Matsu (goddess)
Matsu (媽祖, pinyin: Māzǔ; literally "Mother-Ancestor") is a Taoist Goddess of Sea who is meant to provide safety, and is extremely popular among Taiwanese, Fujianese, and Cantonese fishermen and their families. Matsu is Ling Muoniang's deification (see #The person). The Matsu Islands are named after her.
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2 The person 3 The goddess 4 Dedications 5 Parallel entities 6 External links |
According to legend, Ling Muoniang (林默娘) was born in 960 (during the early Northern Song Dynasty) as the seventh daughter of Lin Yuan (林愿) on Meizhou Island, Fujian. She did not cry when she was born, and thus her given name means "Silent girl". Although she started swimming relatively late at the age of 15, she soon became an excellent swimmer. She wore red standing on the shore to guide fishing boats home, even in the most dangerous and harsh weather. Ling Muoniang died in 987 at the age of 28, when she climbed a mountain alone and flew to heaven and became a goddess. Another version of the legend says that she died at age 16 of exhaustion after swimming far into the ocean trying to find her lost father and that her corpse later washed ashore in Nankan Island of the Matsu Islands.
To commemorate her acts of courage that deterred many disasters and hence protected many fishermen's families, she was frequently prayed to.
After her death, many of the prayers to her were answered. Her effectiveness spreaded quickly. Eventually, she was known as the Heavenly Holy Mother, depicted wearing red robe and sitting on a grass mat. She was a deity endorsed officially by the Empires of Yuan and Qing.
There are about 800 to 1000 Taiwanese temples dedicated wholly, or usually, partly, to Matsu. Chaotian Temple (朝天宮) of Peikang Township (北港鎮), Yunlin is the most popular temple of Matsu in Taiwan. Heavenly Empress Palace-Meizhou Ancestral Temple (天后宮湄洲祖廟) is on her native Meizhou Island. There is also a temple on the Pescadores Islands. There are approximately 60 Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong. Macau has three Tin Hau temples (one per Coloane, Macau Peninsula, and Taipa). In total, there are around 1,500 Matsu temples in 26 countries of the world.
Her birthday-festival is on March 23 of the lunar calendar.
Lin Muoniang (2000), a minor Fujianese TV series, is a dramatization of the life of Matsu as human.
Some major Dragon Kings are also deity of the seas, but they are disciplinarian father figures.
See also: Chinese mythologyNames
The person
The goddess
Dedications
Parallel entities
