本文以自沙屯媽祖進香的徒步與行轎儀式為例，說明進香儀式一方面沿襲過去以來某種程度固定的傳統或慣例 (convention)，另方面則在目前的社會文化脈絡下再製及創新慣例，並重新詮釋這些傳統慣例在當代進香活動中的意涵。筆者認為行轎儀式是傾向於展演的儀式 (performance-oriented ritual)，並依據展演的形式與功能，將行轎儀式區分為兩類：第一類是真有指導旅程作用的大轎神諭；第二類是比較具有開放性詮釋餘地的行轎展演。儘管前者較後者具有慣例化的形式與意義，但二者均涉及互動的人際關係與開放式的意義協商空間。過去進香的行轎儀式著重於前者；今日進香除展演第一類的大轎神諭之外，展演第二類行轎儀式的機率增多，也出現新的形式與詮釋。在強調儀式經驗的觀點下，我認為徒步旅程是富含宗教體驗的一種儀式。香燈腳的徒步實踐與轎夫的行轎儀式展演，均由實際的身體經驗中體會媽祖的靈驗。因此，在桑高仁 (Sangren 1991, 1993) 所謂的再現 (representation) 的意識層面之外，也可以直接由身體層面來呈現進香的超越性力量 (physically transcendent power of the pilgrimage, cf. Quintero 2002)。徒步旅程在缺乏便利交通工具的過去或許是不得已的抉擇，在今日則成為信徒表現其堅定的媽祖信仰的場域，它已經更新了成分並具有了新的意涵。很弔詭的，正是當今脈絡下再製與創新的傳統宣告了「過去」的真正死亡。

As Hobsbawn and Ranger (1983) pointed out, tradition is not only something from the past; it is reproduced and invented in contemporary social and cultural contexts. Focusing on explicating this thesis from the perspective of convention, I have studied two ritual actions in the Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage of Taiwan. The first is the palanquin performance, which is regarded as a performance-oriented ritual, in which people believe that the goddess Mazu descends to the palanquin and makes carriers move through her pulling force. I divide the palanquin performance into two categories: the palanquin oracle that guides the pilgrimage odyssey and the performance for free interpretations. The former contains more conventional forms and meanings in the performance than the latter, albeit both performance categories involve the human interaction and the negotiation of meaning during and after the performance act. The palanquin performance in past pilgrimage journeys places an emphasis on enacting the palanquin oracle to guide the pilgrim's excursion. The frequency of the performance is largely increased on present journeys, and new forms and interpretations of the performance emerge as well. Drawing on the notion of ritual experience, I see the pilgrimage journey on foot as another kind of ritual action, in which the pilgrim’s experience of walking heightens and produces religious meaning. While following Mazu’s pilgrimage journey, pilgrims not only place their own bodies in exhausting circumstances like strong sunshine or heavy rain, but also depend on their goddess’s protection to release the physical pain resulting from the difficult journey. Both the pilgrim’s experience of walking and the carrier’s experience of the palanquin performance is viewed as the theophany of their goddess. In this sense, the transcendent power of the pilgrimage representation, originally explicated by Sangren (1991, 1993), can result from the pilgrim's physical experience on the journey (cf. Quintero 2002). The journey on foot was inevitable in the past when transport vehicles were not available, whereas the pilgrims walking on today's excursion are “pushing their bodies to a state of physical crisis.” This “physical sacri­fice” carries an air of being the indispensable testimony to the pilgrim's belief in Mazu. Thus the journey on foot is a contemporary reproduction of the convention from the past, whose reproduction involves new resources and meanings. Paradoxically, the reproduction and the invention of the tradition in the present have ironically announced the death of the past.