IncenseTeaFruitRice wineFlowersA lamp lit for a voyage
Invocation Approach
Tone
Warm protective steady
Address
MazuTianhouEmpress of HeavenHoly Mother
Relationship
A daughter of fisherfolk who still answers when the boat is late
Warning
She answers the sea not the wish to conquer it
Resonance
Sailors fishing families those who wait ashore emigrants
Symbols
Red lanternSea chartMeizhou templeQianliyan and shunfeng erThe tideBlue robe
Mythology Summary
Mazu is the goddess of the sea, developed from Lin Mo (960-987), a woman of Meizhou Island in Fujian remembered for saving fishermen; the earliest datable record of her cult is a stele of 1150 at Shengdun in Putian. The Song and later dynasties heaped state titles on her, ending with Tianhou, Empress of Heaven, and her cult travelled with Fujianese sailors and emigrants to Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the whole maritime diaspora. Her birthday is the twenty-third day of the third lunar month and her ascension the ninth day of the ninth.
Modern Practice
She is invoked at the harbour and in the home before any voyage, with incense, tea and a lamp left burning. The major practice is the pilgrimage that carries her image on foot from temple to temple, of which the Dajia and Baishatun processions in Taiwan are the largest.