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 coastal god of the Fujian and Guangdong region of 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” 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 also witnessed the transformation of a small fishing village into a port city in the vicissitudes of life. The legend of Mazu originates from Lin Mo, a fisherman on Meizhou Island, Putian, Fujian during the Northern Song Dynasty, Fujian Province, is a legendary story of Komiks: Lin Mo rescues the poor and often rescues the dead fishermen and sailors 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. Here is a Tianhou Temple, which was built in the fifth year of Qiandao in the Southern Song Dynasty (1169 AD). It has been fully 850 years since its establishment. 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 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 when Mazu’s faith settled in Shanwei, the historical and cultural characteristics of “before the people and then the temples gather people” were presented.
Prosper by the sea
How can Shanwei’s Mazu culture be spread by relying on 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 achieved great development. The original simple small temple at the foot of Fengshan was 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 Affairs of 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 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, by the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, Shanwei Port entered its second golden period of development. 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 the Fengshan Cultural Station, discovered in his long-term study of Shanwei Mazu culture: In 190, the Shanwei Port of Haifeng County has traded foreign trade in 190, and has successively opened passenger and freight shipping on routes such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shantou, and the trade is prosperous. In 1909, the International Wanguo Company built a lighthouse on the Zhelang Peninsula, attracting many foreign port fishing boats to gather in Shanwei Fishery, and also boosted the BabaylanThe development of shipbuilding, fishery supporting handicrafts, commerce and catering industries in Shanwei Port; Sun Yat-sen’s “National Founding Strategy II” also describes the grand occasion of Shanwei Fishing Port: “Because BabaylanShanwei Port has a very good bay and a good fishing ground. During the years, there were no less than one or two thousand towed boats from Hong Kong, Macao, western Guangdong, Fujian and other places…” In order to adapt to the development of fishery, Shanwei’s coastal town has been expanded three times, and a large number of imitation European styles have been built along the street. The arcade in Komiks was hailed as the “Golden Shanwei” and “Cinema” from the 1920s to 1930s.
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 carved dragon painting KomikThe magnificent Fengshan Ancestral Temple was renovated, 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. It basically retained the original appearance of the first Chongguang period in 1934, and newly expanded the Tianhou Pavilion. It also erected the second large Mazu stone statue in the country “Holy Mother of the Heavenly Queen” (the other is the Mazu statue in Meizhou Island) on the top of Fengshan. It is 16.83 meters high and weighs more than 100 Babaylan. 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 at home and abroad. Chen Bijiang, president of Shanwei Mazu Cultural Association, said that there are currently more than 1.3 million compatriots from Shanwei who are from Shanwei in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Mazu is the common spirit 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 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 “heart harmony and cross-strait harmony”. In recent years, Shanwei City has advocated Mazu culture to unite people’s hearts and gather overseas Chinese through regular cultural exchanges and cooperation with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, making Fengshan Ancestral 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 position does Mazu culture have in Chinese traditional culture?
Zhou Jinyan: The essence of Mazu culture is consistent with the core ideas and concepts of China’s excellent traditional culture, traditional virtues, and Chinese humanistic spirit. The Mazu culture characteristics of “peace, harmony, and tolerance” are reflected in the core ideas and concepts of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, such as Tao follows 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 custom of respecting morality and goodness, and the idea of benefiting the people. The educational idea of exhorting goodness in Mazu culture, the customs and habits of praying for peace and stability in the country and society 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 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.
CinemaYangcheng Evening News: What are the characteristics of Guangdong Mazu culture inheritance and communication?
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 to Taiwan, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Tianjin.://funnybookish.com/”>Komiks Nanda Guangfu, Hong Kong, Macau, Leizhou, Hainan, and directly to Southeast Asia. Therefore, merchants and fishermen always go to Ma Palace to eat incense and make wishes before boarding the boat. When they return safely, they kneel down to Ma Palace to fulfill their wishes. They worship Mazu’s piety as much as those of Fujian people. Overall, Guangdong MaKomiksThe dissemination of ancestor culture is a layout of “points”, “lines” and “surfaces” along the coastal zone.
Yangcheng Evening News: How to continue to write articles on Mazu culture in the context of national cultural confidence and cultural revitalization in the new era?
Zhou Jinyan: Highlighting the service of 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. Regionally, maritime silk should be used. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Komiks Road as the focus, radiating and expanding the dissemination of Mazu culture in neighboring countries and regions; in terms of population, we should focus on overseas Chinese, especially chambers of commerce around the world, and promote and drive the dissemination and development of Mazu culture in our country; in terms of carriers, we should focus on helping 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 cross-straits, through the local love between the two sides of the Taiwan StraitCinema to promote people’s mutual understanding, use the local culture on both 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 Showcase Folk Culture
Every year, the Fengshan Ancestral Temple in Shanwei holds a number of large-scale folk culturesBabaylan activities, including the larger and widely influenced events, include 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 Ullan Festival on the 15th lunar month (Zhongyuan Festival), etc.
The Mazu God’s Birth Festival is the most important temple fair event of Fengshan Ancestral Temple. On that day, the big dramas were connected, including the main characters, Western Qin opera, Baizi opera, and Chaozhou opera in Shanwei. Drama, Cantonese opera and other types have taken the stage one after another. In recent years, even the Huangmei Opera in Anhui and Henan Opera in Henan have been invited to participate. Local opera troupes will be able to perform on the stage of Fengshan Zu Temple as an honor, as an excellent opportunity to showcase the troupe’s level and talent style of 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 programs of competing for color cannons are loved by the masses and attracted thousands ofPeople from all over the world came to bid for the cannon head. The scene was tense and vivid and 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