《大溪大禧：當代設計與民俗信仰一起策展》

▩ 推薦序 Foreword

帶我回大溪！Take me back to Daxi!

文 —— 詹偉雄 Wei-Hsiung Chan｜社會觀察家 Social Observer

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從多年以前，臺灣開啟地方創生的浪潮以來，外來者與原生地的拉鋸，一直是個顯要的議題。如果沒有外部力量或資源（不論是政府投入的經費，還是熱心田野工作者）的介入，地方顯然無法自沈沒與消失的主旋律中抽身；而如果光倚賴靈光一現的外部力量，那麼當計畫的時程到期、工作者氣力放盡之後，地方仍會從焰火的絢爛片刻，落回漫漫長夜的現實中。

 

地方創生2.0 的主要習題，也是最幽微的思考面向，便不再是一股腦地保存或復舊，蓋上一大堆的社區文物館來典藏、紀錄、復刻那些消逝中的傳統，而是思索如何重新連結傳統與現在的當代住民生活的意義關聯，創造一叢叢新的紐帶，讓傳統能給予現代人面向未來生命的某些意義感，使即將消失的（過往）得以久留，幫即刻空虛的（現實）得以充填，這個工作說起來看似簡易，但投入過地方工作的人都知道它非常困難，不只需要體力和毅力，而且還要一點文化人類學的情懷，才能在漫長的田野實踐歲月中獲得一些創造性的收穫，同時在自身的生命裡獲得一些長進的成就感。

 

已經進行五年（其中因疫情關係中斷一年）的桃園「大溪大禧」文化節慶活動，是一系列2.0的嘗試中，非常新鮮、活潑而且具有創造性的案例。每一年的農曆六月二十四日，是關公這位民間神祇的壽誕，這是「祭」的起因；在大溪老鎮的商業發跡歷史裡，重義守諾的關聖帝君（在地人尊稱為「聖帝公」）不只象徵著生活世界裡的守護神，而是更具體地體現著所有人進行商賈買賣時的上位人倫價值，因此，每一年週而復始的遶境慶典，便是這個人文傳統儀式化的強調與顯現。但是，隨著現代性為臺灣各個城鎮帶來的穿透與解組，這個祭典隨著大溪人口外移、商業凋落、觀光服務業崛起，不免逐漸形式化，而不再具備著昔日能牢固城鎮精神意志的力量。

 

桃園市政府投入資源，由衍序規劃設計的總策展人劉真蓉和眾多夥伴們攜手創造的「大溪大禧」，是一個讓昔日祭典生命重新復活的地方毛細孔工程。在過去這幾年，不論是在烈日當頭的酷暑還是大雨傾盆的午後，「大溪大禧」不僅吸引在地居民和社頭的高度投入，也吸引了像我這樣的台北住民的參與。在高溫下，噴灑著滿身的熱汗，捲入將軍們碩大身形的遊街陣形，吸吮沿街商家供桌上浮蕩的縷縷香煙，不由自主地也進入這個小鎮的歷史敘事之中，原來樟腦、木器和茶葉各自有各自的演義故事，而廟前廣場俯瞰大漢溪的視野，建構著河階地上不同開墾期的自然空間。當然，這個工程絕非容易，聽著真蓉說過，從面對地方的各種質疑與消極對待，團隊可是做了非常多的努力，才一步步建立起信任與主動的合作情誼，而過程中的關鍵，就記錄在這本書裡，套用她的說法，不只是有一種熱愛、投入的思維與內在基因（我一直以為：真蓉對任何神祇和祭典都有一種附身的原始癡迷），還必須有「方法」（methodology），是這種客觀性，讓諸事諸為能包容萬物，找得到最大公約數，而又不失義理的中心。

 

海德格在現代人愈來愈偏向科技中心主義的上個世紀初，提出了「天、地、人、神」的一種現象學世界觀——天，意味著自然韻律；地，代表岩石和水流、植物和動物，蘊養眾生；神，是隱而不顯的神性律令，顯現而入於當前；人，則是「終有一死者」（die Sterblichen），人因為體察到終將一死，而能感受到身邊世界裡的天、地、神，進而定奪人在此世的終極意義，從失去世界到重新擁有世界。

 

「大溪大禧」每年那幾天的活動，都讓我不斷咀嚼海德格對我這般暮年者的提點，這都得感謝衍序和年輕世代的工作者，能把握到活動裡未必說得清楚的神聖性，把它當作生命的一塊血肉和靈魂而非一件工作來看待。

 

或可這麼說：當我們每次離開大溪，大溪卻已常駐在我們心中某個角落了。

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Since the start of the placemaking movement many years ago here in Taiwan, the tension between outsiders and the local community has surfaced as a concern.

