Mazu (goddess)
Mazu (Chinese妈祖/妈祖, Māzǔ Pinyin, Cantonese Maa1 Zou2; viet Ma to " Mutterahn .") Is a Daoist goddess.
It is also called Tianhou (Chinese天后, Tianhou Pinyin, Cantonese Tin1 Hau6; Vietnamese: Thien Hau ) referred, which means "Queen of Heaven ". To distinguish strictly it is of also so designated Doumu goddess, the goddess of the bushel or the North Star.
Birth
Born Māzǔ to 960 as the seventh daughter of a fisherman from the Meizhou Island in Fujian Province and was named Lín Moniang (林默 娘). After her birth, she should not have screamed, earning her the name "Silent Girl ".
Miracles
Many legends tell of Lins miracles. After one of them is said to have saved by supernatural forces her family from severe distress: When her father and her brothers surprised out to sea by a typhoon came in mortal danger, Lin fell into a dream or trance-like state in which they drown their relatives saw. She succeeded, however, their brothers with their hands to catch her father with his mouth. Because of their immobility Lins remaining with her mother on land believed her daughter was now dead. Out of concern for the mother's well- Lin gave a sign of life in the form of a weak cry from him. But this they lost the preserved in the mouth father, who then perished at sea.
Death
Lin himself died an early death virgin: According to tradition, she drowned at age 17 while swimming in search of her missing father, for another it was translated directly to heaven at the age of 27 when climbing a mountain.
Transformation into a goddess
Anyway, she was then taken into the Daoist pantheon. As patron goddess of sailors and fishermen, they will naturally venerated particularly in coastal and port cities. History of religion is a further manifestation of the so-called mother archetype, ie the preserving and protecting women.
Iconography
Iconographically Māzǔ is usually depicted as dark to black-skinned female figure in bright precious textile garments. In addition, blinding - white marble statues Tin House / Mazus are there but encountered.
Worship
Worldwide, there are about 1,500 Māzǔ Temple in 26 countries. Center of the cult is naturally Lins birthplace, the island of Meizhou.
In Hong Kong, there Tin Hau called sea goddess is worshiped in Māzǔ about 60 temples. The east of Victoria Park in the east of Hong Kong Iceland location has given a whole district the name.
In Macau, there are three Tin Hau Temple, each one of them on the Macao Peninsula, Taipa Coloane and. The city owes its name, even the Queen of Heaven, but this goes back to the 1448 of the goddess Mazu dedicated to A-Ma Temple.
On the island of Taiwan about 800-1000 temples are dedicated wholly or partially to the goddess Māzǔ. The most famous of these is the Jenlan Temple (镇 澜 宫) in the district of the city dajia Taizhong to which every year in the spring takes place a great pilgrimage. Also very popular is the chaotian Temple (朝天宫) in Beigang in Yunlin County. In Lin's home island of Meizhou Finally, the Temple of the Queen of Heaven is (天 后宫 湄洲 祖庙).
Another center of Māzǔ worship are the Chinatowns in the United States. So in 1852, built in San Francisco 's oldest Taoist temple of the U.S. is approximately dedicated to the goddess of the sea. Another well-known sanctuary is located in Los Angeles, which finished in 2005 and tourist spot Chùa Ba Thien Hau, who also serves as the seat of the Sino -Vietnamese Benevolent Society Camau Association of America.
After Māzǔ the Matsu Islands are named in the Taiwan Strait.