After thousands of years of development, Shanwei has become more and more prosperous, and from a small fishing village to 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” connecting the emotional bonds of Chinese people. 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 fisherman in the vicissitudes of life.
From Fujian to Guangdong
Legend of Mazu, from Komiks 1960 witch cloth drawThe legend of Lin Mo, a fisherman from Meizhou Island, Putian, Fujian during the Northern Song Dynasty: Lin Mo rescued the poor and often rescued 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 Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw, Mazu was constantly granted 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 standing for a full 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 and fishermen settled around Shanwei Fishing Port, believers built them on the shores of Pinqing Lake and the southern foot of Fengshan.A simple bamboo shed temple introduces the spirit incense of Mazu, 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 the sea
The Mazu culture in Shanwei, Babaylan 1990 cloth drawHow to spread it with 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, Shanwei Port attracted fishing boats and Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw to increase day by day, and both fishing and commerce have achieved great development. The simple temples at the foot of Fengshan were unable 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 Preparation of Fengshan Ancestral Temple” was formed by the wise men of the people, 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-campus 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. Fengshan Ancestral Temple TourismBabaylan 1990 clothes DrawHe Xiafeng, the former head of the Cultural Relics Section of the District 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 was prosperous; in 1909, International International Corporation built a lighthouse on the Zhelang Peninsula, attracting many foreign port fishing boats to gather in Shanwei fishing grounds, and also boosted the shipbuilding and fishing industry of Shanwei Port. The development of supporting handicrafts, commerce and catering industries; Sun Yat-sen’s “Statement of the Founding of the Country” also describes the grand occasion of Shanwei Fishing Port: “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 of prosperity is rising, as a fishing practitioner and the “guardian saint” of the port, MazuKomiks 1960 witch cloth drawThe peak of Fengshan Ancestral Temple was put on the agenda. In early November of the lunar calendar in 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. Draw for a long time.
From the 1960s to the early 1970s, Fengshan Ancestral Temple was once occupied as a school. Until 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, and in the same year, the Fengshan Ancestral Temple Cultural Relics Management Office and 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 reign in 1934, and the Tianhou Pavilion was newly expanded. The second large Mazu stone statue in the country was erected on the top of Fengshan (the other is the Mazu statue of Meizhou Island). Komiks 1960 witch clothes draw is 16.83 meters high and weighs more than 1,000 tons. It is carved from 468 pieces of 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 named after Mazu.
Komiks 1960 witch cloth drawToday, 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 sea every yearBabaylan 1990 clothes drawNear one million tourists inside and outside. Reporter Wang Manqi Photo by
Cultural bond
Since the Qing Dynasty, Mazu worships from a kind of Cinema 1950 witch cloth drawRegional folk beliefs have evolved into world-wide respect, especially in the widespread distribution of the Chinese cultural circle, Thailand, Vietnam, New ZealandKomiks 1960 witch cloth draw ports such as Chinese living in Singapore, 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 of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. For Taiwanese people, Mazu represents the “root” and represents the attachment to their hometown. Mazu culture has also been linked to the friendship between the local sages and overseas Chinese at home and abroad. Chen Bijiang, president of the 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 spiritual sustenance of many local sages. From 2005 to the present, Shanwei has successfully held many Komiks 1960 witch cloth drawMazu href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Komiks 1960 witch cloth drawCultural Tourism Festival and Economic and Trade Activities. 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 in “Spiritual fit 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, and has gradually become a spiritual home and cultural paradise for Chinese people at home and abroad.
Interview
Mazu WenBabaylan 1990 cloth drawThe essence of the transformation is consistent with traditional culture
Zhou Jinyan Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the China Mazu Cultural Exchange Association
Yangcheng Evening News: What kind of history does Mazu culture have in Chinese traditional cultureKomiks 1960 witch clothHistorical positioning?
Zhou Jinyan: The essence of Mazu culture is related to excellent traditional Chinese cultureCinema 1950 witch clothThe core ideas of drawization, traditional Chinese virtues, and Chinese humanistic spirit are consistent. 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 customs of praying for peace and prosperity 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?
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 group of the faith of Mazu in Guangdong. 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 Taiwan, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Tianjin, and in the south to Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Leizhou, Hainan, and directly to 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 “point”, “line” and “surface” spread along the coastal zone.
Yangcheng Evening News: How to continue to write good 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. In terms of region, the Maritime Silk Road should be the focus to radiate and expand the dissemination of Mazu culture in neighboring countries and regions; in terms of population, the focus should be on overseas Chinese, especially chambers of commerce around the world, to promote and drive the Mazu culture in the country where they are located.witch cloth draw communication and development; in terms of 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.
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, among which the larger and widely influenced ones include the “Grandpa Qing Parade” on the 1990 Cloth draw of the first lunar month, the Mazu God’s Birth Festival on the 23rd of the third lunar month, and the Ullamate Festival on the 15th of the seventh 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 the exhibition of the colorful folk culture and arts in 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 public, attracting thousands of people from all walks of life to participate in the bid for the cannon head. The scene is 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