Mazu is a kind of intimate address for the goddess of the sea. According to the historical records of the Song Dynasty, she was a woman surnamed Lin in Meizhou, Putian. Although Mazu's short life did not leave any works or ideology, her love for labor, people, courage, selfless dedication, noble sentiments and heroic deeds reflected the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation. Mazu culture is the birthplace of marine culture in China, and it is also the birthplace of "Tianhou Mazu", which China people regard as the highest status for women.

Mazu culture-connotation

Mazu culture

From the connotation of Mazu culture, although Mazu's short life left no works and no ideological system, her love of labor, people, courage, helping the poor, selfless dedication, noble sentiments and heroic deeds reflected the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and formed a huge spiritual force. After Mazu's sacrifice, people further shaped her into a goddess of compassion, fraternity, protecting the country and the people, respectable and amiable according to their own wishes and ideals, with the purpose of educating future generations and carrying forward the national spirit. "It is rumored that Li Ze is still alive" and "It is still effective to save the country after death"-these are the poems of Huang Gongdu, the top scholar in the Song Dynasty; "But when you see me going back and forth, I don't say anything about it"-this is a poem by Chen Mi, a scholar in the Song Dynasty. "Rain and dew fall all over the world, and the sea is quiet and rough"-this is a poem by Zhang Jian, a poet in the Yuan Dynasty. "Help the weak and help the poor, and you will be able to pray and listen when you call"-this is the inscription of Emperor Yongle, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. These poem titles not only highly summarize the spirit of Mazu, but also show that politicians, thinkers and writers of past dynasties have attached great importance to the educational function of Mazu, hoping to make this folk belief a driving force for promoting national prosperity, national unity and rich people's livelihood. In this sense, Mazu spirit is undoubtedly one of the outstanding cultural heritages of the Chinese nation.

Mazu culture-spread

The spread of Mazu culture benefited from the development of marine industry in China.

Mazu's appearance lived up to expectations. Gao Cheng went to Ryukyu in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and there is a vivid record in his book "Making Ryukyu Record", which says: "When the ship swings in the storm, the canopy is broken, the pole is broken, the rudder blade is lost, the boatman wails and falls in Tian Fei, and Fei Yun can change the rudder immediately to ensure safety. In the huge waves, the rudder blade weighs two or three thousand kilograms. Because of the protection of the gods, the strength is doubled. It takes more than 1 people to change the rudder. Today, there are more than 3 people in danger. " The attack on Zijin Mountain and the rescue of Hefei in the first year of jubilee in the Southern Song Dynasty also encouraged morale with Mazu's spiritual role. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, it has been customary to sail with Poseidon in a boat, praying day and night. In the Yuan Dynasty, the idea of "transferring grain from south to north" was adopted by the Prime Minister Pingzhang country Yelu Chucun and the famous Bo Yan. At first, the government built boats to transport the national grain directly from the grain areas in the south of the Yangtze River to zhi gu. Later, it hired private boats to transport it by sea, and private businessmen took part in the maritime transport. At that time, it came one after another from Guangzhou to Tianfei Palace in Tianjin, which provided a glimpse of the extent of the sailors' belief in Mazu. Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Seas and prayed at the ancestral temple. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a large number of Han Chinese marched on the Nanyang Islands, all carrying the statue of Mazu, which shows that Mazu is the patron saint of China's traditional navigation industry. In addition, after Japan accepted the spread of Mazu, it developed into "Mazu Society", which stipulated the worship system in the form of religion. Every family of Taiwan Province compatriots believes in Mazu, which is called "open as a mother", and both sides of the Taiwan Strait believe in Mazu in the same way. Therefore, Mazu is also a goddess of peace who communicates with and communicates with both sides of the Taiwan Strait and keeps close contacts with compatriots.

What needs to be mentioned here is the role played by the Tianhou Palace and Dengzhou Port in Penglai Pavilion, the earliest and largest building in the ancient north, in the northward spread of Mazu culture and the spread of China and the eastern countries.

Mazu Culture-Development

Tianjin Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival

Dengzhou in ancient times was the hub of transportation from Guangzhou to Beijing and Tianjin and the communication between the imperial court and the eastern countries. It was an important port undertaking trade, diplomacy and cultural exchange activities in the north, and its status was much higher than that of the later "four famous ports" of Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Mingzhou and Yangzhou.

