随Anthony神游湄州妈祖庙 (Following Anthony’s Trip To Meizhou Mazu Ancestor Temple)
Anthony Kon is a former colleage of mine whom I knew since 1986. He is an in-depth travelor to China after retirement and has traveled to places in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces many times and for long duration per trip.
He has just embarked on another usual free-and-easy solo travel to China for sight-seeing and good food since April 3, 2019 till May 10, 2019. His journey this time includes Macau, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Zhanmei, Zhantau, Meizhou,Chaozhou,Heyuan, Shenzhen, Longgang (the above are in Guangzhou Province), Longyan, Fuzhou, Putian, Meizhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen (the above are in Fujian Province).
On April 19, 2019, he visited the Meizhou Mazu Ancestor Temple (Legendary Guardian or Goddess of the Chinese Seas) in Putian to pay homage to Mazu. The 1059 anniversary of Mazu’s birthday falls on April 27, 2019 in conjunction of Lunar March 23.
As requested by Anthony, I am pleased to post herewith some of the photos he has taken during his trip to Meizhou Mazu Ancestor Temple so as to share with everyone.
A Brief Introduction:
Mazu statue taken from internet |
Meizhou Mazu Ancestor Temple Scenic Spot is located at the northern end of Meizhou Island, Putian City. It’s about 40 kilometers away from the southeast Putian City. The temple is the ancestor temple of over 6,000 temples for Mazu in more than 20 countries.
Mazu (妈祖), also known by several other names and titles such as Matsu, Ma-Tsu, A-ma, Tianhou, Motherly Matriarch, Kuan Yin of the Southern Sea, Daughter of the Dragon, Empress of Heaven, Goddess of the Sea, Goddess of the the Straits and etc., is a Chinese sea goddess.
She is the deified form of the purported historical Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Hokkien shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987.
Lin Mo was born at the Xianliang Port of Meizhou Bay in Putian, Fujian Province. Clever, brave and kindhearted, Lin Mu could forecast the weather and was happy to help fishermen in distress at sea. She encouraged the people to conquer nature and defeat evil, so she was much loved and esteemed by the people in her hometown. Unfortunately she died an early death at only 27. As the legend goes, she ascended to heaven and became an immortal at Meizhou Bay located opposite to the Xianliang Port.
Revered after her death as a tutelary deity of seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, her worship spread throughout China’s coastal regions and overseas Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia. She was thought to roam the seas, protecting her believers through miraculous interventions. She is now generally regarded by her believers as a powerful and benevolent Queen of Heaven.
Consequently, over 1,500 Mazu temples are found all over the world, where Muzu from Meizhou are consecrated. The belief in Mazu has become a sort of transnational folk belief with more than 100 million worshipers. However, different from a religion in the ordinary sense, is a special kind of ideology connected with , religion, folklore, sociology as well as the history of sea communication overseas Chinese, culture and the development of Fujian and Taiwan. This is the culture of Mazu which has aroused an extensive interest and great attention of Chinese and foreign scholars and is now under integral part of the culture of the Chinese nation and a part of the brilliant civilization of China.
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