Cianjin's Saint of Culture Temple and the Migrants from Penghu County/前金區的文聖殿與澎湖社仔
Cianjin's Saint of Culture Temple and the Migrants from Penghu County
◎English translation: Hou Ya-ting
◎Photos by Jhou Shu-jheng
The modest Saint of Culture Temple, dedicated to the deity Guan Gong (Lord Guan), is situated just a few doors away from Hanshin Department Store, amid the hustle and bustle of Chenggong Road. From generation to generation, the faithful have passed down stories about the temple protecting those who journeyed across the Taiwan Strait, in particular those who arrived from Penghu County, an archipelago approximately 140km northwest of central Kaohsiung.
Saint of Culture Temple derives its orthodoxy from Beiji Temple, in Penghu County's Shanshuei Village, thanks to the efforts of a father and his son, Chen Jhen-sing and Chen Jhong-he, during the period of Japanese colonial rule. Today's Saint of Culture Temple was completed in 1947; since then it has stood as a witness to Kaohsiung's rapid development. Because of its humble appearance, many locals who regularly shop in the neighborhood are unaware of it. Yet, if one does a Google search, a surprising amount of information about this quiet house of worship soon emerges.
For migrants from Penghu who settled in Kaohsiung, Saint of Culture Temple has a profound meaning beyond religion. A third-generation descendant of migrants from Penghu who studied at the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Culture, National University of Tainan, Tsai Jia-yun wrote her master's thesis about "The migrants from Penghu who settled in Kaohsiung." She analyzed historical perspectives since the Japanese colonial era, elaborated how those migrants put down roots in Kaohsiung, and recorded their interactions with locals.
According to Ms. Tsai's thesis, most Kaohsiung residents who trace their ancestry to Penghu originated from the villages of Shanshuei, Wude and Tiesian in Penghu County's Magong City. Many of them purchased property in Kaohsiung's Yancheng District before relocating. As a result, Yancheng had an especially high density of families originally from Penghu. In one part of the district, just two or three households out of two hundred were not Penghu natives. Because most of the vendors were from Penghu, the local market at Gangming Street in Yancheng District was commonly known as "Penghu Market."
Heading toward "Penghu Market," we encounter two residents who mostly grew up in the neighborhood, and are second- and third-generation Penghu-Kaohsiung folk. Respectively known as Uncle Chen and Uncle Yeh, they happily share neighborhood stories, and clear away some of the obscurity surrounding this intriguing topic.
Uncle Yeh's ancestral home is in Penghu County's Wang-an Township. His family moved to Yancheng because his father found work at a nearby wharf. At age 14, Uncle Yeh's father passed away in a work accident. After that, Uncle Yeh moved to Gangming Street.
The two men explain that Penghu migrants who grow up in Kaohsiung display outstanding language skills. When speaking Holo (the language also called Taiwanese or Minnanhua), they can easily switch from the distinctive Penghu accent to a Kaohsiung accent. Uncle Chen and Uncle Yeh have witnessed how the commercial center of Yancheng has shifted. The withering of the neighborhood's economy has inevitably spelled doom for "Penghu Market."
Uncle Yeh laments: "This used to be a prosperous area. In its heyday, all kinds of vendors sprawled along the streets. It was difficult to walk through." Uncle Chen listens quietly, occasionally filling in details which Uncle Yeh leaves out.
Uncle Yeh says that after his father passed away, he relocated to this area. Uncle Yeh remembers how Saint of Culture Temple took good care of him, and helped him fit in. At that time, the chairman of Saint of Culture Temple would offer members of the younger generation opportunities to join folk-religion festivals and parades. The neighborhood grocery shop even extended credit to these cash-strapped young men. Uncle Yeh says he therefore has a deep reverence for the shop's proprietor. Uncle Yeh's memories show how, besides being a religious center, the temple helped Penghu natives settle down in Kaohsiung, cultivated social norms, and ingrained strong emotional ties.
The strong ties between Saint of Culture Temple and its followers with ancestral ties to Penghu County will not fade away, despite the passage of time.
