Matsu (goddess)
| Mazu | |||||||||||||
Lin Moniang's tomb in Nangan in the Matsu Islands
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| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Maternal Ancestor | ||||||||||||
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| Lin Moniang | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Māzǔ |
| Wade–Giles | Ma-tsu |
| Southern Min | |
| Hokkien POJ | Má-chó͘ |
| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lín Mòniáng |
| Wade–Giles | Lin Mo-niang |
| Southern Min | |
| Hokkien POJ | Lîm Be̍k-niû |
| Popular names | |||||||||||||||||
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| Granny Mazu | |||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Granny Mazu | ||||||||||||||||
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| Queen of Heaven | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | |||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Celestial Empress | ||||||||||||||||
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| Princess of Heaven | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | |||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Celestial Concubine | ||||||||||||||||
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| Holy Heavenly Mother | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | |||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Heavenly-&-Sacred Mother | ||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Māzǔpó |
| Wade–Giles | Ma-tsu-p‘o |
| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Tiānhòu |
| Wade–Giles | T'ien-hou |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping |
Tin¹ Hau⁶ |
| Vietnamese name | |
| Vietnamese | Thiên Hậu |
| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Tiānfēi |
| Wade–Giles | T'ien-fei |
| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Tiānshàng Shèngmǔ |
| Wade–Giles | T'ien-shang Sheng-mu |
| Formal titles | |||||||||
| Lady of Numinous Grace | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||
| Literal meaning | Powerful-&-Kind Lady | ||||||||
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| Princess of Numinous Grace | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||
| Literal meaning | Powerful-&-Kind Concubine | ||||||||
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| Illuminating Princess of Heaven who Protects the Nation | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||
| Literal meaning | Nation-protecting Brightly-Burning Celestial Concubine | ||||||||
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| Holy Princess of Clear Piety, Pure Faith, and Helpful Response | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||
| Literal meaning | Clearly Filial and Purely Believing and Helpfully Responding Sacred Concubine | ||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Línghuì Fūren |
| Wade–Giles | Ling-hui Fu-jên |
Tin¹ Hau⁶
Mazu, also known by several other names and titles, is a Chinese sea goddess, the deified form of the historical Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness traditionally dated to c. 960 – c. 987. Revered after her death as a patron of seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, her worship spread throughout China's coastal regions and expatriate communities throughout Southeast Asia. She was thought to roam the seas, protecting her believers through miraculous interventions. She is now generally regarded by her believers as a powerful and benevolent Queen of Heaven, a role in which she is sometimes syncretized with similar figures, such as Guanyin and the Virgin Mary. Mazuism is most popular on Taiwan; her temple festival is a major event throughout the country, with the largest celebrations around her temples at Dajia and Beigang. It is a notionally illegal cult in the People's Republic of China but is broadly tolerated and sometimes conflated with approved Taoist beliefs.
In addition to Mazu or Ma-tsu, meaning "Maternal Ancestor" "Mother", "Granny", or "Grandmother", Lin Moniang is worshipped under various other names and titles:
Although many of Mazu's temples honor her titles Tianhou and Tianfei, it became customary to never pray to her under those names during an emergency since it was believed that, hearing one of her formal titles, Mazu might feel obligated to groom and dress herself as properly befitting her station before receiving the petition. Prayers invoking her as Mazu were thought to be answered more quickly.
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Wikipedia