The scene of the launching ceremony of "Mazu in the world returns to her mother's home" in the year of Jiachen. Photo by Fujian Daily reporter Wu Peng
Southeast Net reported on April 11 (Fujian Daily reporter Wu Peng, Chen Shengzhong, correspondent Cheng Liting, Cong Wenjun)
Raise flags and hang lanterns, beat drums to welcome guests, and worship ancestors and incense...... On the morning of the 9th (the first day of the third lunar month), the launching ceremony of "Mazu in the world returns to her mother's home" in the year of Jiachen was held in the Shengzhimen Square of Mazu Temple in Meizhou, Putian, and more than 3,000 representatives of Mazu Temple believers and local believers who escorted Mazu at home and abroad participated in the event.
At 10 o'clock on the same day, the gongs and drums sounded, and the flag-raiser, lantern-hanger, trumpeter, whistle-horn bearer, and Meizhou girl were in place in turn in the melodious "Mazu" song. The whistle horn sounded for a long time, and the flags embroidered with the words "Our Lady of Heaven" on both sides and 18 red lights printed with the words "Raising the Flags to Celebrate the Thousand Autumns of Mazu Christmas, Hanging Lights to Lead the People to Ten Thousand Miles of Cihang", slowly rose from the cast bronze flying phoenix flagpole, implying the peace of the country and the people, the wind and rain, and the peace of the four seas.
The statue of Mazu enshrined in the Ma Palace of the Holy Xuanhui in Changhua Puxin, Taiwan, was divided from the Meizhou Mazu Temple in the second year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1863), and the palace had close contacts with the Meizhou Mazu Temple, and often organized groups to return to the ancestral temple to pay homage to the ancestors. "People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have the same roots, the same gods, and the same culture. This time, more than 100 representatives of believers from 29 palaces and temples in Taiwan came to participate in the event. Lin Yihong, the person in charge of the Ma Palace of the Changhua Puxin Shengxuan Association, said that the Mazu faith and customs are the link of emotional exchanges between believers on both sides of the strait, and every year they will participate in the cultural exchange activities held by the Mazu Temple in Meizhou, hoping that the palaces and temples on both sides of the strait will come and go often.
Zheng Yaping, a Taiwanese compatriot who started a business in Putian, is a devout Mazu believer, and she also joined the Mazu volunteer team of "one family on both sides of the strait" on Meizhou Island. "In Taiwan, everyone respectfully calls Mazu 'Mom', so I also call Meizhou Mazu 'Meizhou Mom'. Zheng Yaping said that every time she came to her "mother", she felt very kind and warm. When she returned to Taiwan, she often introduced Mazu culture to her relatives and friends, encouraging everyone to visit the mainland more often and feel the vitality of the mainland economy and the warmth and friendliness of the people.
Chen Yulong, president of the Quanzhou Jinjiang Federation of Thailand, said that Mazu is the spiritual pillar of the ancestors who bravely crossed the ocean, and it is an important sustenance for overseas travelers to miss their homeland.
"Beat drums to welcome guests, gather all over the world, welcome Mazu home from all over the world!" In the sound of whistles and majestic bells and drums that imply peace and blessing, representatives of believers from nearly 50 Mazu temples on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, as well as representatives of Mazu cultural institutions in Thailand, Vietnam and other countries, respectfully invite Mazu to enter the Tianhou Temple of the Ancestral Temple.
In the Tianhou Temple of the Ancestral Temple, Lin Jinzan, chairman of the board of directors of the Meizhou Mazu Temple, paid tribute to the Mazu in each palace and temple, and led the Mazu believers at home and abroad to hold a solemn three offering ceremonies to pray for peace with Mazu.
Enjoy folk culture and watch intangible cultural heritage performances. 26 intangible cultural heritage folk performance teams, including dragon and lion dances, Duotou Ying Song Team, Zhanjiang Yigulong, Quanzhou chest beating dance, and Fujian's "Three Fishergirls", competed in the Shengzhimen Square of the Ancestral Temple, showing the beauty of intangible cultural heritage and folk culture to the pilgrims and tourists on the scene, bringing a folk culture feast.
Mazu beliefs and customs are the first world intangible cultural heritage of China. "Mazu in the world returns to her mother's home" is an important part of Mazu's beliefs and customs. Every year at this time, Mazu believers at home and abroad will cross thousands of mountains and rivers to send Mazu back to Meizhou Island, the birthplace of Mazu culture, to pay homage to her ancestors, and trace her roots in the way of "returning to her mother's home" to save relatives, commonly known as "Mazu in the world returning to her mother's home".
This year's "All the World's Mazu Returns to Their Mother's Home" series of activities lasted for a month, during which every day, incense groups from Mazu temples from all over the world came by appointment, and brought special luanjia and folk performances. On May 1st, the twenty-third birthday of Mazu in the third month of the lunar calendar, the Mazu Temple in Meizhou will hold a Mazu Spring Festival ceremony, and representatives of Mazu Temple believers from all over the world will pay homage to Mazu and pray for good weather and the well-being of the people.
According to incomplete statistics, since the first month of the lunar calendar this year, more than 680,000 people from 660 domestic and foreign incense groups have come to Meizhou Mazu Temple to pay homage to their ancestors.
At the launching ceremony of "Mazu in the world returns to her mother's home" in the year of Jiachen, the whistle horn is in place and ready to play. Photo by Fujian Daily reporter Wu Peng
Mazu around the world "went back to their parents' homes" to save their relatives. Photo by Fujian Daily reporter Wu Peng