「王爺啊！我們想做雜誌，請問祢可以當創刊號嗎？」
這種要求，可能王爺一百多年來都沒聽過，但應該是看在我們傻呼呼一頭熱的份上，就答應了吧？五花鹽之所以走上專題雜誌這條路，就是從這一個「聖杯」開始的。
自從2015年創刊後，再刷《青山王》的多方建議一直沒有停過。
這次再出英漢對照版的契機，是在2017年夜巡前，我們到八將團看自賢兄為八將開臉。現場除了將團的大家忙進忙出，還有一位外國攝影師正在紀錄。這位攝影師很喜歡《青山王》，說雖然他能聽漢語，但看不懂漢文，如果也可以有英文版就好了。
當下不知道誰給的勇氣，居然莽莽撞撞的就答應了，說以後我們有機會、有優秀的翻譯，一定會出英文版。接著跌跌撞撞下三年過去，今天終於一切到位，我們竟然真的做出來了。想都不可思議，一定是王爺看（督）照（促）著吧！
「掃蕩一路的奸與惡，陪著我們從艋舺走到萬華，挺過歷代殖民下的天災人禍與驚濤駭浪。」創刊號的Slogan現在看來還是很帥、很貼切，是青山王獨有的那種霸氣柔情，感謝創刊以來王爺的照顧、保護與疼愛。
再過幾天就是舊曆十月，又是段鑼鼓喧天的日子－－艋舺迎青山王，讓我們每年都可以在這裡相見。
生日快樂，聖誕千秋。
初見王爺，是數年前某個冬夜。深夜未歸的我們無意間闖進了炮仗喧天的西門町。
煙霧中迎面而來的是幾個大仙尪仔，接著是拿著枷鎖刑具的將團。八將們樸實的青紅臉譜，沒有華麗的線條勾勒和過多花巧的裝扮，似乎和印象中的陣頭很不一樣。是傳統信仰和表演藝術融入後的分別嗎？當時的我們並不了解。
只見現場情緒火一般的燃燒，硝煙火光和眾人興奮的嘶喊轟然環繞。信仰，在這瞬間好像很具體，神、人彷彿在眼前相會。
這要算是我們對陣頭文化的首次震撼教育。
長久以來各種外來政權的文化汙名和壓迫，讓我們對自己所生長的土地認識淺薄。那些曾經應是人們生活一部分的在地信仰，經過了歷代的統治者的排擠、禁止、貶低，漸漸被邊緣化成了今天需要呵護的「文化資產」。家將、官將首、文武判，google 了之後還是一知半解。
漸漸的我們忘記了，這些看似陌生的文化和這塊土地的呼吸與成長原來是多麼緊緊的相關。
這份青山王信仰，依附著艋舺前輩與萬華今人的世代堅持，相對完整的保留下了原貌。而青山宮，不只是艋舺王爺信仰的指標，也從青山王祭歷年來的演變，讓我們循線回溯地方信仰是如何與歷史密切相依。
謝謝翻開這本雜誌的你，願意和我們一起重新記憶那些沉浸在鞭炮聲、鑼鼓聲中的大拜拜，和那份信仰與生活。不只是表象的文化保存，而是更深刻的城市記憶重建。
祝好胃口！
A winter night some years ago. Our first encounter with ông-iâ (王爺, a spcific kind of deity).
Still idling on the streets around midnight, we unexpectedly ran into Hsi-men-ting (西門町), which was then packed with firecrackers.
Coming out of the firecracker smoke to us are several big deity dolls (大身尪仔 tuā-sian ang-á), followed by attendant generals with cangues and chains and other torture instruments in their hands. Unlike what we had seen in other formations (tīn-thâu 陣頭), the faces of these generals were plainly painted in red and green - no resplendent facial drawing, nor overly flamboyant decorations. We didn’t understand, at that time, whether there was a distinction between traditional facial painting and innovation in which performing art had been integrated.
We were surrounded by burning emotions, dense smoke, light and fire as well as the excited exclamation of the public. For a split of a second, belief, deities and human beings seemed to meet each other right in front of our eyes.
That was our first cultural shock brought about by temple fair formations.
Various colonial powers have stigmatized our culture and that is the very season that we have become so alienated from our own land. Those local beliefs, once a part of everyday life, have been edged out and pushed aside, debased and even forbidden, being marginalized to the extent that we today see them as “cultural resources” that should be “preserved.” Even after a Google search, we knew still very little about attendant generals (家將 ka-tsiòng), deity generals (官將首 kuan-tsiòng-siú), judges of letters and might (Bûn-bú phuànn-kuann 文武判官) etc.
Such culture, now almost forgotten, now seemingly so strange and alien, was once closely connected with the breathe of our land.
Due to the insistency of Bang-kah ancestors and Wan-hua contemporaries, the belief in King Tshingshan is, comparatively speaking, well maintained. The Tshingshan Palace (Tshing-san-kiong) is not only an indication of Bang-kah’s ông-iâ belief. By tracing back the changes through years of King Tshingshan Festival, we see also how local beliefs were/are embedded in the history of Taipei.
Many thanks to you who are now reading this magazine, for you are willing to recall, together with us, the tuā-pài-pài (大拜拜 great worship) - always overwhelmed by sounds of firecrackers and drums and gongs - as well as the belief that was once also a way of life. More than the preservation of culture, it is an in-depth reconstruction of a city’s memory.
Bon appetit!
作者簡介：
在大國博弈之間，臺灣不過就是塊待瓜分的三層肉，肥肥的，在太平洋風雨大浪中飄搖。
千百年來這塊肉肉就這樣泡在這灘的鹹水中，接受那些人的錦鞋、皮鞋、木屐踐踏來去，在這裡發動一場又一場戰爭和屠殺，讓煙硝與砲火一次又一次的燻燒我們的土地。
五花肉、浸鹽、煙燻，然後變成了培根，我們今天的家。無論好壞、優劣、堪與不堪，這都是我們的歷史，我們就是這樣走過來的。
五花鹽 BaconPress，我們這樣期許自己：「記錄或記仇，總要記下三層肉在這煙硝與鹽水中擠壓成培根的故事。」