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 believing and customs; in the same year, the “Fengshan Mazu Temple Fair” applied for 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 witnessed the transformation of a small fishing village in the mulberry field toward a port city.
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 Bay. She was only 28 years old. People praised her merits and believed that Lin Mo had “evolved into heaven and 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, in Shanwei (known as Haifeng County in ancient times), most of the residents under their jurisdiction 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, thus bringing the Mazu faith to the eastern coast of Guangdong.
At the late Ming Dynasty, as more and more ships settled around Shanwei Fishing Port with fishermen, 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 humanistic characteristics of “before the people and then the people are gathered with the temple”.
Prosper by the sea
How can the Mazu culture in Shanwei be spread through the carrier of Fengshan Ancestral Temple? This starts with the prosperity of Shanwei Port. In the early years of Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, the number of fishing boats gathered by Shanwei Port increased day by day, and both fishing and commerce had developed greatly. The simple temples under Fengshan were originally unable to meet the needs of more and more admirers among the people. Therefore, in the sixth year of Qianlong (1741 AD), Cinema was composed of the “Fengshan Ancestral Temple Preparation and Construction” composed of folk wise men, wealthy businessmen, fishermen’s leading 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 a temple with three-in-one and two-yard layout in Chaoshan architectural style was built, with the 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 end of the Qing Dynasty. He Xiafeng, the former head of the Cultural Relics Section of the Fengshan Zumiao Tourism Zone Management Office, and Luo Zha, a retired cadre who served as the first stationmaster of Fengshan Cultural Station, discovered in his long-term study of Shanwei Mazu culture: In 1903, Haifeng County traded foreign trade, and successively opened passenger and freight shipping on routes such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shantou, and trade flourished; in 1909, International Wanguo Company built a lighthouse on the Zhelang Peninsula, attracting many fishing boats from the outer port to gather in Shanwei fishing grounds, and also boosted the development of shipbuilding, fishery supporting handicrafts, commerce and catering industries in Shanwei Port; Sun Yat-sen’s “Strategy for Founding of the Country The grand occasion of Shanwei Fishing Port is also described in the second edition: “Because Shanwei Port has a very good bay and a good fishing ground, there are 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 fishery, Shanwei’s coastal town has been expanded three times, and a large number of arcades imitating European styles were built along the street. By the 1920s and 1930s, Shanwei was known as the “Golden Shanwei” and “Little Hong Kong”.
The temple was flourishing in a prosperous era. As a fishing practitioner and the “guardian saint” of the port, the grand highlight of the Mazu Fengshan Ancestral Temple was put on the agenda. At the beginning of the 11th month of the lunar calendar in 1934,A magnificent Fengshan Ancestral Temple with carved dragons, paintings and phoenixes and magnificent Fengshan Ancestral Temple was repaired, and the lively sacrifices and folk celebrations lasted for more than half a month.
From the 1960s to the early 1970s, Fengshan Ancestral Temple was once occupied as a school. Until after the reform and opening up, Mazu culture was reaffirmed, respected and promoted. In 1991, the Shanwei Urban District People’s Government 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 was successfully completed, basically retaining the original appearance of the first Chongguang period in 1934. The Tianhou Pavilion was newly expanded, and the second large-scale Mazu stone statue in the country was erected on the top of Fengshan (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.
Today, Shanwei Fengshan Ancestral Temple has become an important activity center for Mazu culture in Hailufeng area and even in eastern Guangdong. Fengshan Ancestral Temple Tourism Zone has become a national 4A-level scenic spot, receiving nearly one million tourists at home and abroad every year.
Fengshan Ancestral Temple receives nearly one million tourists at home and abroad every year. Reporter Wang Manqi Photo by Reporter
Cultural ties
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 Chinese people live, almost all have the existence of the Tianhou harem.
It is worth mentioning that Mazu worship culture has always been a cultural link connecting the emotions between 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 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 geniuses. From 2005 to the present, Shanwei has successfully held many Mazu Cultural Tourism Festivals and economic and trade activities with the Fengshan Zumiao Tourism Zone 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 worked together with local artists in Shanwei to carry out artistic cooperation of “soul fit and cross-strait harmony”. In recent years, Shanwei City advocated regular cultural exchanges and cooperation with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.Mazu culture unites people’s hearts and overseas Chinese, making Fengzu Temple gradually become a spiritual home and cultural paradise for Chinese at home and abroad.
