[10.7] The Mercy That Has Lasted For 1000 Years

    Mazu, who is the goodness of the sea in Taoism, is widely worshipped in the south-eastern coastal areas of China and the neighboring areas in Southeast Asia, that the places have strong sea-faring traditions, and people believe that Mazu will protect them away from danger and come back home safely. To worship Mazu , large numbers of Mazu temples were built on the south-eastern coast of China throughout 1000 years, and the temples have now become a religion symbol and influence the local culture deeply. On every New Year festival, people will go to the temples to worship her by burning joss sticks, hope Mazu will bless them for a well-off new year. 

    The Mazu temple I am introducing is about 20 minutes drive from my home in Shenzhen, which my family also go there on every Chinese New Year Festival. Since Chiwan is an industry port, there are warehouses, container terminals, the Mazu Temple is like against the grain while standing in those modern buildings. There are concerns of the government may move the temple to somewhere else, since people built the temple there near the coast 100 years ago wanted Mazu to protect the fishermen and sailors, removing the temple is against the local residents’ wills.


    My preserving proposal is having some posters about the history of Mazu and the temple posted in the city, and gather signatures from those who are against the removing, forward the signatures to the government and persuade to preserve the temple. 


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