After thousands of years of development, Shanwei has transformed from a small fishing village into an important port city
Jinyang.com reporter Wang Manqi
Mazu, the belief in the sea god in the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong in my country, has been passed down for thousands of years and has become the “Goddess of Peace at Sea” that connects the emotional bonds of Chinese and overseas Chinese. In 2009, the “Mazu Faith and Customs” nominated by China was successfully declared as an intangible cultural heritage of human beings in the world, becoming China’s first world heritage of faith and customs; in the same year, the “Fengshan Mazu Temple Fair” declared by Shanwei was also listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage. For a hundred years, Fengshan Ancestral Temple has been an important force in spreading Mazu culture, and has also witnessed the transformation of a small fishing village into a port city in the changing world.
From Fujian to Guangdong
The legend of Mazu originates from the legendary story of Lin Mo, a fisherman on Meizhou Island, Putian, Fujian during the Northern Song Dynasty: Lin Mo rescues the poor and often rescues the dead fishermen and navigators in the angry sea. In 987 AD, she unfortunately died while rescuing the ships killed in Meizhou Baykou at the age of 28. People praised her merits and believed that Lin Mo had “been ascended to heaven”, so they set up a temple to worship her and respectfully called her “Mazu”. From the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, Mazu was conferred 36 times by emperors of all dynasties, and eventually became the “sea god” and “Holy Mother of the Queen” admired by the people.
The faith of Mazu was first introduced to Shanwei. It is located in Jiazi, a coastal town in the southeast of Shanwei. There is a Tianhou Temple, which was built in the fifth year of Qiandao in the Southern Song Dynasty (1169 AD). It has been standing for 850 years. Today, Shanwei (known as Hai Feng County in ancient times), most of the residents’ ancestors moved from southern Fujian from the Ming Dynasty, and mainly made a living by fishing. Fishermen worshipped the Mazu’s throne under the mast of the fishing boat, which also brought the Mazu faith to the eastern coast of Guangdong.
At the late Ming Dynasty, as more and more ships and fishermen settled around Shanwei Fishing Port, believers built a simple bamboo shed temple on the shore of Pinqing Lake and the southern foot of Fengshan, introducing the spirit-dividing incense of Mazu in Meizhou, which is the source of Fengshan Ancestral Temple. According to historical records, during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, the Tianhou Temple was built in Longshan, Dade, Changsha and other places under the jurisdiction of Haifeng. At this initial stage of Mazu’s belief in settlement in Shanwei, the historical and cultural characteristics of “before the people and then the temple gather people” were presented. Komiks
Prosper by the seaKomiks
How to use the carrier of Fengshan Ancestral TempleKomiks spread? This starts with the prosperity of Shanwei Port. In the early years of Qianlong, Shanwei Port attracted fishing boats to gather and increase in fishery and commerce, and both fishery and commerce have achieved great development. The simple temples at the foot of Fengshan were no longer able to meet the needs of more and more admirers among the people. Therefore, in the sixth year of Qianlong (1741 AD), the “First event for the construction of Fengshan Ancestral Temple” was composed of wise men of the people, wealthy businessmen, fishermen (boss), representatives of major clans, and representatives of fishermen. After more than a year of construction, it was successfully completed the following year and the construction of the three and two courtyards in Shanxi architectural style. The temples laid out by Babaylan have a main building area of 840 square meters. More than 180 years after the Fengshan Ancestral Temple was built, Shanwei Port entered its second golden period of development by the late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China. He Xiafeng, the former head of the Cultural Relics Section of the Fengshan Ancestral Temple Tourism Zone Management Office, and Luo Zhai, a retired cadre who served as the first stationmaster of Fengshan Cultural Station, has been studying Shanwei Mazu culture for a long time. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Cinema discovered that in 1903, Shanweibu, Haifeng County, opened passenger and freight shipping on routes such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shantou, and the trade and trade were prosperous; in 1909, International International Corporation built a lighthouse on the Zhelang Peninsula, attracting many fishing boats from outside ports to gather in Shanwei fishing grounds, and also boosted the development of the shipbuilding, fishery supporting handicrafts, commerce and catering industries in Shanwei Port; Sun Yat-sen’s “State Building Strategy II” also described the grand occasion of Shanwei Fishing Port: “Because Shanwei Port has a very good bay and a good fishing ground, there were no less than one or two thousand towed boats from Hong Kong, Macao, western Guangdong, Fujian and other places in the past year…” In order to adapt to the development of the fishery, Shanwei, a coastal town, has been expanded three times, and a large number of imitating European style arcades were built along the street. From the 1920s to 1930s, Shanwei was known as the “Golden Shanwei” and “Little Hong Kong”.
