Saturday, April 10, 2010

Rescuing On The Sea


Sent by Leeshy from China. This postcard shows the painting about Mazu, the goddess of the sea.

This is from Wikipedia : Mazu (simplified Chinese: 妈祖; traditional Chinese: 媽祖; pinyin: Māzǔ; Wade-Giles: Ma-tsu; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Má-chó, Vietnamese: Ma Tổ; literally "Mother Ancestor"), also spelt Matsu, is the indigenous goddess of the sea who is said to protect fishermen and sailors, and is invoked as the goddess who protects East Asians who are associated with the ocean. Born as Lin Moniang (simplified Chinese: 林默娘; traditional Chinese: 林默娘; pinyin: Lín Mòniáng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Be̍k-niû) in Fujian around 960 CE, cult worship of Mazu began around the Ming Dynasty, where many temples dedicated to her were erected all across Mainland China, later spreading to other countries with Southern Chinese inhabitants.

Mazu is widely worshiped in the south-eastern coastal areas of China and neighbouring areas in Southeast Asia, especially Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, and Vietnam, all of which have strong sea-faring traditions, as well as migrant communities elsewhere with sizeable populations from these areas. Mazu also plays a significant role over the influence over East Asian sea culture especially in China and Taiwan.


... thanks for the beautiful stamps.

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