Why did Mazu become the goddess worshipped by 200 million people around the world?

Encyclopedia TA said invited author: World Chinese Weekly

Ge Hua said

From an ordinary woman to a goddess, and even the spiritual pillar of overseas Chinese around the world, she witnessed the vicissitudes of this land behind her for thousands of years.

Columnist of World Chinese Weekly: Rambo

Explore eastern and western cultures and gain insight into the differentiated world.

The full text is 2396 words and the reading time is about 4 minutes.

"Where there is sea water, there are Chinese, and where there are Chinese, there are Mazu".

This sentence is no exaggeration. Today, there are more than 100 million Mazu believers in the world.

70% people in Taiwan Province and Singapore believe in Mazu. In addition, Chinese in Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines also believe in Mazu.

Mazu is one of the three gods of national festivals in China, and the other two are Huangdi and Confucius.

Mazu Tempel Sacrificial Ceremony in Meizhou Island

So, who the hell is Mazu? There is a real person in history, but he was just an ordinary person before his death.

In the first year of the Stegosaurus in the Northern Song Dynasty (960), a baby girl was born in a small fishing village near Meizhou Bay in Putian City, Fujian Province. Because she was born without crying or making trouble, she was named Mo, and the locals also called her Lin Moniang.

When Maureen was young, she was both smart and open-minded. At the age of eight, he entered a school and could recite paragraph by paragraph.

When she grows up, she is determined not to marry, and has been studying medicine, treating diseases, preventing diseases and eliminating disasters. She is enthusiastic about helping others, solving difficulties and disputes for villagers and doing good deeds to help the world.

Stills of TV series Mazu

On the 9th day of September, 4th year of Yongxi, Song Taizong, Maureen was unfortunately hit on the head by a mast while rescuing a ship in distress at sea, and fell into the water and died at the age of 28.

In memory of her, the local people built an ancestral temple for her. But at that time, its legend was limited to Putian folk areas, and its influence was not great.

But what is puzzling is that she has been unknown for more than 0/00 years after her death. But after the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty and the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty, she suddenly became famous.

In the 25th year of Emperor Gaozong's reign in Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 155), Maureen was named Lady Chongfu, which was the earliest official praise for Mazu.

Since then, after the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, 14 emperors have been given titles for 36 times, and Maureen's status has changed from "Lady" and "Tian Fei" to "Goddess of Heaven", with titles as many as 64 words, reaching an unbounded level.

In folklore, Lin Mo Niang appeared as a fairy.

In the fifty-eighth year of Kangxi (A.D. 17 19), Mazu, like Confucius and Guan Yu, was listed as a national sacrifice ceremony. The local officials personally presided over the spring and autumn festival, kneeling three times and knocking nine times, and she became the "goddess of the sea" admired by everyone.

After the Northern Song Dynasty, the feudal society in China reached its peak and the social status of women fell to the bottom. Except for the ancient goddess Nu Wa and Wang Mu, almost all the patrons of people's beliefs are men, with the exception of Mazu.

So, how did an ordinary girl step by step become the goddess believed by hundreds of millions of people? What is the driving force behind it?

This will start with the historical development of Fujian.

Fujian is known as "eight mountains, one water and one field", and mountainous hills account for more than 80% of the total area of the province.

Because there are many snakes and insects in most mountainous areas, Fujian is called "Min" for short, and "insects are added under the door to show its characteristics".

Of course, this terrain is not suitable for the development of farming culture, so before the Tang Dynasty, Fujian was sparsely populated and its social development was extremely slow.

Fujian topography

Although Fujian was incorporated into Chinese territory in Qin and Han Dynasties, it was still an uncivilized and wild land. During the Three Kingdoms period, the immigrants from the Central Plains of Fujian gradually increased, and Jian 'an County was established in Soochow, and the first town in Fujian-Jin 'an (now Fuzhou) appeared.

After the Three Kingdoms, Wei and Jin Dynasties, the war in the northern region continued, and the population of Han nationality decreased sharply. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the northern region was ruled by ethnic minorities, and the Han people in the Central Plains had to move south. At that time, eight families of Lin, Huang, Chen, Zheng, Zhan, Qiu, He and Hu in the Central Plains entered Fujian, which was the famous "Eight surnames dressed in clothes when they entered Fujian". Fujian has thus developed.

In 733 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty set up an envoy in Fujian, hence the name "Fujian".

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Wang Chao, Wang He is from Gwangju, Henan? The brothers launched an uprising and went south to Fujian. This is the famous "Three Kings Open Fujian".

Wang Chao, Wang He? be just like

The three kings ruled Fujian for 4 1 year, and Fujian really developed after extensive moral administration and economic development. Due to the shortage of arable land, they attached great importance to overseas trade, which laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of Fujian in the future.

