PARTING SHOT
CHIEN- C
HICHANG^ –MAGNUM^PHOTOSAdherents in fearsome masks throng
the streets of Xingang, Taiwan, during
the annual pilgrimage honouring the sea
goddess Mazu. Her birthday is celebrated
on the 23rd day of the third month of the
Chinese lunar calendar (usually in April)
with processions and festivities in various
territories. Among the most popular and
colourful is the multi-day Dajia Mazu
Pilgrimage through central west Taiwan,
carrying a sacred statue of the deity to
Fengtian Temple in Xingang.
According to legend, Mazu (known in
Cantonese as Tin Hau, ’Empress of Heav-
en’) was born Lin Moniang on Meizhou
Island in China’s Fújiàn province in AD 960.
Various myths attribute life-saving
miracles to the young girl, who became
popular as a protective deity of sailors and
fishermen in the centuries after her death.
Migration from Fújiàn to Taiwan was
encouraged by Dutch colonial adminis-
trators in the 17th century; around 1700,
these settlers built Xingang’s original
Mazu Temple, which became Fengtian.
After Japanese occupation of Taiwan in
1895 blocked the 12-yearly pilgrimage to
Mazu’s shrine on Meizhou, an alternative
route through Taiwan was instituted, and
from 1987 Fengtian became a key stop.Followers of the Chinese Taoist deity
Mazu commemorate her birthday
Taiwan | Xingang | 1996