Matsu (媽祖, pinyin: Māzǔ, Wade-Giles: Ma-tsu, lit. "Mother-Ancestor"), mortal name Lin Muoniang (林默娘), is the Taoist Goddess of the Sea who protects fishermen and sailors. She is extremely popular among the Taiwanese, Fujianese, and Cantonese people, who have cultures strongly linked to the sea. The Matsu Islands are named after her. Pinyin (拼音, pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... A goddess, a female deity, contrasts with male deities, known as gods. A great many cultures have their own goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger pantheon that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases even hermaphroditic deities. ... Sunset at sea A sea is a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, or a large, usually saline, lake that lacks a natural outlet such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea. ... Categories: Stub ... A sailor is a member of the crew of a ship or boat. ... Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east, but gradually transitions to gently sloping plains in the west (satellite photo by NASA). ... Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: Fújiàn; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ... Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: Guǎngdōng; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Kwangtung in older transliteration; Cantonese: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Matsu Islands (馬祖列島 or less frequently, 馬祖群島 Pinyin: Mǎzǔ) are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County (連江 Pinyin: Liánjiāng), Fujian Province of the Republic of China (ROC, based on Taiwan). ...

Names

• Popular names:
  • Matsu
  • Matsu-po (媽祖婆, "Elder Lady Matsu")
  • A-Ma (阿媽, "Grandmother")
  • Tianshang Shengmu (天上聖母, "Heavenly Holy Mother")
• 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 Yuan Dynasty (Mongolian: Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus; Chinese: 元朝) lasting officially from 1271 to 1368, also called the Mongol Dynasty, was the name given to the significant ruling family of Borjigin in Asia. ... The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daicing gurun; Chinese: 清朝; pinyin: qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China expanded into China proper and the surrounding territories of Inner Asia, establishing the Empire of the... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... This article is on all of the Yue dialects. ...

The person

According to legend, Lin Muoniang (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." Events Edgar the Peaceable crowned King of England. ... Alternative meaning: Song Dynasty (420-479) The Song dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝) was a ruling dynasty in China from 960-1279. ... Meizhou Island (湄洲島) is closely offshore of Putian, Fujian, China. ... Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: Fújiàn; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ... A given name specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name. ...

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. Swimming is the method by which humans (or other animals) move themselves through water. ... Red re-directs here; for alternate uses see Red (disambiguation) Red is a color at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ...

According to one legend, Lin Muoniang'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, Muoniang's mother now discovered her and tried to wake her, but Muoniang was in such a deep trance or dream that it seemed like she was dead. Muoniang's mother, already believing the rest of their family dead, now broke down, crying, believing that Muoniang had also just died. Hearing her mother's cries, in pity, Muoniang 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, Muoniang'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. A father is the male parent of a child. ... A brother is a male sibling. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ... Trance is an altered state of consciousness. ... Prayer is an effort to communicate with a God, or to some deity or deities, either to offer praise to the deity, to make a request of the deity, or simply to express ones thoughts and emotions to the deity. ... Dreaming is the subjective experience of imaginary images, sounds/voices, words, thoughts or sensations during sleep, usually involuntarily. ... Sleeping girl Sleep is the fundamental anabolic process common to all life forms, plant and animal. ... ashley is gay Mother with her child (Sculpture) A mother is typically the biological or social female parent of a child or offspring while the male parent is the father. ... For the U.S. hockey teams victory in the 1980 Winter Olympics, see Miracle on Ice, or Miracle (movie) According to many religions, a miracle is an intervention by God in the universe. ...

There are at least two versions of Lin Muoniang'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. Events Hugh Capet, Count of Paris, crowned King of France Kukulcan conquers Chichen Itza Births Deaths May 21 King Louis V of France Categories: 987 ... Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ... The heavens are the sky, the celestial sphere, or outer space. ... Nankan (南竿鄉 Pinyin: Nángān) is one of the Matsu Islands and the capital township of Lienchiang County (which coincides geographically with the Matsus). ... The Matsu Islands (馬祖列島 or less frequently, 馬祖群島 Pinyin: Mǎzǔ) are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County (連江 Pinyin: Liánjiāng), Fujian Province of the Republic of China (ROC, based on Taiwan). ...

Lin Muoniang (2000), a minor Fujianese TV series, is a dramatization of the life of Matsu as a mortal. A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ...

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 with black skin, wearing a red robe, and sitting on a grass mat. Compassion is a sense of shared suffering, most often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce such suffering. ... ashley is gay Mother with her child (Sculpture) A mother is typically the biological or social female parent of a child or offspring while the male parent is the father. ... The term authoritarian is used to describe an organization or a state which enforces strong and sometimes oppressive measures against the population, generally without attempts at gaining the consent of the population. ... The four Dragon Kings (龍王; pinyin: L ng W ng) are, in Chinese mythology, the divine rulers of the four seas (each sea corresponds to one of the cardinal directions). ...

Worship

There are about 800 to 1000 Taiwanese temples dedicated wholly, or usually, partly, to Matsu. Chaotian Temple (朝天宮) of Peikang Township (北港鎮) in Yunlin is the most popular temple of Matsu in Taiwan. Heavenly Empress Palace-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. Yunlin County (雲林縣, pinyin: Yúnlín Xiàn) is a county in Western Taiwan. ... The Pescadores Islands (Chinese: 澎湖群島; Wade-Giles: Peng-hu; Pinyin: Pénghú, from Portuguese, fishermen) are an archipelago in the Taiwan Strait. ...

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). See Places of worship in Hong Kong for a more detailed listing. Victoria Park is a public park in Hong Kong, named after Queen Victoria. ... The Eastern district (東區) is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. ... Hong Kong Island (香港島, colloquially the Island side) is the island where the colonial settlement of the Hong Kong territory, Victoria City, was founded. ... Logo of the MTR corporation Causeway Bay MTR station on the Island Line. ... Causeway Bay MTR station on the Island Line. ... Hong Kong counts approximately 600 temples, shrines and monasteries. ...

Tin Hau Temple, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

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. Sai Kung (西貢; pinyin: Xi1gong4; Cantonese: sai1 gung3) is the second-largest of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. ... Coloane ( Simplified: 路環島, Traditional: 路环岛, Pinyin: Lùhuán Dǎo, Jyutping: Lou6-waan4 Dou2, literally Road Ring) is an island of Macau in the Peoples Republic of China. ... Macau Peninsula (澳門半島 Pinyin: Aomen Bandao; Portuguese: Península de Macau) is the oldest and most populous part of Macau in the Peoples Republic of China. ... Taipa (氹仔島) is an island of Macau in the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Her birthday-festival is on March 23 of the lunar calendar. A birthday is the date on which a person was born. ... A festival or fest is an event, usually staged by a local community, which centers on some theme, sometimes on some unique aspect of the community. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... A lunar calendar is a calendar whose date indicates the moon phase. ...

See also

• Chinese mythology

Chinese mythology is the mythology of Chinese civilization. ...

External links

• A statue photo (http://www.angelfire.com/zine/sychinese/8_tinhau.htm)
• Biography of Matsu and celebrations of her festival (http://www.ches.org.hk/site1/report7.html) (in Traditional Chinese)