From the "Three Kings Ruling Fujian" to the Northern Song Dynasty, Fujian's local economy was in a transitional period from fishing and hunting civilization to agricultural civilization and commercial civilization. After all, among the people who are mainly fishing and hunting, women are still in a dominant position. The reason why Maureen can "worship the gods" as a woman reflects that the folk areas in Fujian still have the characteristics of matriarchal society at that time, which has the same historical background as the formation of the myth of "Nu Wa" in the Central Plains.

Therefore, although Maureen is a woman, she can become a god believed by local people.

Then, why should officials of later generations promote Mazu culture? This is about to mention the glorious history of Fujian.

After the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty was established.

Handicraft and commerce in the Southern Song Dynasty developed unprecedentedly, commercial tax exceeded agriculture for the first time, and overseas trade was unprecedentedly active, which became the main source of government finance in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Compared with Guangzhou, Fujian was relatively stable during the Tang and Song Dynasties, without the threat and destruction of war.

After two great migrations in the late Tang Dynasty and the late Southern Song Dynasty, people from the Central Plains came to Fujian, and they also brought advanced technology. In addition, the mountainous areas and dense forests in Fujian produce high-quality wood. At that time, Fujian's shipbuilding industry was at its peak in the Southern Song Dynasty, especially Quanzhou's seagoing ships were large in scale and advanced in technology, and they were in a leading position in the world.

Ancient shipbuilding scene

The Silk Road on land was cut off by the Jin Dynasty and Mongolia, and Quanzhou became the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, surpassing Guangzhou and becoming the center of maritime trade at that time.

Of course, the Southern Song Dynasty imperial court attached great importance to the development and consolidation of Fujian, and needed to enhance the cohesion and centripetal force of Fujian people by improving Maureen's influence.

At this time, Mazu culture was not only a local goddess, but also combined with Taoist culture in the Song Dynasty and incorporated into the official immortal pedigree, becoming a goddess of protection.

Water help map of the virgin Mary

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Quanzhou Port attracted worldwide attention because of its extensive external traffic. It became the anchorage of the Maritime Silk Road and was recognized as the "largest port in the East" at that time. Quanzhou has thus become an open international city.

At that time, it traded with more than 100 countries and regions, and the coastal areas of Fujian showed a prosperous scene of "the rise of commercial seas of all countries".

Silk painting "Erythrina Ancient Harbor"

Fujian, especially Quanzhou, was the most dynamic region of Asian marine economy at that time, forming the marine economic circle of the eastern world. As a result, China's "four great inventions" as well as porcelain, silk and Chinese herbal medicines spread all over the world; Specialty products from all over the world, such as pearls, ivory and spices, especially crops such as Zhancheng rice, cotton and carrots, have been introduced to China.

It can be said that the significance of maritime Silk Road radiation at this time far exceeds the scope of trade. It connects China and the world, and it is the road of dialogue between human material civilization and spiritual civilization.

Therefore, Mazu, which represents China's marine culture, has a higher and higher status. During the Yuan Dynasty, the spread of Mazu belief in the whole country reached a peak.

In the Ming Dynasty, Mazu went from China to the world.

Mazu Map-Holding Dreams to Protect Ships

The Ming Dynasty was a period of frequent maritime diplomacy in China. Zheng He's fleet made seven voyages to the Western Ocean in more than 30 years and visited more than 30 countries and regions.

Most of the crew members of Zhenghe Air Force are from Fuzhou.

Whenever Zheng He's crew were in distress at sea, they always asked Mazu for asylum. Every time you go to a pier, you must first build a temple to worship Mazu. Wherever the fleet goes, Mazu culture will spread.

Zheng He's Sailing Team worships Mazu

In the Ming Dynasty, Fujian's fishery, handicraft industry and shipbuilding industry were highly developed, which stimulated the development of commerce, and Fujian folk businessmen began to go global.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent the Japanese pirates, the Ming Dynasty implemented a policy of banning the sea, which greatly affected Fujian's economy.

In order to make a living, a large number of Fujian people emigrated overseas.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, Fujian became the hometown of overseas Chinese, and Mazu belief spread to Japan and Nanyang with the footsteps of Fujian people.

Today's Mazu Cultural Festival

In the Qing Dynasty, due to the upsurge of private business and immigration, more and more Fujian people lived and settled overseas. Mazu is not only the patron saint of navigation, but also the spiritual pillar of overseas Chinese, representing the enlightenment of China culture and China concept.

The custom of Mazu crossing the sea in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province lasted for more than 300 years.

Mazu, a folk girl who died young, gradually became a fairy believed by hundreds of millions of people. In fact, it is the process of the Chinese nation moving from inland to ocean and opening up.

Mazu is not to protect those who go out to sea, but to protect everyone who sails in China.