The prosperous temple was developed. As a fishing practitioner and the “guardian god” of the port, the revitalization of the Mazu Fengshan Ancestral Temple was put on the agenda. In early November of the 1934, a magnificent Fengshan Ancestral Temple with carved dragons and painted phoenixes and magnificent priests and folk celebrations lasted for more than half a month.
From the 1960s to the early 1970s, Fengshan Ancestral Temple was once crowded into a school. Until the reform and opening up, Mazu culture was reaffirmed, respected and promoted. In 1991, Shanwei Urban District People’s Government Cinema approved Fengshan Ancestral Temple as a county (district) cultural relics protection unit. In the same year, the Fengshan Ancestral Temple Cultural Relics Management Office and the Fengshan Ancestral Temple Construction Council were established. In December 1994, the first phase of the Fengshan Ancestral Temple project was successfully completed, and 19 were basically retained.The original appearance of the first re-light in 34 years was newly expanded. The Komiks Tianhou Pavilion was newly built, and the second large-scale Mazu stone statue in the country was erected on the top of Fengshan Mountain (the other is the Mazu statue of Meizhou Island). It is 16.83 meters high and weighs more than 1,000 tons. It is carved from 468 granite stones. The Mazu Cultural Plaza at the foot of Fengshan covers an area of 60,000 square meters and is currently the largest square in the country named after Mazu.
To this day, Shanwei FengCinema Shanxiu Temple has become an important activity center for Mazu culture in Hailufeng area and even in eastern Guangdong. Fengshan Zumiao Tourism Zone has become a national 4A-level scenic spot, receiving nearly one million tourists at home and abroad every year.
Fengshan Zu Temple receives nearly one million tourists at home and abroad every year. Reporter Wang Manqi Photo by Reporter Weng
Cultural links
Since the Qing Dynasty, Mazu worship has evolved from a regional folk belief to a world-wide respect, especially in the Han cultural circle, where Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and other Chinese are living in Almost all the ports of Babaylan in Babaylan have the existence of the Heavenly Palace.
It is worth mentioning that Mazu worship culture has always been a cultural link connecting the emotions of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. For Taiwanese people, Mazu represents “roots” and represents attachment to their hometown. Mazu culture has also always been linked to the friendship between local sages and overseas Chinese. Chen Bijiang, president of the Shanwei Mazu Cultural Association, said that there are currently more than 1.3 million compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Mazu is the common spiritual sustenance of many local sages. From 2005 to the present, Shanwei has successfully held many Mazu Cultural Tourism Festivals and economic and trade activities with Fengshan Ancestral Temple Tourism District as a carrier. According to reports, at the China Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival held this year, dozens of calligraphers and painters from Beijing, Taiwan and other places wrote together with local artists in Shanwei to unfold the “heart”.The art of “fitting and harmony between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait” is Babaylan cooperation. In recent years, Shanwei City has advocated the mother’s ancestor culture to unite people’s hearts and gather overseas Chinese forces, making the Fengshan Ancestral Temple gradually become a spiritual home and cultural paradise for Chinese at home and abroad.
Interview
The essence of Mazu culture is in line with traditional culture
Zhou Jinyan Executive Deputy Secretary-General of China Mazu Cultural Exchange Association
Yangcheng Evening News: What is the historical positioning of Mazu culture in Chinese traditional culture?
