本論文探討地方居民在宗教信仰的神聖經驗下，對於生活世界所呈現之神聖秩序觀，並由此觀念主導著地方場域之具體實踐，而那卻是奠基在以人為主體的經驗感受上面之結果。地方生活場域，其實是地方居民一切生存認知的總體表現，是依照居民所認知的神聖力量引導了居住環境的實踐與秩序化過程。以此為出發點，本論文之研究內容，共可分為四個主要部分，其內容概述如下： （一）、象徵秩序與場域之確立。在場域塑造過程中，地方的信仰內容與其所建構的神聖象徵秩序和信仰層級，對於場域之塑造起了象徵秩序規範之作用。換言之，由神聖空間的秩序結構所界定一個場域的構成方式與運作基礎，到居住空間佈局、慶典儀式或是廟宇等等，都反映了笨港人對於宇宙終極秩序之掌握。 （二）、地方的空間組織－「境」之空間特徵與秩序反映。笨港在發展出獨特的社會運作模式，尤其是當街市空間與其機能發展逐漸成熟之際，不同的族群、氏族散佈於此，且各自皆有不同的社會、經濟、文化等生活模式；為了避免直接的正面衝突，最佳的方法即是確立一個明顯的居住空間範域－「境」。 （三）、地方氏族的居住行為表現。地方氏族透過儀式、神佛英雄之神話傳說故事等象徵性行為，強調一個屬於自身氏族的秩序典範中心之存在。但秩序典範的塑造，是一種由來已久的神聖體驗過程，即是一種期待家鄉祖佛或守護神的神聖降臨與其庇祐之體驗過程，並由此反映至居住環境的實踐上；但這一實踐過程，卻又是由血緣組織變成地緣組織之現象。 （四）、慶典儀式的典範秩序建立。儀式活動的目的之一，是要藉由神聖象徵事物去確認一個地方場域的「真實性」問題。正因如此，這樣對整體性世界觀之實踐結果中，將呈現出笨港之空間場域，本身就是一種由神聖秩序所主導的世界。而繞境或獻境等儀式的進行，其實就是在重新確立這樣一個世界運作秩序。 總歸來說，本論文主要探討：宗教信仰的神聖象徵體系與其在居住環境之實踐。其目標即是達到對「生活場域」有一較深層的理解，尤其是提出了一個對地方場域（即「笨港」）之塑造的解釋。 The Sacred Symbolism of Order and the Shaping of Locality: The Case of “Poonkan” “Poonkan” is an historical term for a place in the Chia-yi county, which was originally a harbor by the Taiwan Strait where the worship of Ma-zu（媽祖，the Goddess of sea）first became popular in Taiwan more than three hundred years ago. The present thesis discusses the role sacred religious symbolisms played in the constitution of the spatial structure and the formation of the place historically called Poonkan. In this study four main issues have been dealt with and discussed: （1） The establishment of the order of the general parameters and spatial structure of this place through sacred religious symbolisms. （2） The more subdivided spatial organization within the general parameters is formulated by the Chin（境）. The inhabitant groups came from different regions of Fu-jian province of Mainland China, resided in each of their own local territory called the Chin. （3） The inhabitants, furthermore, organize their living quarters within the Chin through each family’s ancestral legends, symbols and heroic images. They have cstablished their local identities and territorial boundaries through kinship lineages. （4） Finally, the annual ritual gatherings and ceremonies, such as go-around the Chin（繞境）, are also closely tied with the meanings of the place; they actually played the role as the sacral verification and renewed realization of this place. This stud aims to reach a deeper understanding of the man-made environment. Via a close examination of Poonkan and its religious and historical background, this study found that a sacred and transcended world-view actually dominated the shaping of the structure of the place and its spatial organization. Also, this study analyzed the significance, the internal social mechanisms and the processes of how the sacred religious symbolisms were transformed into the spatial praxis in the real real life-world.
