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- Panel 5-2 Hakka Society and Culture in Liudui as Expressed through the Zuo Fu Bai Xin Ding Ritual /Tseng, Lin-Yi
Panel 5-2 Hakka Society and Culture in Liudui as Expressed through the Zuo Fu Bai Xin Ding Ritual /Tseng, Lin-Yi
Tseng, Lin-Yi
Chief of Research and Collection Division, NRM；Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Taiwan History, National Taiwan Normal University. Taiwan
Seasonal rituals reflect enduring patterns of interaction between human communities, the intangible forces of Heaven, and the tangible realities of the land, and provide an important lens for understanding regional social and cultural structures. Drawing on two ritual account books from the Bai Xin Ding (Worshipping New Male Descendants) ceremony held in Jiadong, Left Liudui, southern Taiwan, from the late Qing period to the postwar era (1876–1975), this study adopts a long-term perspective to examine social, cultural, and economic transformations in Jiadong and its surrounding areas.
Through analysis of ritual practices and accounting records, this study presents three main findings. First, the Zuo Fu ritual, performed on the second day of the first lunar month as a prayer for blessings to the Earth God (伯公), originated in the late Kangxi period as an emulation of ancient Spring Prayer (春祈) rites. The Bai Xin Ding custom, conducted on the twelfth day of the first lunar month and appended to Zuo Fu, appears to have originated in Jiadong and became ritualized in 1876. Its emergence is closely related to Minnan–Hakka conflicts during the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods and reflects a mechanism of local social mobilization. Centered on prayers for the healthy growth of male offspring, Bai Xin Ding functioned as a means of registering and mobilizing male manpower in a context lacking systematic population records.
Second, the account books of the Fude Association (福德會) reveal close financial ties with the Baozhong Association (褒忠會), indicating a structural linkage between ritual organization and Liudui military mobilization, including defense expenditures during the 1895 Battle of Buyue Tower（步月樓之役）. Finally, analysis of ritual offerings illuminates local production, commodity circulation, and economic change, highlighting Jiadong’s connections with coastal Minnan port settlements.
Keywords: Liudui; Jiadong (左堆); Bai Xin Ding; Minnan–Hakka armed conflicts; Lin Wanji (林萬掌)
Chief of Research and Collection Division, NRM；Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Taiwan History, National Taiwan Normal University. Taiwan
Seasonal rituals reflect enduring patterns of interaction between human communities, the intangible forces of Heaven, and the tangible realities of the land, and provide an important lens for understanding regional social and cultural structures. Drawing on two ritual account books from the Bai Xin Ding (Worshipping New Male Descendants) ceremony held in Jiadong, Left Liudui, southern Taiwan, from the late Qing period to the postwar era (1876–1975), this study adopts a long-term perspective to examine social, cultural, and economic transformations in Jiadong and its surrounding areas.
Through analysis of ritual practices and accounting records, this study presents three main findings. First, the Zuo Fu ritual, performed on the second day of the first lunar month as a prayer for blessings to the Earth God (伯公), originated in the late Kangxi period as an emulation of ancient Spring Prayer (春祈) rites. The Bai Xin Ding custom, conducted on the twelfth day of the first lunar month and appended to Zuo Fu, appears to have originated in Jiadong and became ritualized in 1876. Its emergence is closely related to Minnan–Hakka conflicts during the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods and reflects a mechanism of local social mobilization. Centered on prayers for the healthy growth of male offspring, Bai Xin Ding functioned as a means of registering and mobilizing male manpower in a context lacking systematic population records.
Second, the account books of the Fude Association (福德會) reveal close financial ties with the Baozhong Association (褒忠會), indicating a structural linkage between ritual organization and Liudui military mobilization, including defense expenditures during the 1895 Battle of Buyue Tower（步月樓之役）. Finally, analysis of ritual offerings illuminates local production, commodity circulation, and economic change, highlighting Jiadong’s connections with coastal Minnan port settlements.
Keywords: Liudui; Jiadong (左堆); Bai Xin Ding; Minnan–Hakka armed conflicts; Lin Wanji (林萬掌)