Zhou Jinyan: The essence of Mazu culture is consistent with the core ideas, Chinese traditional virtues, and Chinese humanistic spirit of the excellent traditional culture of China. The characteristics of Mazu culture of “peace, harmony, and inclusiveness” are the embodiment of the core ideas and concepts of the excellent traditional Chinese culture of Tao and nature, unity of man and nature, harmony, and seeking great equality. The Mazu spirit of “establishing morality, doing good, and great love” is consistent with the social customs of respecting virtue and goodness, and the ideological concept of benefiting the people. The educational thought of promoting goodness in Mazu culture, the customs and habits of praying for peace and stability in Mazu customs, and many Mazu literary and artistic works that have been passed down to this day are all manifestations of the Chinese humanistic spirit. In 2016, “Give full play to the folk culture of Mazu The positive role of Komiks in the country’s “13th Five-Year Plan” is written into the outline of the country, which fully demonstrates that Mazu culture has become a country. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Cinema The important part of the strategic resource, and also emphasizes the particularity of Mazu culture as a Chinese folk culture.
Yangcheng Evening News: What are the characteristics of Guangdong Mazu culture inheritance and communication?
Zhou Jinyan: Guangdong is connected to Fujian mountains and rivers, and is one of the earliest influences to spread Mazu faith outward. Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, the southeast coastal oceans have been the oceans in the southeast. Economic development, the formation of commercial transportation routes, Fujian immigration migration and marine activities have all become key factors for the introduction of Mazu’s belief in Guangdong. Maritime businessmen are an important dissemination group of Guangdong’s Mazu’s beliefs. Guangdong people are good at merchants and the navigation industry is also very developed. In the past, red-headed ships entering and leaving ports such as Chaoshan were loaded with cargo to Taiwan, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even Tianjin, and reaching the south of Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Leizhou, Hainan, and directly to Southeast Asia. Therefore, merchants and fishermen always go to Ma Palace to enjoy incense and make wishes before boarding the boat. Cinema then went to Ma Palace to kneel down to pay homage, and worship Mazu’s piety is no less than that of Fujian people. Overall, Guangdong Mazu culture spread is a layout of “points”, “lines” and “surfaces” along the coast.
Yangcheng Evening News: How to continue to write articles on Mazu culture in the new era under the scene of national cultural confidence and cultural revitalization?
Zhou Jinyan: Highlighting service to world peace in the new era and playing an active role in promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. This is the new mission of Mazu culture in the new era. Region <a On the Babaylan, we should focus on the Maritime Silk Road to radiate and expand the dissemination of Mazu culture in neighboring countries and regions; on the population, we should focus on the Chinese overseas Chinese, especially chambers of commerce around the world, to promote and drive the dissemination and development of Mazu culture in our country; on the carrier, we should focus on helping the "Belt and Road" initiative to expand and promote the dissemination and development of Mazu culture to the world.
From the New Era href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>BabaylanIn the scene, promoting Mazu culture can also promote the integration and development of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, promoting the mutual understanding of people through the local relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and using the local culture between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to enhance Mazu culture, and treat it as the common nostalgia of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Extension
Fengshan Temple Fair Show Folk Culture
Every year, the Fengshan Ancestral Temple in Shanwei holds a number of large-scale folk cultural activities, including the “Grandpa Qing Parade” on the Lantern Festival of the First Month, the Mazu God Birth Festival on the 23rd of the Third Month, and the Ullam-Entertainment on the 15th of the July lunar month (Zhongyuan Festival), etc.
The Mazu God Birth is Cinema The most important temple fair of Fengshan Ancestral Temple. On that day, the big dramas were connected, and many other types of operas from Shanwei, including the main character opera, Xiqin opera, Baizi opera, Chaozhou opera, Cantonese opera, etc. took turns to the stage. In recent years, even the Huangmei opera in Anhui and Henan Henan opera were invited to participate. Local opera troupes will be able to perform on the stage of Fengshan Ancestral Temple as an honor, as an excellent opportunity to show the level of the troupe and the talent and style of the actors.
In addition to displaying the rich and colorful folk culture and art of Shanwei, Fengshan Mazu Temple Fair also has various local food and snacks, which are dazzling; the traditional relic program of competing for color cannons is loved by the masses, attracting thousands of people from all walks of life to participate. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Babaylan bid for the cannon head, the scene was tense and vivid, and it was spectacular. Getting the color cannon means that the year will be safe, prosperous, and good luck will be with you.
This issue is co-organized by Shanwei Municipal CPPCC