Mazu Festival (Dongtou Mazu Festival)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Mazu Festival (Dongtou Mazu Festival)

Applicant: Dongtou County, Zhejiang Province

Project No.: 484

Project No.: Ⅹ - 36

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Dongtou County, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: association of folk artists in Dongtou District, Wenzhou City

Introduction to Mazu Festival (Dongtou Mazu Festival)

Applicant: Dongtou County, Zhejiang Province

Dongtou County is located outside the Oujiang Estuary of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is composed of 103 islands with a land area of 100.3 square kilometers, adjacent to Fujian Province. People mainly produce fishery. Special environmental conditions and geographical location make people believe in Mazu.

At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, fishermen from Putian, Fujian Province came to Dongtou to fish, which brought Mazu belief. Mazu palace in Dongsha was built in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. It is the largest and most complete Mazu temple in Zhejiang Province. It has a history of nearly 300 years. It is the only provincial cultural relic protection unit in Zhejiang Province. At present, there are 11 "Mazu palaces" in six townships of the county, and 11 temples shared by Mazu and empress Chen Shiniang, with an average of one Mazu Temple per 4.5 square kilometers.

Every time Dongtou fishermen build a new boat, they should set up niches in the cabin of the boat to worship Mazu. At the beginning and end of the fishing season, we should pay homage to Mazu temple. Every year on March 23 and September 9 of the lunar calendar, Mazu temples hold ceremonious sacrificial ceremonies, mainly including worship, offering, Mazu parade, yinghuoding, acting and other folk cultural activities. The believers participate in 93 fishing villages in the county, which is the biggest festival of religious activities in Dongtou fishing area.

Dongtou is 138 nautical miles away from Taiwan, and it only takes 8 hours for motor boats; Dongtou fishing ground is the second largest fishing ground in Zhejiang Province. When Taiwan fishermen go to Dongtou for production and supply during the fishing season, they must go to Mazu temple to worship them and present them with brochures.

The main value and influence of Mazu's belief in customs are as follows

1. The image of Mazu has become the embodiment of kindness, wisdom and justice in people's mind. It has practical significance for improving people's mind, purifying social morality and building a harmonious society.

2. Mazu culture has spread all over the world, and the significance of cultural ties is obvious, which plays an important role in foreign cultural exchanges and ancestor recognition.

3. Mazu belief is an important bridge and link between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, a platform for the cultural integration between the mainland and Taiwan, and has positive significance for promoting the reunification of the motherland.