本文由自然環境、地方開發、跨區域宗教繞境儀式及宗教組織、地方領導家族此四方面，做出觀察來勾勒出霧峰宗教信仰發展與地方社會的樣貌。共分為六章，除首章為緒論外，第二章就研究範圍的地理位置與自然環境加以介紹，並探究地理環境對霧峰宗教信仰的影響。第三章將漢人的移入與拓墾、聚落的形成與發展依序說明，重塑本區開發的歷史背景，並與寺廟的建立與發展相互對應。第四章針對影響本區宗教信仰甚重的跨區域宗教信仰組織南瑤宮媽祖會，與大規模繞境儀式十八庄迎媽祖加以介紹，並分析其對霧峰宗教信仰的影響。霧峰林家與霧峰關係密不可分，對霧峰各層面均具影響力，故於第五章以霧峰林家為主軸，探討地方菁英及家族對佛教、基督教、民間信仰的態度與發揮之影響力。第六章針對本文所提出的問題，與文中所討論的主題作一總結。 The purpose of this research is to give a picture of the development of religion and local society in Wufeng from four aspects, including natural environment, regional development, cross-district patrol ceremony and religious organizations, and leading families. In chapter one, there is an overview for this research. In chapter two, we described the geography and the natural environment of Wufeng, and investigated how it influenced the region there. In chapter three, we conducted the topic about the immigration and development of Han-people and the formation and development of villages, and tried to construct a historical background of Wufeng, while echoed the development of temples. In chapter four, we made an introduction to an influenced cross-district religious organization named and an large-scale patrol ceremony named, and analyzed how they worked to the religion of Wufeng. In chapter five, We took the Lin Family in Wufeng as an example to discuss the influence of local elites and families to Buddhism, Christianity, and other folk religions. In the last chapter, we made a conclusion to all the research questions in this study.
