“Matsu” The story behind the jewelry…

“Matsu” Sterling Silver, Paua from New Zealand, Black Onyx necklace by Lori Bouchard

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Matsu (Traditional Chinese: 媽祖; Hanyu Pinyin: Māzǔ; Wade-Giles: Ma-tsu; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Má-chó·; literally “Mother-Ancestor”), also spelled Mazu, is the Taoist goddess of the Sea who protects fishermen and sailors, and is revered as the patron saint who protects East Asians who are associated with the ocean.Her mortal name is Lin Moniang (Chinese: 林默娘; Hanyu Pinyin: Lín Mòniáng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Be̍k-niû).She is widely worshipped in the south-eastern coastal areas of China and neighbouring areas, especially Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, and Vietnam, all of which have strong sea-faring traditions, as well as migrant communities elsewhere with sizeable populations from these areas.The personAccording to legend, Lin Moniang was born in 960 (during the early Northern Song Dynasty) as the seventh daughter of Lin Yuan (林愿) on Meizhou Island, Fujian. She did not cry when she was born, and thus her given name means “Silent Girl.”There are many legends about her and the sea.

Although she started swimming relatively late at the age of 15, she soon became an excellent swimmer. She wore red standing on the shore to guide fishing boats home, even in the most dangerous and harsh weather.

According to one legend, Lin Moniang’s father and brothers were fishermen. One day, a terrible typhoon arose while they were out at sea, and the rest of her family feared that those at sea had perished. In the midst of this storm, depending on the version of the legend, she either fell into a trance while praying for the lives of her father and brothers or dreamed of her father and brothers while she was sleeping. In either the trance or the dream, her father and brothers were drowning, and she reached out to them, holding her brothers up with her hands and her father up with her mouth. However, Moniang’s mother now discovered her and tried to wake her, but Moniang was in such a deep trance or dream that it seemed like she was dead. Moniang’s mother, already believing the rest of their family dead, now broke down, crying, believing that Moniang had also just died. Hearing her mother’s cries, in pity, Moniang gave a small cry to let her mother know she was alive, but in opening her mouth, she was forced to drop her father. Consequently, Moniang’s brothers returned alive (sadly without their father) and told the other villagers that a miracle had happened and that they had somehow been held up in the water as a typhoon raged.

There are at least two versions of Lin Moniang’s death. In one version, she died in 987 at the age of 28, when she climbed a mountain alone and flew to heaven and became a goddess. Another version of the legend says that she died at age 16 of exhaustion after swimming far into the ocean trying to find her lost father and that her corpse later washed ashore in Nankan Island of the Matsu Islands.

Lin Moniang (2000), a minor Fujianese TV series, is a dramatization of the life of Matsu as a mortal.

The goddess

After her death, the families of many fishermen and sailors began to pray to her in honor of her acts of courage in trying to save those at sea. Her worship spread quickly. Much of her popularity in comparison to other sea deities resulted from her role as a compassionate motherly protector, in contrast to authoritarian father figures like the Dragon Kings. She is usually depicted wearing a red robe, and sitting on a throne. As often happens to revered folk heroes in Chinese culture, she became an empress figure during the Yuan Dynasty.

Worship

Starting from Fujian, worship of Matsu spread to the neighbouring coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Guangdong, and thence to all coastal areas of mainland China. With migration, it further spread to Taiwan, Vietnam, Ryukyu, Japan, and South East Asia. Today, worship of Matsu is also found in other countries with sizeable populations from these regions. In total, there are around 1,500 Matsu temples in 26 countries of the world.

Matsu (goddess). (2007, September 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:20, September 21, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matsu_%28goddess%29&oldid=157956898