土家族“祖先化社神崇拜”的演变——以湖南溪州地区为例

On the Evolution to Ancestral Kitchen God Worshipping in Tusi Regime and Tujia Ethnic Group

溪州土司政权在湘西的设立,深刻影响了湘西土家族的历史与文化。反映在信仰层面上,一方面,萌生于氏族部落以血缘为纽带的"八部大王"祖先信仰体系融入了具有强烈政治色彩的土司信仰;另一方面,对土司的崇拜被赋予了对特定地域具有庇护作用的神灵的崇拜,即"社神崇拜"。从八部大王崇拜到土司崇拜再到社神崇拜,土家族原始宗教的演变实现了"祖先化社神崇拜"的转化。该过程是伴随"部落文化"向"政治文化"过渡的过程,在这一过程中,"政治权力"的运行是演变的重要动因。

The establishment of Xizhou Tusi regime in the west Hunan has yielded a great influenee on the history and culture of Tujia ethnic group in this area, which is reflected on religious aspect. On the one hand, the ＂eight lords＂ worshipping system, which is bonded by kinships, is fused with Tusi religious worshipping with strong political sense. On the other hand, Tusi worshipping is endowed with specific regional immortal worshipping, i.e. ＂ the Kitchen God worshipping＂. From ＂the eight lords＂ worshipping to Tusi worshipping then ＂to the Kitchen God worshipping＂, the Tujia ethnic group＇s primitive religious wor- shipping has completed the evolution to ancestralized Kitchen God worshipping. This process goes along with the transition from tribal culture to political cul-ture, in which the political power is a critical driving force for the evoIution.