前金區的文聖殿與澎湖社仔
◎文、攝影/周書正
位在成功路上漢神百貨旁的文聖殿,一直都是靜靜地在喧鬧的鬧區角落旁守護著它身後那群為了生活橫渡黑水溝的人們。而澎湖社仔的故事,說的就是這群從澎湖來到高雄建立新故鄉的人們,一代代傳下來的歷史。
文聖殿最早在日治時期,由陳振興、陳中和父子,從澎湖山水里的北極殿分靈而來的。到了1947年,現址的文聖殿建成,就坐落在這裡看著高雄市、高雄港的興起與進步。如果你是喜愛逛百貨的高雄人,那你一定曾經在無意間從方正而小巧的殿門走過。或許正在閱讀的你一時想不起來,但當在google map上找到它位置的時候,你一定會輕呼一聲「啊!原來是這裡呀」,它就是一個這樣的地方,不著痕跡的看著這城市裡的人們成長。
但對在它身後住著的,澎湖社仔裡的人們來說,它的意義遠不止於此。身為澎湖移民第三代的蔡佳芸,2004年以《高雄市境澎湖籍移民研究》作為國立臺南大學臺灣文化研究所碩士論文,從歷史上仔細研究自日治時期以來,澎湖籍移民與高雄發展的互動情形。針對澎湖社仔,她在論文第46頁如此紀錄:『「澎湖社仔」,居民多馬公山水里、五德里、鐵線里人,其中很多人是已經在鹽埕區生活的澎湖人在此地買房子再搬遷過來,當時澎湖人在此區密度很高,一二百戶人家只有兩、三戶非澎湖人。光明街有一小市場買賣者以澎湖籍移民為多數,俗稱「澎湖市場」。』
跟著她研究的腳步,我按論文索驥來到了位於光明街的「澎湖市場」,並且很幸運地搭訕到了澎湖籍移民第二代的陳伯伯、及第三代葉伯伯。在他們兩位邊鬥嘴邊受訪的過程中,澎湖社仔的歷史逐漸浮現出了輪廓。
葉伯伯原籍澎湖望安鄉,原先跟著在碼頭工作的父親住在鹽埕一帶。十四歲時,他的父親因為碼頭工作的意外而過世,才又舉家搬進了澎湖社仔居住。
他們告訴我,他們這些在高雄長大的澎湖小孩們從小就有雙聲道的本領,能夠輕易的在澎湖腔跟高雄腔中切換自如。光明街的澎湖市場是他們長大的地方,但他們也見證了隨著商業重心轉移、澎湖籍居民逐漸外移之後,澎湖市場的沒落。
「以前這裡好熱鬧的喔!整條路都擺滿了攤子,早上出門連走路的空間都沒有。」葉伯伯比手畫腳的說著。而陳伯伯大多時候在旁邊安靜的聽著,偶爾補足一些葉伯伯遺漏的細節。
葉伯伯說,父親過世後、他剛搬進社仔內的時候,就是靠著文聖殿的照顧才逐漸融入社區的。當時的文聖殿的頭家會找他們這些年輕人在廟裡做陣頭,學習傳統的宗教儀式。在那個困苦的年代,開雜貨店的頭家也會讓他們在店裡賒些零食雜貨。「頭家是我很欽佩的人啊!」葉伯伯眼睛稍稍瞇了起來,像是腦海裡跑過了許多與頭家的回憶。對這些在社仔長大的孩子來說,文聖殿不只是信仰的中心,更是保護他們長大、教養他們的地方。
在與兩位伯伯的對話中,我可以感覺得出來他們對「澎湖社仔」的消散是不捨的。「萬物都有消長。」在訪問最後,他們這樣對我說,像是達成了什麼共識或結論。是啊,萬物都有消長,但只要文聖殿跟他們的故事還在,澎湖社仔就永遠不會消失。
有機會的話,請來榮復里光明街一帶的澎湖社仔鑽鑽巷子吧。看看這裡的澎湖子弟是如何在近百年的時光裡在這片土地上深深扎根。也看看藏在「澎湖社仔」這個名字背後,一段深刻、真實的高雄歷史。