東嶽大帝即泰山山神，又稱「東嶽泰山齊天仁聖大帝」或「天齊王」，也稱「東嶽泰山神」或「泰山府君」。在古代，泰山列五嶽祭祀之首，是帝王重要的祭祀對象，自先秦時即有帝王封禪泰山之說。五嶽的祭祀結合天子的廵守，是帝王用以宣誓正統的重要儀式，也是古代中國平面宇宙觀的展現。自先秦之後，受到佛道教的交互影響，泰山從山神逐漸變成人格神，其變化有多種說法。在道教裡，一說泰山神是古代伏羲氏。《神異經》則認為泰山神是盤古的後裔和彌輪仙女的兒子，名叫金虹氏，號東岳帝君，後來由伏羲氏封為太華真人。道教裡尚有其它諸說，如上清真人、山圖公子等等，東嶽大帝在道教的脈絡，大致延續泰山山神的稱號。另一方面，在佛教裡泰山神很早就和地獄之說結合，在六朝佛經裡即有泰山地獄的說法，並有閰羅王泰山府君之稱，這和泰山神職司人命歲壽有關。經過長期的演變，泰山在佛道教和民間宗教的轉化下成為人格神，號東嶽大帝。一般而言，泰山神的稱號隨脈絡不同而變，在民間信仰和道教裡稱東嶽大帝，在佛教裡多稱泰山府君。不論何者，東嶽大帝已經從古代的山神成為人格神，掌管地獄和十殿閻羅王。
臺灣以東嶽大帝為主祀神者大約有七座，由於東嶽大帝掌理地獄，臺灣民間為救度亡者有打城儀式，即是用以破除地獄令亡者得度。臺南市建國路上的東嶽殿即以打城儀式著稱。打城即是打破枉死城，是用以救度亡者或為長者補壽的象徵儀式，打城儀式大致有十道程序：分別是請神、召魂、拜懺、行路（路關）、卜赦旨、出城、吃藥（又稱食藥）、拜飯、 過橋、送亡等。參與者有事主，也就是僱請儀式專家執行儀式的家庭，還有道士或法師。儀式對象包括管理枉死城的官僚組織、待救贖的亡魂。有時儀式專家還包括童乩，讓亡魂的家屬和亡魂溝通，以斷定儀式是否有效。東嶽大帝以十月初一為其誔辰。
關鍵詞：東嶽大帝、泰山、東嶽殿、打城
參考書目
1. 《神異經》
2. 增田福太郎。1999。《臺灣漢民族的司法神－城隍信仰的體系》。台北：古亭書屋。
Dongyue dadi (東嶽大帝) is also called the god of Mountain Tai, Taishan Fujun (泰山府君) , Dongyue Taishan Tianqi Rensheng dadi (東嶽泰山天齊仁聖大帝) or Tianqi wang (天齊王) who is a very old god in Chinese popular religion. He is thoroughly absorbed and integrated by both Daoism and Buddhism. At the beginning, Dongyue dadi was the first grade god above the five Mountain gods in China before Han dynasty. Emperor, the divine son, should worship to the god of Mountain Tai as a claiming of the supreme legitimacy. The worshiping to the god of Mountain Tai is the ritual called feng (封) which is held on the summit peak of Mountain Tai and monopoly by emperor. Before or Under Han dynasty, Taishan Fujun was also regarded as the god who decided the destiny of dead person’s soul. He was a somber god.
In the eastern Han dynasty, under the influences of Daoism and Buddhism, the god of Mountain Tai began to transform from a god of mountain to a personal god. In Daoism, the god of Mountain Tai was seen as the ancient saints or their descents. It was said that the god of Mountain Tai was Fuxi (伏羲), a ancient mysterious saint in China. According to the Shen-yi jing (神異經), the god of Mountain Tai was the son of Pan Gu (盤古)’s descent who was also called Jin-hong shi (金虹氏) or Dong-yue di-jun (東岳帝君) . Then Fuxi titled him as Tai-hua zhen ren (太華真人). Basically, the development of Dongyue dadi in Daoism was base on his title but transferred to be a immortal, a xian ren (仙人) and ranked him in the hierarchy of Daoist immortal.
Another development about Dongyue dadi is in Chinese Buddhism. It is based on his role as the judge of dead person’s soul in the Underground. This transformation began in Six dynasty. In Buddhist scriptures, his title is Tai-shan fu-jun (泰山府君) which is incorporated with the Buddhist hell, diyu (地獄). As a result, Tai-shan fu-jun is one of the ten kings of hell or a prince of the seventh king of hell.
Basically, the god of Mountain Tai is called Dongyue dadi in Daoism and Chinese popular religion. However, Taishan fujun is the god of Mountain Tai’s only title in Buddhism scriptures.
Since Dongyue dadi reigns over the hell, there is ritual about him. The ritual is called da-cheng (打城), storming the city wall. Regarding the hell as a city, it is an imitational ritual that storms the city wall and rescues a deceased’s soul by a ritual specialist who is a Daoist or a master in popular religion. There are ten processes of da-cheng ritual, including inviting Dongyue dadi (請神), summoning the soul of decease (召魂), asking the soul or making someone substitute for the soul to confess the soul’s sin (拜懺), starting the journey to leave the hell (行路), practicing divination to ask if the soul’s sin was pardoned (卜赦旨), leaving the hell (出城), letting the soul taking medicine (吃藥), offering a bowl of rice (拜飯), guiding the soul crossing the bridge (過橋), making the soul to rebirth in a better place (送亡). The attending members in the ritual are including the decease’s family members and the Daoist or the master of popular religion.
There are about seven temples dedicated to Dongyue dadi in Taiwan. The famous one is Dongyue temple (東嶽殿) in Tainan city where is outstanding in Da-cheng ritual.
Keywords: Dongyue dadi, Taishan Fujun, Mountain Tai,Dongyue temple, storming the city wall rituall
References:
1. 《神異經》
2. 增田福太郎。1999。《臺灣漢民族的司法神－城隍信仰的體系》。台北：古亭書屋。