First of all, Mazu is the patron saint of maritime navigation. Mazu culture spread to the coast of Bohai Bay along the maritime transport routes from Guangdong, Fujian to Beijing, Tianjin and the northeast, and blended with local culture, forming a benign interaction with urban development. Mazu culture quickly spread and gradually became the local people's belief, so that "navigators are extremely pious, and ordinary people gradually believe ...... Tianhou became the god in charge of everything". In the academic seminar "Mazu culture and the rise of coastal cities" held in the first "Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival" in Tianjin in 21, some scholars found that the evolution track of Mazu culture was "ancestors followed temples, and temples gathered people" after investigating the process of Mazu culture settling in Tianjin and gestating and giving birth to this city. Then, "prospering the city with temples, prospering the city with temples", forming a benign interactive situation in which temples flourish and cities prosper. If Tianjin was originally "gathering people with temples", then Dengzhou can be said to be "prospering temples with cities". Dengzhou was a maritime transportation hub connecting the north and south of China, especially in Tianjin, and was the largest port in the north. Navigation was closely related to Mazu. Therefore, Mazu culture was quickly accepted by local culture and people's beliefs after it was introduced from the south, and was digested and accommodated by the special geographical and maritime transportation advantages of the port, and gradually became the dominant marine culture in the north at that time.

At the same time, the introduction of Mazu culture has also gathered popularity for Dengzhou, promoted the prosperity and development of the city, and formed a benign situation in which temples and cities complement each other. The Tianhou Palace in Penglai Pavilion was built in Song Huizong for the first time (36 times in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties * * *), and it was awarded to Mazu for four years (AD 1122). Even in the coastal areas of Fujian, where Mazu culture originated, it was rare to build a temple. Undoubtedly, it was the earliest and largest Mazu Tempel in the north, and Dengzhou Port had irreplaceable location conditions.

Mazu culture-influence

Mazu culture spread from south to north, then along the "Oriental Maritime Silk Road" in the north to the Korean Peninsula, Japan and other Northeast Asian countries, and finally crossed the Bering Strait in the north to reach North America. As the center of Mazu belief and Mazu culture communication in the northern coastal areas of China, Dengzhou Ancient Port also played an irreplaceable role.

Dengzhou in ancient times was the port of origin of the Oriental Maritime Silk Road. The Book of the New Tang Dynasty, Volume 43, Seven Chapters of Geography, contains: "Dengzhou Seagoing into Korea and Bohai Road", which starts from Dengzhou Port and is divided into two parts. One part starts from Dengzhou Port, crosses the Bohai Strait to Lushunkou, Liaoning Province, then goes along Liaodong Peninsula to Yalu River mouth, then goes south along the Korean Peninsula and crosses the Duima Strait to Japan; The other one starts from Dengzhou Port, passes through Bajiao and Zhifu, then crosses the Yellow Sea to Incheon, North Korea, and then goes south along the Korean Peninsula, and then crosses the Taiwan Strait to Japan. Sui and Tang Dynasties were the heyday of China's ancient maritime trade and foreign exchange, especially after the middle of Tang Dynasty, Dengzhou became the largest port in northern China with its special geographical advantages, and played an important role in the diplomacy and trade between Tang Ting and the Korean Peninsula and surrounding countries. Although Liao countries invaded the North many times in Song Dynasty, the communication between the two countries was bound to be completed by sea fleet because the land traffic from the mainland to Liaodong Peninsula and Korean Peninsula was blocked. In addition, with the improvement of shipbuilding level and navigation technology in Song Dynasty and the invention and use of compass, navigation was safer, the route distance was obviously shortened, and the envoys and trade between the two countries were frequent and sharp. With the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty fought against Jin in Shandong Peninsula, and the sea route moved south. The Yuan Dynasty mainly developed land transportation and sea water transportation, and China's foreign trade was bound. However, due to the long and dangerous route from the port near Songdu across the Yellow Sea to the Korean Peninsula, Ming Ting, whose capital is Nanjing, accepted the request of King Koryo and promised to divert to Dengzhou via southern Liaoning. In 1376, Ming Ting was promoted to Dengzhou as the government. In Ming Shi Lu, the reason for the establishment of Dengzhou Prefecture was stated as follows: "Dengzhou and Laizhou are both close to the sea, which is the main thoroughfare between Korea and Japan. It is not enough to town it unless it is built and strengthened." Therefore, Dengzhou Ancient Port was still the main seaport for Korean envoys to set sail and set sail in the early Ming Dynasty ... where there were ships, there were Mazu, there were Chinese, and there were Mazu Tempel. Believing that there are no borders, the "Goddess of the Sea" sailed eastward from Penglai along the Dengzhou Sea Road, sending peace and peace to the travelers.

