金門蜈蚣座饒富傳奇味

Centipede Procession prevails (1) in Min-Nan areas and the coastal townships in southwestern Taiwan. According to the ancestors' immigration routes in the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the Centipede Procession in the Taiwan region should be the custom brought by Min-Nan people when they crossed the sea and immigrated to Taiwan. Now, the Tzu-Tung Temple, Xiamen at the Min-Nan region still performs the art array of Centipede Procession, while Kinmen is another area in the cross-strait region that performs Centipede Procession.
蜈蚣座盛行於閩南地區及台灣西南沿海鄉鎮，依據明清時代先民的遷移路徑來看，台灣地區的蜈蚣座應該是隨著閩南人渡海移民遷台帶過去的習俗，目前在閩南地區廈門慈東宮就存在著蜈蚣座藝陣，而金門則是台海之間另一個擁有蜈蚣座的地區。

The preciousness of Kinmen Centipede Procession is that it was not sabotaged (2) by Cultural Revolution. Thus, it has complete and sound systems, with well-preserved history. Besides, because of the prevailing existence of single-surname village in Kinmen, the mobilization made by the people in this area will be more united than that of the Taiwan region, unlike the Taiwan region in which the array is performed and operated procession on wheels. Therefore, the traditional spirit of union and cooperation in Min-Nan culture has remained.
　 金門蜈蚣座的珍貴性在於未經文化大革命的破壞，因此體制健全完整、具有相當之歷史沿革，另外地區因單姓聚落的原因，門境族人的動員較台灣地區更為團結，不似台灣地區多改以輪座方式運行出陣，也因此保有閩南文化傳統團結、合作的精神。

Legend has it that the origin of the Centipede Procession was from the temple at a village in the Fujian region which was about to be established for worshiping the Royal Lord's divine spirit, according to the textual research made by Lin, Jin-Rong, worker of local culture and history. Unexpectedly, when people were breaking the ground, they disturbed the centipede spirit who had practiced Taoist rules underground for a thousand years. Consequently, the neighboring villages were in a great turmoil (3) and people could not live in peace. The Royal Lord knew that the temple for worshiping His statue can not be completed due to the disturbance caused by the centipede spirit. He was so furious that He exerted (4) spiritual power to make the centipede spirit surrender. He also made it become His subordinate, responsible for patrolling, safeguarding and protecting the area on behalf of the Royal Lord.
　 根據地方文史工作者林金榮的考證，蜈蚣座的典故起源傳說是福建地區有一村落即將興建供奉王爺神靈的廟宇，未料開挖地基時竟驚動地底修行千年的蜈蚣精，當地鄰近村落也因此雞犬不寧、民不聊生，王爺得知供奉真身的廟宇在蜈蚣精的干擾下無法搭建完成，盛怒之下施展神力降服蜈蚣精，並且將牠收服為貼身部將，代替王爺繞境巡安守護。

Because it patrolled, safeguarded and protected the area on behalf of the Royal Lord successfully, the centipede spirit ascended to the heaven due to its good accomplishment. The Jade Emperor conferred (5) a title "Perfect Man With Hundred Feet" upon it, making it responsible for repelling (6) demons and eliminating disasters for people when it accompanied the Royal Lord on patrol. Therefore, Perfect Man With Hundred Feet is worshipped as a tutelary (7) god by local people. Thus, inspired by the religious faith regarding a centipede's fulfillment of being a celestial, (8) the Centipede Procession is commonly seen in the process of God's patrols and parades in folk temple festivals. Through patrols and parades, it is symbolic of repelling demons and safeguarding the area for local place. At present, the Centipede Procession is often called "Centipede Array", also called "Hundred-Footed Perfect Man Array".
　 為王爺繞境巡安守護有成，蜈蚣精後來功德圓滿升天，被黃皇大帝敕封為「百足真人」，專為在王爺出巡時為人們降妖除魔、化解災厄，因此當地居民們百足真人當成守護神膜拜，於是藉由蜈蚣成仙的宗教信仰啟發，蜈蚣座常常出現在民間遊神賽會繞境巡安過程中，透過巡安掃街的進行，為成地方消邪魔、庇佑合境平安的象徵。目前在台灣地區，則常把蜈蚣座稱為蜈蚣陣，又稱百足真人陣。
Another saying about the Centipede Procession is: Centipede is one of the top five poisonous bugs, and people think that the Centipede Procession has the function to repel demons, eliminate disasters and attract safety. Therefore, in a temple fair, it can serve as the pioneer team for the God's sedan chair, which has the function to eliminate poison and repel evil.
　 另一種關於蜈蚣陣的說法，則是五毒之一的毒蟲，民間認為蜈蚣座具有驅逐邪魔、消災招安的功能，因此在廟會時可作為神輦的先驅隊伍，具有消除毒害的鎮邪功能。

In Kinmen, although the Centipede Procession is called "Centipede Procession", its shape is in the form of a dragon, which is different from that in Taiwan. In Taiwan, the shape is formed totally according to the connection of the centipede head and its hundred-footed body. Because of the legendary spirituality of dragon, our nationals especially love the auspiciousness (9) brought by it. They encourage children to get close to it actively and happily, to feel the joy. The front head and the tail of a Centipede Procession are made by professional masters from paper-pasting shops.
　 在金門地區，蜈蚣座雖然名為蜈蚣座，實際上卻是舞龍的外型狀，與台灣完全按蜈蚣頭及百足身段銜接而成有所差異，基於神龍的傳奇靈性，國人特別喜歡祂帶來的吉祥瑞兆，鼓勵孩子興高采烈的主動親近，感染喜氣，蜈蚣座前段的頭部與尾巴都是請專業糊紙店師傅製作。

【註解】
1. prevail-(vi)普遍、流行。
2. sabotage-(vi)破壞。
3. turmoil-(n)騷動；混亂。
4. exert-(vt)用盡（力氣）；運用；發揮。
5. confer-(vi)授予；給予。
6. repel-(vt)擊退；驅逐；抵抗、防禦。
7. tutelary-(adj)守護的；保護的。
8. celestial-(n)神仙。
9. auspiciousness-(n)吉兆；吉利。

本文譯自《金門日報》2011年5月5日報導