聽三界公講古
Enjoy Story Time with Sanjie Gong
文｜謝鴻文
圖｜李信慧
你認識三界公嗎？你知道三界公是哪三個神嗎？
你知道怎麼拜三界公嗎？你知道他們有什麼魔力嗎？
跟著我們看看三界公大顯神威吧！
廟埕當咧搬布袋戲，「khin-khin-khiang-khiang」，
雺煙散霧、金光沖沖滾，大人囡仔看甲興勃勃。
今仔日是啥物好日子咧？歡迎來聽阮三仙講古。
阮是服侍佇八德三元宮的三官大帝，閣號做「三元大帝」，
福佬人稱呼阮「三界公」，客人稱呼阮「三界爺」。
三元宮佇清國乾隆皇朝起造，正殿服侍阮三仙，
所以廟名「三元｣就是按呢來的。
He tables were all covered with offerings. There were veggie pigs made of string noodles and sachima (caramel treats) other than the regular offerings. Those
A glove puppet show is playing on the temple court. Clink and bang, smoke and rays of light—all in the audience, adults and children, are having fun.
What is the occasion? Welcome to our story time. We are the Emperors of the Three Offices of Sanyuan Temple, Bade, also known as Sanjie gong by Hokkien. Sanyuan Temple was founded during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. We are the main gods of the temple, hence its name Sanyuan—the three offices.
北管樂團佇廟埕演奏，阿公指一个樂師講：「光仔，你看，彼个是樂隊的指揮，號做「頭手鼓」，伊倒手攑拍板，正手摃班鼓，負責掌握規个樂隊的節奏，「頭手鼓」
八德舊名「八塊厝」，名稱由來有兩種講法：
一種是乾隆6年(西元1741)的時，
當初時開墾分做「庄頭」、「庄尾」、「稻埕頭」、「連城」、
「舊城」、「城外」、「公館」和「租倉」八个區域的名稱。
另外一種是乾隆10年(西元1745)的時，
有對福建、廣東的謝、蕭、邱、呂、賴、黃、吳、李這八姓移民遷徙來遮，
逐姓各起一間厝，所以號做「八塊厝」。
Bade’s old name Bakuaicuo, which meant Eight Houses.
There are two explanations for it:
When Bade was first settled in 1741, the land was divided into eight parcels.
The parcels were called Farm’s Head, Farm’s End, Paddy Yard’s Head, Twin Forts,
Old Fort, Fort’s Outland, Landlord’s, and Rented Barn.
The other account of the name is that eight clans from Fujian and Guangdong immigrated here in 1745 and built houses respectively.
Their family names were Xie, Xiao, Qiu, Lyu, Lai, Huang, Wu and Li.
阮三仙是傳說中道教上崇高的神明――元始天尊的骨頭分出來的，
全名是：上元天官紫微大帝、中元地官清虛大帝、下元水官洞陰大帝。
民間信仰認為堯、舜、禹三位賢能帝王就是阮下凡投胎轉世的。
In 669, south Fukien was an area lack of management and fell behind other places. The mountain tribal people confronted with the Han tribe all the time.
We three immortals evolved from the bones of Yuanshi tianzun, the highest god in Daoism. Each of us is in charge of one of the Three Primordial Realms—Heaven, Earth, and Water. The Heavenly Official among us is Tian guan. The Earthly Official is Di guan, and the Water Official is Shui guan. The three sage kings Yao, Shun, and Yu are said to be our incarnations.
講著三官大帝信仰的由來，和先民以農業為主的生活有關係。
俗語講：「看天食飯。」辛苦種作的農民，總是希望風調雨順，五穀豐收，才會當食穿無煩惱平安過日。
咱的老祖公仔相信天生萬物有靈聖，產生對天、地、水的自然崇拜佮尊敬。到甲東漢朝張道陵天師創立道教了後，才成做祭祀三官大帝的宗教信仰。
We are worshipped because people farmed in the old days. “The meal depends on the heaven,” they said.
Hardworking farmers always wished for favorable weather,
bumper harvest, and a few more good days.
People believed that everything in nature has a spirit,
and felt the need to venerate the sky, the earth, and water.
The worship established during the Daoist movement
of Zhang Daoling in early Eastern Han dynasty.
阮三仙分別主宰天、地、水這三界，各人有各人管理的代誌：
天官管理天界眾神，佮掌控人間眾生禍福；
地官管理所有的土地，考察眾生善惡功過；
水官管理水域和萬靈，解除人間災厄。
所以有「天官賜福、地官赦罪、水官解厄」這句話咧流傳。
In the Three Realms, we each do our jobs.
The Heavenly Official manages the gods and decides the fortunes of man.
The Earthly Official watches over all lands and inspects men
for goodness and faults.
The Water Official controls the waters and nature spirits,
and deals with human distress.
To summarize, “Heaven blesses, Earth absolves, and Water relieves.”