research on Mazu culture

in the history of science and technology, Mazu Tempel also has its unique position. In ancient times, there was a custom of sailing. When a new ship was launched, it was necessary to make a model to be enshrined in Mazu Tempel, so that Mazu would always be concerned about the safety of the ship, and many ancient ship models were left in Mazu Tempel. There are more than 35 ancient ship models in Miaodao Island and Mazu Tempel, including a blessing boat, a sand boat and a warship model of Weiyuan, which is enshrined by the national hero Deng Shichang. These ship models have become important materials for studying the history of ancient shipbuilding in China. There are a number of ancient buildings in Mazu Tempel, such as Tianhou Palace in Quanzhou, Fujian, Shandong, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, Chenghai, Guangdong, Zhenyuan, Guizhou and Qing 'an Guild Hall in Ningbo, which are extremely precious works of ancient architectural art from temple structural modeling to various carving components. In addition, some special scientific and technological relics are preserved in Mazu Tempel. For example, there is a star map of Ming Dynasty in Tianhou Palace, Hanjiang, Putian, which is a rare material for studying the directional navigation of ancient China by using star maps. The fire fighting "water machine" stored in Tianhou Palace in Tianjin is one of the earliest mechanical fire fighting equipment discovered so far.

the formation of Mazu culture itself has left considerable spiritual wealth for mankind. At present, the most conservative estimate of historical documents that only directly record Mazu belief is more than one million words. It involves many topics in the fields of economy, politics, military affairs, diplomacy, literature, art, education, science and technology, religion, folk customs, overseas Chinese, immigration and so on, with rich content and high historical data value. Gu Jiegang and Ke Zhao, the famous historians in China, published many papers about Tianhou after their ancestors, which aroused repercussions in academic circles. After 2 years' research, Taiwan Province scholar Li Xianzhang finally wrote a book on Mazu Belief, which became the first highly academic monograph on Mazu studies. Since the 198s, Taiwan Province, Macau, Xiamen and other places have set off an upsurge in Mazu research, held many academic seminars on Mazu culture, and published nearly 1 academic monographs such as Scholars at Home and Abroad on Mazu, Essays on Mazu Research, Compilation of Mazu Research Materials, Compilation of Mazu Literature Materials, Mazu Belief and Ancestral Temple, and Meizhou Mazu. In recent years, "Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival" has sprung up everywhere, such as Tianjin, Macao, Fujian and other places, which shows the vitality of Mazu culture.

Mazu culture-value

Mazu culture

For thousands of years, no matter how much the government, the public and the people worship Mazu, they love it. From the materialistic point of view today, Mazu belief cannot be avoided. However, from the perspective of Mazu's humanities, the contemporary function of his belief is still obvious, leaving aside his pure idealistic thoughts such as "Ascension to Heaven" and "Manifestation".

1. the function of promoting patriotism and promoting the peaceful reunification of the motherland. Mainland China and Taiwan Province, with the same ancestor, have inherited their culture for more than a thousand years, forming an indestructible national consciousness. Mazu is the "God" of China, and the patriotism of Mazu also determines the patriotism of its followers. On May 6, 1989, more than 2 Taiwan Province compatriots broke the ban of the Taiwan Province authorities and arrived in Meizhou by boat to worship Mazu Temple. From January to May, 1997, Mazu in Meizhou toured Taiwan Province for 13 days, stayed in 36 palaces and temples, and was worshipped by 1 million Mazu believers in Taiwan Province, which brought great repercussions in Taiwan Province Island. On July 25, 22, Mazu flew directly to Penghu, and thousands of people worshipped. The scene made people cry. On October 21st, 24, at 8: a.m, Mazu Jinshen of Meizhou Island set off from Mazu Temple in Putian City, accompanied by 54 escort groups, and flew to Macau from Changle International Airport to attend the second Macau Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival. In 25, Lien Chan and Mr. James Soong wrote inscriptions for Mazu Temple in Meizhou: "Shenzhao Sea Watch" and "Shengde Matches Heaven" respectively. This is the cohesive function of Mazu belief. Nowadays, Mazu has become a symbol of peace in cross-strait trade and navigation, and a goddess of peace to unify the motherland and communicate cross-strait exchanges. This function of Mazu belief will continue to play a role until the complete reunification of the motherland.

