馬祖列島上的馬港天后宮有一個引人注意的神明起祀傳說，當地遍傳媽 祖林默娘在海上遇難後屍身漂流至馬港，由當地居民拾起後在海邊埋葬，並 為之立廟，至今廟中仍存有媽祖的墓穴遺跡。
本文試圓去瞭解這一傳說所蘊含的有關馬祖列島的社會與文化意涵。首 先我們發現，「浮屍立廟」是當地民間信仰中普遍性的文化模式。更進一步 地，從涂爾幹「神是社會的表徵」出發，我們認為普遍的、高頻率的「浮屍立 廟」現象反映了一種中國東南沿海小島社會特有的社會特質。那就是，作為 邊陲的、不安定的社會，他們都經歷了一種對自身社會的自我認同的掙扎。 透過結構主義式的分析，本文認為馬祖列島「浮屍立廟」普遍而快速地從陰 廟的屬性轉變為陽廟，正是這一認同掙扎的集體表徵。

There is a significant narrative about the origin of the Magang Tian-Hou Temple in the Mazu Islands. It says that the corpse of Lin Mo Niang (Tian Hou) drifted to the coast of Magang after she died at sea when rescuing her father, and the local people buried her and established the temple for her. We can still see the grave in the temple nowadays. In this essay, we try to figure out the social and cultural implication behind this story. First of all, we find that people burying a corpse found on the beach and establishing a temple for him (or her) is a common religious model in the Mazu Islands. Further, we argue that this kind of religious model represents a distinguishing characteristic of small island societies in southeast coastal China. These societies are relatively marginal and unstable. This religious model reflects the struggle over self-identity in these societies.