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Ariana Lindquist
SHPN-MAZU-4113.tif
The historical record of the Wenxing Mazu Temple.
Mazu is the protector of seafarers. Originally she was a local deity worshipped in the area near her birthplace on Meizhou Island. But her fame grew as she was credited for sailors’ miraculous passages through tumultuous seas. In the early 1400’s naval explorer Zheng He attributed his safe journey to her. Expressing the inherent religious pluralism deeply embedded in Chinese traditional culture, although Zheng He was a Muslim he convinced the Emperor Yongle to build a temple to her in China’s southern capital of Nanjing.
Mazu is the protector of seafarers. Originally she was a local deity worshipped in the area near her birthplace on Meizhou Island. But her fame grew as she was credited for sailors’ miraculous passages through tumultuous seas. In the early 1400’s naval explorer Zheng He attributed his safe journey to her. Expressing the inherent religious pluralism deeply embedded in Chinese traditional culture, although Zheng He was a Muslim he convinced the Emperor Yongle to build a temple to her in China’s southern capital of Nanjing.

