本文旨在試圖勾勒北臺灣客家的墓葬文化，主要以南桃園平鎮市作為田野調查研究範圍，希冀以臺灣客家重要地區之一的平鎮市為此研究課題的起點。所謂「墓葬文化」範圍甚廣，限於篇幅，在此所謂墓葬文化，主要在於探討客家人因其二次葬風俗習慣，所衍生的墳場景觀文化，及其所象徵的文化意涵，或對墓葬行為的想法與概念。文中首先簡述平鎮市的沿革，期使讀者對平鎮市的歷史有初步的暸解；其次是筆者實地──勘平鎮市所有公墓的紀錄，陳述該市的墓葬管理及公墓使用狀況；再者試圖探討平鎮市的墓葬文化，主要聚焦在家族墓即「祖塔」的問題上，由於單憑個人之力是無法探究每個墓塚的，因而論述的個案多以大宗族的祖塔為主，內容涉及其多元文化的意涵、墓地風水、風水利益與宗族，及未婚女性與祖塔等議題。尤為重要的是，過去的研究多將祖塔視為客家人宗族意識較閩南人濃厚的表徵，而本文正欲藉由祖塔來說明其衍生的家族或宗族間微妙的競爭、衝突，或合作的關係，甚至發展等問題。

This paper attempts to sketch key facets of Hakka burial culture in northern Taiwan based on a case study of Ping-chen City, located in southern Tao-yuan County. It also explores the cultural significance of sec­ond burial practices in terms of their conceptions and symbolic significance. In order to provide a comprehensive picture, this paper is divided into three sections. The first section gives a brief introduction of the historical development of Ping-chen City. Section two presents my fie1dwork on Ping-chen’s public cemeteries, particularly in terms of how the city government manages such cemeteries as well as the burial business as a whole. The final section concentrates on the clan cemetery. Previous research has noted that the clan cemetery represents a powerful symbol for the Hakka people and represents their ethnic consciousness, which is said to be stronger than that of the Min-nan people. This paper, however, examines some of the problems associated with large clans’ ancestral cemeteries, which reflect processes of cooperation, competition, and conflict among the Hakka. Some of the problems associated with these cemeteries include cemetery geomancy, the influence of geo mancy on clan benefits, the place of unmarried females in clan cemeteries, etc.