Goddess Mazu in Shenzhen
I recently took a one day trip to visit a Shenzhen. It was the last stop on the Orange Line Two of the Shenzhen Metro station. Getting to the temple was quite the walk up and down a few hills.
I wanted to visit a temple that had been around for a long time before they remodeled it due to the severe damage it took during a typhoon in the 19th century.
This temple is a homage to the Goddess and Patroness of the Sea: Mazu (also goes by Matsu). She was said to have been born a human girl around 900AD under the name Lin Moniang (which translates to silent girl due to the fact she was born silent and remained silent until the age of 4) and had extraordinary powers of predicting the weather.
Legend has it that she mastered Cofucious at the age of 8 and Buddha sutras by age 11, and by 13 years old, she mastered Taoism. People marveled at her great swimming skills, often saving people from drowning at sea even in the worst weather conditions.
Her power manifested and she could project herself on the the shores and guide the fishermen and seamen back home safely.
It was said that her father and brothers were also sailors or fisherman and got lost in a typhoon at sea along with other seamen. Mazu, who went into a trance to save them with her powers but her mother thought she was having a seizure and woke her up thus dropping her father in the process and only managing to saving everybody else. Mazu, went to look for her father's body for three days and three nights and did not find him.
Struck with grief, Mazu meditated and never woke up ever again. Some legends say she climbed the mountain of her village and ascended to Heaven as a goddess. Of course there are a few other variations of how she died but all of them say that she died at the age of 27 (28 in Chinese years) and still a virgin.
After her death she was still revered a hero and fishermen and sailors continue to pray to her called her a Goddess. Her hometown built her a temple and around the 13th century her legend went on to parchment. Mazuism spread around the coastal areas of Southern China, Taiwan, Vietnam and even parts of Ryuku Island.
To this day people worship her and pray for her using her name, Mazu because it's said that she will answer your prayers quicker if you do.
According to Wikipedia,
"Although many of Mazu's temples honor her titles Tianhou [Queen of Heaven]or Tianfei [Princess of Heaven], it became customary to never pray to her under those names during an emergency since it was believed that, hearing one of her formal titles, Mazu might feel obligated to groom and dress herself as properly befitting her station before receiving the petition."
When I went there were a few people already there setting up offerings. Along with a giant golden statue of Mazu herself in meditation position, at the front of the main temple, guarding her temple doors, are 4 Giant colored statues of the two demons who fell in love with Mazu and eventually ended up as her guardians after she challenged them to a duel and won.
These demons are Qianliyan (in Chinese it means "Thousand Mile Eye") who has powers of incredible eye sight and Shunfeng'er (in Chinese it means "Wind Following Ear") who has powers of incredible hearing. They are known as door and guardian gods to Mazu and also help fishermen or sailors. If you click on each name, I attached a Wikipedia page for each of these demons.
I am not sure why there are two outside and two inside, and why they are vastly different from the other.
The wonderful thing about this temple that the people who serviced it were kind, even if I was the only foreigner there. The whole place smelled like incense and they have one whole building where they hang spiral incenses and light it up so the fragrant aroma of smoky sandalwood amber scent encompassed the air every where you went.
There were two towers outside the main temple where one took me to a giant handmade drum, and the other, a giant bell. Even though most of the outer temples were under repair, the whole trip was well worth the experience.
As always,
Zai Jian!
I wanted to visit a temple that had been around for a long time before they remodeled it due to the severe damage it took during a typhoon in the 19th century.
This temple is a homage to the Goddess and Patroness of the Sea: Mazu (also goes by Matsu). She was said to have been born a human girl around 900AD under the name Lin Moniang (which translates to silent girl due to the fact she was born silent and remained silent until the age of 4) and had extraordinary powers of predicting the weather.
Legend has it that she mastered Cofucious at the age of 8 and Buddha sutras by age 11, and by 13 years old, she mastered Taoism. People marveled at her great swimming skills, often saving people from drowning at sea even in the worst weather conditions.
Her power manifested and she could project herself on the the shores and guide the fishermen and seamen back home safely.
It was said that her father and brothers were also sailors or fisherman and got lost in a typhoon at sea along with other seamen. Mazu, who went into a trance to save them with her powers but her mother thought she was having a seizure and woke her up thus dropping her father in the process and only managing to saving everybody else. Mazu, went to look for her father's body for three days and three nights and did not find him.Struck with grief, Mazu meditated and never woke up ever again. Some legends say she climbed the mountain of her village and ascended to Heaven as a goddess. Of course there are a few other variations of how she died but all of them say that she died at the age of 27 (28 in Chinese years) and still a virgin.
After her death she was still revered a hero and fishermen and sailors continue to pray to her called her a Goddess. Her hometown built her a temple and around the 13th century her legend went on to parchment. Mazuism spread around the coastal areas of Southern China, Taiwan, Vietnam and even parts of Ryuku Island.
To this day people worship her and pray for her using her name, Mazu because it's said that she will answer your prayers quicker if you do.
According to Wikipedia,
"Although many of Mazu's temples honor her titles Tianhou [Queen of Heaven]or Tianfei [Princess of Heaven], it became customary to never pray to her under those names during an emergency since it was believed that, hearing one of her formal titles, Mazu might feel obligated to groom and dress herself as properly befitting her station before receiving the petition."
When I went there were a few people already there setting up offerings. Along with a giant golden statue of Mazu herself in meditation position, at the front of the main temple, guarding her temple doors, are 4 Giant colored statues of the two demons who fell in love with Mazu and eventually ended up as her guardians after she challenged them to a duel and won.
These demons are Qianliyan (in Chinese it means "Thousand Mile Eye") who has powers of incredible eye sight and Shunfeng'er (in Chinese it means "Wind Following Ear") who has powers of incredible hearing. They are known as door and guardian gods to Mazu and also help fishermen or sailors. If you click on each name, I attached a Wikipedia page for each of these demons.
I am not sure why there are two outside and two inside, and why they are vastly different from the other.
There were two towers outside the main temple where one took me to a giant handmade drum, and the other, a giant bell. Even though most of the outer temples were under repair, the whole trip was well worth the experience.
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| This is the history building. Inside it are old parchments with Mazu's story. |
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| Mazu murial depicting her looking after the villagers. |
As always,
Zai Jian!
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