Matsu (goddess)

Tin Hau redirects here. For other meaning of Tin Hau, see Tin Hau (disambiguation)

Matsu (; POJ: Má-chó·), mortal name Lin Moniang (林默娘), is the Taoist goddess of the Sea who protects fishermen and sailors. She is extremely popular among the Taiwanese, Fujianese, Cantonese, and Vietnamese people, who have cultures strongly linked to the sea. The Matsu Islands are named after her.

Names

Popular names:
- Matsu
- Matsu-po (媽祖婆, "Elder Lady Matsu")
- A-Ma (阿媽, "Grandmother")
- Tianshang Shengmu or Tianhou Shengmu (天上聖母, 天后聖母, both meaning "Heavenly Holy Mother")
- Thiên Hậu in Vietnamese
Official titles:
- In the Yuan Dynasty, she was officially the "Protector of the Empire and the Brilliantly Outstanding Heavenly Queen" (護國明著天妃 Huguo Mingzhu Tianfei).
- In the Qing Dynasty, she was made the "Heavenly Empress" (天后; Mandarin: Tian1 Hou4; Cantonese: Tin Hau)

The person

According to legend, Lin Moniang (林默娘) 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, completely different from authoritarian father figures like the Dragon Kings. She is usually depicted wearing a red robe, and sitting on a throne. She somehow became an empress figure during the Yuan Dynasty.

Worship

Taiwan

There are about 800 to 1000 Taiwanese temples dedicated entirely or--more often--partly to Matsu. Jenlan Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Tachia, Taichung County is the most famous Matsu temple in Taiwan, and an annual pilgrimage takes place there each spring. Chaotian Temple (朝天宮) of Peikang Township (北港鎮) in Yunlin is another popular temple of Matsu in Taiwan. Heavenly Empress Temple-Meizhou Ancestral Temple (天后宮湄洲祖廟) is on her native Meizhou Island. There is also a temple on the Pescadores Islands.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, around 60 temples are dedicated, at least partially to Tin Hau. The temple in the Tin Hau area, east of Victoria Park, in Eastern district, on Hong Kong Island, has given its name to the area and to the MTR station serving it (Island Line). The "Tin Hau Temple" is one of the declared monuments of Hong Kong.

See Places of worship in Hong Kong for a more detailed listing.

Macau

Macau has three Tin Hau temples (one per Coloane, Macau Peninsula, and Taipa). In total, there are around 1,500 Matsu temples in 26 countries of the world. The name "Macau" is thought to be derived from the Templo de A-Má (Temple of A-Ma) (媽閣廟, Cantonese Jyutping: Maa1 Gok3 Miu6, local pronunciation: Maa5 Gok3 Miu6 or Maa5 Gok3 Miu5), a still-existing landmark built in 1448 dedicated to the goddess Matsu.

United States

Matsu has also gained popularity in the west as well. Many temples dedicated to Matsu are located in many Chinatowns in the United States. The oldest Taoist temple in the United States is dedicated to Matsu, Tien Hau Temple in San Francisco, built in 1852.

Another Matsu temple that has gained notoriety in the west is located in Los Angeles, which is known as Chùa Bà Thiên Hậu, an immensely popular tourist attraction in Chinatown. The temple is also home to the Camau Association of America, a Chinese/Vietnamese Teochew benevolent association. On September 5th, 2005, the temple was completed after two years of building, costing about $2 million dollars. The temple itself has become popular by many, mainly because of its annual 24-hour lion dances and legal firecracker display on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Festival of Matsu

Her birthday-festival is on the twenty-third day of the third lunar month of the Chinese calendar. It falls in late April or early May in the Gregorian calendar.

External links

A statue photo
Biography of Matsu and celebrations of her festival (in Traditional Chinese)
Chua Ba Thien Hau, Los Angeles (Description)

Chinese mythology | Chinese goddesses | Mother goddesses | Tin Hau

Má-chó· | Mazu | Mazu | 媽祖 | 媽祖

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