Comparative Religious Research on the Mazu Belief

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02208
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Chinese philosophy/Indian philosophy/Buddhist studies
• Research Institution: Toyo University
• Principal Investigator: KIKUCHI Noritaka 東洋大学, ライフデザイン学部, 教授 (40231279)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 媽祖 / 東アジア / 海域世界 / 民間信仰 / 比較宗教史

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research focuses on Mazu, who has gained overwhelming worship as a guardian goddess in the area of sea world in East Asia, and the worship that sprouted in the Chinese private sector expanded the sphere of worship through contact with various religious traditions. The purpose is to elucidate the process from the perspective of comparative religion history. By positively evaluating the actual state of fusion of folk beliefs and some religions, we explored the process of Mazu worship transforming into the Korean Peninsula and the religious world of Japan based on literature research and field research. This allowed us to reveal the footsteps of the worship of the guardian goddess, which began with folk beliefs in the coastal areas of China, and was incorporated into the Taoist gods’lineage to expand the sphere of worship.

Free Research Field

宗教学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的な特色として、諸宗教の融合という現象を積極的に評価した点をあげたい。媽祖崇拝を一つのモデルとして考察していくとき、個々の宗教の間に境目を設けることはほとんど不可能であり、こうした事象を欧米型の宗教学の概念をもとに「シンクレティズム」（syncretism）の語で括ることに検討の余地が生じる。民間信仰と諸宗教の融合した姿こそが宗教の社会的実態ではないかとする作業仮説を実証していくことにより、宗教研究の分野に新たな知見を加えることができると思う。