2. spread the spirit of fraternity and educate all living beings to do good. The vast universe is boundless, but man is the master of the universe. Although the differences in aesthetics, values and customs are derived from the differences in regional, ethnic and cultural roots, as the instinct of "life", human nature's cognition of good, evil, beauty and ugliness tends to be the same. Mazu belief has adapted to human's recognition of truth, goodness and beauty in many aspects, such as helping the poor, saving lives, giving people peace and auspiciousness and so on. This is not only a kind of cultural communication, but also a kind of ideological education. "Teach, tell also, have words, rational, righteous, granted, passed. If you say something, you will announce it; if you understand it, you will understand it; if you understand it, you will forget it "(Zhang Junfang's Seven Signs of Clouds). When an idea is accepted by the people, education will take a back seat, while the idea (recognition of truth, goodness and beauty) will take root, blossom and bear fruit.

3. Enlighten conscience and set up the function of cherishing and returning to nature. For thousands of years, mankind has been faced with the plague of drought, flood and locusts. When the plague is prevalent, they often pray for the hope of eliminating the disaster to the gods. Mazu's efforts to quell the tsunami, Zhang Tianshi's praying plague, and the dragon king's rain ... People are gradually inspired by the constant prayers to the gods: all beings are equal, all things are animistic, and the Tao is natural. In recent years, protecting the ecological environment and returning to nature has become the voice of the whole world and all mankind. Who can say that there is no revelation from God?

Mazu Culture-Legend

Mazu Pavilion

Legend

A: Evergreen in Laiyu: There is a small island next to Meizhou Island. It is said that one day, when Mazu visited the island, he scattered vegetables on the ground, and soon the vegetables miraculously grew and blossomed everywhere. Then, it grows naturally without farming every year. The local people regard fairy flowers as flowers. In the future, people will call this place "Caiziyu".

B: Pray for rain to help the people: According to legend, when Mazu was twenty-one, there was a great drought in Putian, and all the people in the county said that it was not Mazu who could save the disaster. Therefore, County Yin Qin went to Mazu for help, and Mazu prayed for rain, and said that it would rain heavily on Renzi Day. On that day, there was no clear sky in the morning, and there was no sign of rain at all. As soon as the application was made, suddenly dark clouds rolled and heavy rain poured down. After a long drought, the earth recovered its former vitality. ?

C: it is said that when Mazu was alive, one day, there was a storm at sea, and Mazu wanted to cross the sea. There were boats on the shore, but there were no paddles or canopies on board. In addition, the boatman was afraid to sail because of the strong wind and waves. Mazu said to the boatman, just get on the boat. Immediately call a person to hang the straw mat on the mast as a sail. The ship sailed out of Shanghai, braving the wind and waves, and flew away.

D: weeding to save the merchants: it is said that when Mazu was alive, there was a doorknob in the west of Meizhou Island (today's Wenjia). Once, a merchant ship was hit by a huge wind on the nearby sea, and the seawater flooded into the cabin, which was about to sink. The villagers were afraid to go to the rescue because of the wild waves. At this critical moment, Matsu Shinshou found some grass under his feet and threw it into the sea. The grass turned into a row of big sequoias and was rowed and attached to the merchant ship that was about to sink, so that the merchant ship was spared from sinking and the people on board were spared. ?

E: Surrender to Er Shen: According to legend, when Mazu was twenty-three, there was Er Shen in the northwest of Meizhou, one was clairvoyant and the other was clairvoyant. Er Shen often haunts and harms the people. The people prayed to Mazu to punish Er Shen. In order to surrender to Er Shen, Mazu went up the mountain with the village girls.