臺灣自清代以來盛行進香活動，而大甲媽祖的進香活動，已經在中臺灣走了將近百年，並且在廿世紀的中葉以後逐漸的成長，至廿世紀末已經成為民間信仰中最重大的進香活動之一。近百年來工作人員與香客們，在每一次的進香過程中，沿襲著漢人傳統的「禮」，按部就班的完成各種儀式。本文探討進香的「禮」在實際的需要下，儀式或做修正或有變遷，然而禮的精神則被傳承了下來。文中探討大甲媽祖南下進香去程至祝壽大典前的齋戒行為，討論了信徒居喪期間不參加進香，完全是秉承者儒家周禮的觀念，而不是來自佛教的戒殺生;其次在祝壽大典結束後，香客人手一張「豬羊份」的單子，到豬肉攤領取「豬公肉」食用，此一「分豬羊份」習俗，追本溯源至周禮「餕」的觀念，傳承著「飲福受胙」的周代遺風；第三對進香時頭旗、涼傘、神轎所行的「大小禮」方式，做田野的調查，配合周禮做研究，並將此一大小禮定位為拱手禮；另外晚近鎮瀾宮配合電子媒體的攝影播放需求，進香過程中純樸的簡單儀式，轉變成為繁文耨節的隆重典禮，鎮瀾宮的主事者並且檢選出進香過程中的重要儀式，合稱為「八大典禮」俾便媒體播報，也對八大典禮中的「三跪九叩禮」做研究，上溯歷朝的跪拜禮的儀式，並論定現行的三跪九叩禮承龔自清朝。本文提及的禮儀來自於大甲媽祖進香工作人員的訪談與觀察，並將之與周禮、各朝代的禮做相關的探討。

Pilgrimage has been prevalent in Taiwan ever since the Qing dynasty. The Dajia Mazu pilgrimage had persisted for several hundred years and continued to grow into one of the most important pilgrimages in Taiwan. For hundreds of years, pilgrims follow the “rites” of the ethnic-Han tradition to carry out several ceremonies. The spirit of the “rites” survives even though the rituals have underwent adaptations and changes to accom­modate actual needs. I first postulate in this article that it is with the notions from the Rites of Zhou, instead of the Buddhist notion of “no killing” that the pilgrims observe abstention on their way down south before Mazu’s birthday celebration. The reason why followers who are in mourning refrain from participating in the pilgrimage can also be explained this way. At the end of the birthday celebration, each pilgrim claims a portion of pork from the butcher with a “sacrifice share” ticket. My second point is that this is a custom that can be traced to the jun notion from the Rites of Zhou, which transmits good fortune to people who share the sacrificial meat. Thirdly, with field investigation and textual research of the Rites of Zhou, I consider the ceremonial steps of the vanguard banners, parasols, and the goddess’ palanquin to be equivalent to a bowing greeting with clasped hands (between deities). Lately, the Zhenlan Temple has turned the relatively simple rituals during the pilgrimage into more elaborated ones to accommodate the media's filming need. Chief directors of the Temple specify the more impor­tant rituals during the pilgrimage and labeled them “Eight Major Rites” for the media to cover. Thus I also trace the origins of the “three kneeling and nine kowtowing” and argue that the current ceremony follow the convention of dating from the Qing dynasty. The rituals discussed in this article are based on my observation of and interviews with the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage staff. Comparisons with observations recorded in the Rites of Zhou and from other dynasties are also included.