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Folk Customs
--- The Worship of Mazu >
The Legend of the Goddess of the Sea |
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The
magnificent Mazu Temple complex looks like a celestial
palace.
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In Meizhou Bay near the city of Putian in
eastern Fujian there is a beautiful little island shaped like
a long, narrow eyebrow. Although the island is only 16 square
kilometres in area, thousands of people come here every year
to pay homage to Mazu, a woman who lived long ago and became
deified as a goddess. Now she is called either Mazu or Tianhou
(the Holy Mother in Heaven), but no matter what name is used,
she is known to all as the Goddess of the Sea. Protector of
all seafaring people, it is only fitting that her major place
of worship is on an island.
Viewed from the sea, palatial temples stand in great numbers
on the island, their glazed gold-tiled roofs shining brightly
against the blue sky. Towering above the cluster of temples
is a statue of the goddess, whose graceful and poised figure
blends in naturally with the scenery. She stands in the posture
of one who is piloting a ship amidst raging wind and waves.
Throughout the world there are more than 100 million devotees
of the goddess and some 1,500 temples, the first of which was
built here on Meizhou.
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Meizhou
women don traditional attire on Mazu's birthday.
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It has been over 1,000 years since Chinese
people first started worshipping Mazu as the Goddess of the
Sea. Mazu's original name was Lin Mo, and she was a descendant
of the prominent Lin family of Fujian. According to historical
records, one of Mazu's remote ancestors, Lin Lu, was sent at
imperial behest to Fujian to work as prefect in what is now
the city of Fuzhou in 325, during the Jin Dynasty. Lin Mo was
born on the 23rd day of the third lunar month in the year 960
during the Song Dynasty in Xianliang Port (present-day Zhongmen
Town) in Meizhou Bay.
She was born a strange child who did not cry once from the day
she was born to the time she was one month old. For this reason
she was given the name Mo (silence). From earliest childhood
it was clear that Lin Mo was superbly intelligent. It is said
that when she was 13, an old Taoist priest found that she was
a girl with a deeply spiritual disposition, and he therefore
passed on to her the secret teachings of Taoism. From then on,
she led a religious life and studied diligently according to
the priest's teachings.
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Pilgrims
holding flags reading "The Holy Mother in Heaven" march
up the road from the shore to Mound Meifeng.
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Another version says that when Lin Mo was
16 she went together with some other girls to a well to look
into the water and admire their dresses. Suddenly a celestial
being emerged from the well and offered them a magic bronze
tally. The other girls ran away in panic, but Lin Mo remained
calm and took the tally completely unperturbed. From that moment
on she was an enlightened being, and her magic powers increased
daily.
Being a kind-hearted girl, Lin Mo was always lending a helping
hand to villagers who were in difficulties, and became well
known for her many good deeds. She was also proficient in medicine
and cured the sick with medicinal herbs, at the same time teaching
people how to prevent disease and ward off calamities. As she
was familiar with the sea and was good at making astronomical
observations and calculating weather changes, Lin Mo could tell
when it was the right time for sailors and fishermen to put
out to sea. It is said that she could ride the clouds across
the ocean, and many times used her powers to turn the tide and
save merchant ships and fishing boats from the perils of the
sea. Due to her extraordinary kindness and miraculous powers,
people began calling her "The Goddess" or "The Daughter of the
Dragon". |
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