华侨华人社团与会党组织中的关帝信仰——以新马地区为中心

The Worship of Guandi among Overseas Chinese Organizations and Societies:Focusing on the Singapore-Malaysia Region

除庙宇外,地缘性、血缘性华侨华人社团以及会党组织的活动地点,也是海外华人崇拜关帝的主要场所,是观察关帝信仰在海外发展情况的另一个窗口。通过对以新马地区为主的有关组织的调查研究,可以发现由于它们的创建时间普遍比关帝庙早,加之多以“馆庙一体”、不对外开放的形式运作,故关帝在其中往往是“成员们的共同信仰和纽带”,具有“移民神”“祖宗神”“会党神”等神格形象,在维系组织运作、增进成员团结、改善成员生存环境等方面均有一定的正面作用。与此同时,虽然神格形象存在差异,但这三类华人组织选择供奉关帝的出发点,实质上是表达对关帝所代表的“忠心义气”精神的崇拜。

In addition to temples and shrines, the places where geographically and kinship-based overseas Chinese organizations and societies hold activities also serve as significant locales for worshiping Guandi among overseas Chinese. These locations provide another window for observing the development of Guandi's worship abroad. Through an investigation focused on the Singapore-Malaysia region, we find that these organizations and societies were established before the temples of Guandi. Moreover, because they have often operated in the form of “association-temple integration”and with limited access, Guandi is generally regarded as a “common belief and bond” among their members. He is imbued with roles such as the “god for immigrants”, “ancestral god” and “god for societies”, which play a positive role in maintaining organizational operations, enhancing member solidarity, and improving members' living environments. At the same time, despite variations in his godhead, the underlying motivation for these three types of Chinese organizations to worship Guandi is essentially the same: the spirit of “loyalty and righteousness” associated with Guandi.