五通信仰淵源有自，宋元以來逐漸被公認為是從婺源興起，之後擴展到南方各地，其中以太湖流域為中心的吳方言北部地區，自明代以來，在吸收此種信仰的同時，發展出了一些自身的特質，其一是塑造出五通之母太姥並使其具有比五通更高的信仰位階和力量；其二則是形成了蘇州郊外上方山這樣一個信仰聖地，其輻射範圍遍及太湖流域。歷來的相關研究多集中於分散各地的信仰狀況及與之相伴的寶卷等信仰文藝形式，本文則以上方山為中心，通過持續兩年對該處信仰集會的實地調查，對其基本狀況作了全面的展示，並對其中依附於信仰的各類半專業儀式文藝，諸如超度、誦經、宣卷、唱神歌、唱歌、雜耍等形式，予以了特別的說明。此外，本文還從明清以來各類文獻中搜集出一些有關上方山信仰活動的資料，以期為現狀提供整體性歷史對照和某些失落的傳統。

The prevailing viewpoint of the origin of Wutong cult (Wuxian cult included) is that it stemmed from the Wuyuan area and then spread throughout various places in southern China. Among these places, the northern part of the Wu dialect region centering around Taihu Basin is particularly notable. While the region has absorbed this cult since the Ming dynasty, some distinct features have also been developed there. For one thing, people have created a deity, ＂Taimu, the Mother of Wutong,＂ and endowed her with a higher status and more power than Wutong; for another, the Shangfang mountain in suburban Suzhou has been regarded as a shrine of ＂Taimu＂ and ＂Wutong,＂ the radius of which covers the entire Taihu Basin. The previous studies have mostly focused on the distribution of the cult and the preforming arts associated with it, such as baojuan. This research, based on a two-year field survey of the local religious assemblies, would center on the Shangfang mountain and present a general picture of the activities. Special attention will be given to various semiprofessional ritual arts performances that are associated with the cult, such as purgatory rituals, sutra-reciting, xuanjuan, sacred-song singing, chanting and juggling. In addition, this research also collects information on the religious activities in the Shangfang mountain from various Ming and Qing documents, in order to shed new light on some lost traditions and to provide a holistic historical comparison for the present situation.