Mazu, centered on the southeast coast of China's sea god beliefs, also known as Tianfei, Queen of Heaven, the Heavenly Mother, mother of God, and so on], is the calendar, the modern day shipwrights, seafarers, travelers, merchants and fishermen *** with the belief in the gods and goddesses. After the fourth year of Yongxi in Song Dynasty (987), local fishermen set up a small shrine and called it "Tongling Goddess". Since then, through the Southern Song Dynasty, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the emergence of honorary title.
There are two reasons for the folk name:
1. "A-Ma Zu" is the honorific name given to her by the Lin family. The "mom" in "Mazu" does not mean mother, but grandmother. The words "mom" and "zu" are used together as a term of respect for a woman of high moral standing within the clan. Therefore, Mazu is the nickname of the Lin people for Mazu. Putian Lin people also nicknamed "Auntie", the next generation also called "Zu Ma", Taiwan Lin people also called "Zu Fu", and then gradually called by mouth The "Mazu", as a way to address their forefathers, it seems to be more intimate.
2. Mazu is a folk deity. As A-Ma's beliefs spread, A-Ma's beliefs were not only recognized and respected by the imperial court, but also became the folk goddess that all people **** with the beliefs, so the world followed the Lin clan to honor her as "A-Ma". In this way, the name "A-Ma Zu" has spread throughout the world and has been passed down from generation to generation.
Expanded Information:
Historical Merits
1. Ji Shi aided in the battle. The fact that A-Ma was able to assist in the battle demonstrated the ruler's desire to recover the lost land and unify the country, and for this reason, he remembered A-Ma's miraculous work.
2, to help combat piracy. Rampant piracy, coastal fishermen can hardly have peace, therefore, the Qing Dynasty court attached great importance to the elimination of piracy, in order to appease the fishermen.
3. A-Ma assists in the transportation of goods by sea and sea, and in the elimination of floods. During her lifetime, A-Ma was admired for her ability to protect navigation and guide the flow of water, and there are many records of her manifestation of her holiness to help with shipping and transportation and to get rid of floods, which also reflects the ruler's hope for peace on the sea.
4. Enthronement of the Ryukyus. The enthronement of the Ryukyus demonstrated the great importance that the Qing dynasty attached to the Ryukyus, and also illustrated a history of peaceful ****ing between the two countries at that time, and all of these were associated with the divine blessing of A-Ma.?
Contemporary Merits
Amazu's beliefs can play a vital role in the reconciliation of contemporary cross-strait relations between believers, as exemplified by the realization of direct cross-strait religious flights. For nearly a hundred years, from 1895 to 1987, there was virtually no communication between Mazu believers on either side of the Taiwan Strait under the name of "Mazu," and on New Year's Day 1979, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) issued a "Letter to Compatriots in Taiwan," in which it began to advocate for the realization of the "Three Direct Links" between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait (the opening of postal services, the opening of navigation, and the opening of commerce), The first of these was the realization of the "Three Links" (postal, shipping, and commercial) between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.
In 1982, Tsai Fu-hsiung, the director of Taiwan's Beigang Chaotian Palace, came to Meizhou Island and learned about the restoration of the A-Ma Ancestral Temple in Meizhou, which was the first time that A-Ma worshippers in Taiwan had a more formal communication with the A-Ma Ancestral Temple in Meizhou.
On July 5, 1988, 180 A-Ma worshippers of the Penghu Heavenly Harem Palace arrived at the Maejoo Maeju Temple to perform a pilgrimage on the cross-straits chartered flight on the weekend.
Beginning in 1989, direct religious flights by sea on pilgrimage to A-Ma finally began to become a reality, a major feat for the A-Ma faith. Religious direct flights" are a kind of "special direct flights" for religious figures from Taiwan to visit incense in Meizhou, Fujian Province, via Kinmen, which are licensed by the Taiwan authorities in comparison with the "Three Direct Links", when direct flights between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have not been realized. "
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Baidu Encyclopedia - Mazu