在華人世界出現船作為儀式法具，在此選擇三個案例的條件，就是空間上距離較遠，並無明顯的直接傳播影響的關係，卻又具有同樣的「代巡」的性質。從江西、福建、臺灣以及海外的東南亞地區中，選擇「代天巡狩」作為正型，就有國家禮制上的理由，可以觀察福州及泉、漳二府，為了合理化送五帝、瘟神的信仰習俗，乃由通曉巡狩禮的儒生對之進行改造，而將儺儀、送瘟儀的儀式吸納之後再加以壓抑，便於職掌迎、送王爺的主要禮儀。「代天巡狩」的名義作為美號，乃為了正祀化五帝，因而就可「標準化」為一套迎、送的儀式結構。如此理解儒家人士介入的原因，也就可理解仿擬、挪用巡狩禮的動機與目的，就是有意規避官方的禁制。但在複合道教與民俗的儀式、神話後，卻也無法完全改變神祇原有的「行瘟與解瘟」性格，只是將敬畏瘟神的情緒聯想為帝王、代巡的蒞境巡狩。王船即作為跨境送王的象徵法具，即可用以觀察另外兩種變型：元宵儺的船畫、九皇節的九皇船，其可作為亞型或變型的理由，就是在儀式結構上的一致化，多與送瘟、除穢的驅邪儀式有關。送行儀式主要的例證一是江西吉安地區用紙、布與木所畫的船，另一則是名為九皇船，流行於東南亞地區。各種的神祇神話與儀式結構，在區域內出現的標準化現象，顯示這些地方雖遠離中央政權的掌控，地方民眾仍有尋求標準化的需求，也有能力創造新的神話與儀式。主要的動力都是來自時疫、瘟疫的怖懼，故藉由儀式象徵進行年例或定期的潔淨，從而在社會生活上形成「常與非常」的兩個世界。船在各地的濱水、濱海地區是普遍的跨境工具，而轉變成為代巡的載送儀具，就從現實的跨境轉化為宗教意義上的跨境。在儀式中作為一種文化象徵物，聯繫了此界與彼界，故成為一種物質文化的表現。雖則在江西、福建或臺灣、東南亞，代巡信仰只是一種地方性知識，卻在定期性的潔淨意義上具有普世性的經驗與智慧。

In the Chinese world, ships came to be used as a ritual object. Three examples of this are chosen. The geographic distance between them is relatively great, and there is no obvious direct influence or transmission link between them, yet they all possess the features of the“inspection by decree.”The “inspection by decree”is identified as the standard form of ship ritual in the Jiangxi江西, Fujian福建, Taiwan and the south-east Asia areas, the argument being that it once formed part of a national ritual code.We can examine such use in Fuzhou 福州and the two cities of Zhangzhou 漳州and Quanzhou 泉州. In order to rationalize the customary belief in“seeing off the Five Emperors and the God of Plague,”Confucian scholars who thoroughly understood the imperial inspection rites made changes to them, incorporating the rituals for seeing off pestilence and plague, and then restricted their use in order to control the main rites for greeting and sending off the Emperor. The“inspection by decree”came to be a glorified name, and so in order to legitimize the Five Emperors rite, it could thus be standardized as a structure for greeting and sendoff rituals. Understanding the reasons for the intervention of Confucian officials also brings us to understand that the aim and motivation for the simulation and appropriation of the imperial inspection rites was to deliberately avoid prohibition by the authorities. However, even after integrating these folk and Taoist myths and rituals, there was no way to completely change the nature of the gods and spirits as those who brought on or saw off pestilence and plague, and the feelings of fear and respect for the Plague God were merely transferred onto the Emperor and to his inspectors arriving to inspect the border. Thus the King’s ship was used as a ritual symbol for seeing off the King back across the border, and is one that can be used to examine the other two forms: the ship paintings used in Lantern Festival exorcisms and the Nine Emperors’ Ship used during the Nine Emperors’ Festival. I believe the reason these can be regarded as divergent types is that within the standardized ritual structure, they were more related to exorcistic rites, such as seeing off plague or driving out evil. One of the main send-off rituals is performed in the Ji’an area of Jiangxi, in which a ship is painted on paper, cloth or wood. Another, the Nine Emperor’s Ship, is popular in the south-east Asia area. The standardization of the myths of the gods and spirits and of the structure of rituals that appeared within each region shows that although these places were far from the control of central political power, not only did the local populace seek standardization, they also possessed the ability to create new myths and rituals. As the chief impetus came from the fear of epidemics and plagues, annual or periodical cleansing was performed through ritual symbols, resulting in the formation of a society of two worlds, the “ordinary and extraordinary.”Ships at waterfronts and docks everywhere were a common means of crossing over the border. In transforming them into a ritual means for sending off the inspection by decree, a real crossing of borders was transformed into a crossing of boundaries in a religious sense, and they came to be used as a culturally symbolic object within the context of the ritual, linking this world with the other world. Thus they became a manifestation of material culture; although it is a belief known only locally in Jiangxi, Fujian or Taiwan and south-east Asia, as far as the idea of periodical cleansing is concerned,“inspection by decree”encapsulates a certain universal experience and wisdom.