Interview
The essence of Mazu culture is consistent with traditional culture
Zhou Jinyan, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the China Mazu Cultural Exchange Association
Yangcheng Evening News: What kind of historical positioning does Mazu culture have in BabaylanChinese traditional culture?
Zhou Jinyan: The essence of Mazu culture is consistent with the core ideas and concepts of China’s excellent traditional culture, Chinese traditional virtues, and Chinese humanistic spirit. The cultural characteristics of “peace, harmony and inclusiveness” are the embodiment of the core ideas and concepts of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, such as Tao follows nature, unity of man and nature, harmony and seeking 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 ideas of benefiting the people. The educational ideas of promoting goodness in Mazu culture, the customs and habits of praying for peace and stability in the country and society and the many works of Mazu that have been passed down to this day are all manifestations of the Chinese humanistic spirit. In 2016, “Give full play to the positive role of folk cultures such as Mazu culture” was written into the national “13th Five-Year Plan”, which fully demonstrates that Mazu culture has become an important part of the national strategic resource, and also emphasizes the particularity of Mazu culture as Chinese folk culture.
Yangcheng Evening News: What are the characteristics of Guangdong Mazu culture inheritance and communication? Komiks?
Zhou Jinyan: Guangdong is connected to Fujian’s mountains and rivers, and is one of the earliest influences to spread Mazu’s beliefs outward. Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, the development of the southeast coastal marine economy, the formation of commercial transportation routes, the migration of Fujian immigrants and marine activities have all become key factors for the introduction of Mazu’s beliefs into Guangdong. Maritime businessmen are an important communication group of Guangdong’s Mazu faith. 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 from the north to Taiwan, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Tianjin, and in the south to Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Leizhou, Hainan, and directly down.Southeast Asia. Therefore, before boarding the boat, merchants and fishermen always go to Ma Palace to enjoy incense and make wishes. When they return safely, they kneel down to Ma Palace to fulfill their wishes. They respect Mazu’s piety as much as those of Fujian people. Overall, Guangdong Mazu culture communication is a layout of “points”, “lines” and “surfaces” transmission along the coastal zone.
Yangcheng Evening News: In the context of the country’s cultural confidence and cultural revitalization in the new era, how can we continue to write good articles on Mazu’s culture?
Zhou Jinyan: In the new era, we will highlight the service of world peace and play 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. Regionally, we should focus on the Maritime Silk Road to radiate and expand the dissemination of Mazu culture in neighboring countries and regions; in terms of population, we should focus on overseas Chinese, especially chambers of commerce in all parts of the world, to promote and drive the dissemination and development of Mazu culture in the country where we are located; in terms of carriers, we should focus on assisting the “Belt and Road” initiative to expand and promote the dissemination and development of Mazu culture to the world.
In the context of the new era, promoting Mazu culture can also promote the integration and development of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, promoting the mutual understanding of the people through the local love 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 homesickness of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Extension
Fengshan Temple Fair displays 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 lunar month, the Mazu God’s Birth Festival on the 23rd lunar month, and the Ullamyan Festival on the 15th lunar month (Zhongyuan Festival), etc.
The birthday of the Mazu God is the most important temple fair of Fengshan Ancestral Temple. On that day, the big dramas were held, and many other types of operas from Shanwei, including the main character opera, the Western Qin opera, the white character opera, the Chaozhou opera, the Cantonese opera, and other operas took turns to the stage. In recent years, even the Huangmei Opera in Anhui and Henan Opera in Henan have been invited to participate. Local opera troupes will be honored to perform at the Fengshan Ancestral Temple stage, as an excellent opportunity to showcase the troupe’s level and the talent and style of the actors.
In addition to displaying the colorful folk culture and art in Shanwei, the 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 public, attracting thousands of people from all walks of life from all over the country to participate in the bidding for the cannon head. The scene was tense and vivid and spectacular. The competition for the lottery means that a year will be safe and businessProsperity and good luck are with you.
This issue is co-organized by the Shanwei Municipal CPPCCCinema