 

Local communities will not be able to fight their inevitable decline without outside intervention or resources (be it government funding or enthusiastic fieldworkers). If we rely on the ingenuity of outside forces, the place would eventually fall back into decline after the revitalization project expires and workers run out of momentum.

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The main theme of Local Revitalization 2.0, and also the most subtle direction of thinking, is no longer about preserving or reviving the old, building numerous community heritage museums to collect, document and restore the fading traditions; but rather, to think about how to reconnect the traditions in a meaningful way with contemporary life, to create a series of new ties, so that the traditions can give some meaning to modern people when they face the future. The job to preserve the vanishing tradition (past), and helping to fill the immediate void (reality), may seem easy, but anyone who has been involved in placemaking project knows that it is very challenging. It requires more than just physical strength and perseverance, but also a touch of cultural anthropology for continued inspiration, and at the same time enjoy a sense of accomplishment in one's own life.

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The “Daxidaxi” festival, now in its fifth year (with a one-year interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic), is a very fresh and creative example of Revitalization 2.0 attempts. Every year on the 24th day of the 6th month of the lunar calendar, the birthday of Holy Emperor Guan, a folk deity, is the reason for the "ritual celebration." In the history of the commercial development of Daxi Old Town, Guan Sheng Dijun, who is a god of righteousness and loyalty, comes to symbolize the guardian god in the mortal world, and embodies more specifically the moral values of all people engaged in business and trade. Therefore, this ritual held in the form of a religious procession year after year, is the manifestation of this tradition. However, with the prevalence and associated disorganization of modernity in Taiwan's towns, this festival has grown more “formularized” as the population of Daxi went on an exodus; commerce has declined, and the tourism industry has risen, and it no longer has the power to strengthen the spiritual will of the town that it once had.

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The Taoyuan City Government has invested resources in the creation of Daxidaxi, in the attempt to revive ancient folk rituals through placemaking, led by Tammy Liu of BIAS Architects & Associates and many partners. Over the past few years, whether in the scorching heat or the late afternoon pouring rain, "Daxidaxi" has managed to experience high levels of participation from locals and performing formations, but also people from outside Daxi, like myself from Taipei. Under the scorching heat, with sweat pouring like rain, we are swept into the street procession interspersed by the gigantic figures of the generals, based in the wispy smoke wafting from the incense on the worship tables of the merchants along the street, I could not help but be immersed in the historical narrative of this small town. It turns out that camphor, woodwork and tea have their own stories of evolution, and the view from the square in front of the temple overlooking the Dahan River constructs the natural space of different reclamation periods on the river terrace terrain. Of course, Daxidaxi is definitely not an easy undertaking, and I have heard Tammy comment that the team has worked hard to build trust and engage the locals' cooperation. The key to the process is recorded in this book. In her words, it is not only a passionate, committed mindset and innate DNA (I have always thought that Tammy has a primal obsession with any gods and rituals), but also a "methodology," a vision to achieve consensus without losing the focus on what is right.

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In early last century, as modern men grew more technocentric, Heidegger proposed a phenomenological worldview of "heaven, earth, man and God". Heaven means the rhythm of nature; earth represents the rocks and water, plants and animals, which nourish all beings; God is the hidden but unseen divine order, which manifests His omnipresence; and man is the "mortality of life" (die Sterblichen). By recognizing our eventual mortality, we can feel the heaven, earth, and God in the world around us, and furthermore, we can seize the ultimate meaning of our life in this world, from losing the world to regaining the world.

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Daxidaxi is an annual celebration that keeps me deliberating on Heidegger’s advice to people like me as I advance in age. Thanks to the work of BIAS and the young generation, I was able to enjoy the sanctity of the event, which is not always clear, and see it as a piece of life and soul rather than merely a work.

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It can be said that every time we leave Daxi, Daxi is already firmly implanted somewhere in our hearts.

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