Mazu

Mazu is a traditional Daoist goddess that is popular in southeastern China and Taiwan. She is supposedly a girl, with the last name Lin, whose magical powers bless the seamen. She also died when she was young, around early 1000's. Mazu literally translate to 'ancestral mother'. When I was in college, my roommate often lent me her scooter and her portrait was on the keychain. I always liked to say that Lady Lin helped me (being that I never really had a motorcycle license)...

So the reason that I am talking about her is that her birthday is apparently coming up and one thing they do here is to carry her statue around to bless her territory, so to speak. I guess the Catholics do similar things. Today is the beginning of one such trip (apparantly Mazus from different temples have different schedules) and it is broadcasted live. Many polititions, such as the newly elected President, Ma Ying-ju, are there to 'ask for blessings'.

It is amazing to see how many people are there for the festivities and how technologically advanced they are. The website for this temple in Da-jia is very sophisticated, so are others. Her tour around the country is even tracked with GPS. Another interesting thing is how commercialized it is, with lots of 'dolls' of Mazu sold everywhere. I need to learn more about Taiwanese religious practices.