| Mazu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Statue at Lin Moniang Park in Tainan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 媽祖 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 妈祖 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Mother Ancestor" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lin Moniang | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 林默娘 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mazu or Matsu is a sea goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. She is also known by several other names and titles. Mazu is the deified form of Lin Moniang (Chinese: 林默娘; pinyin: Lín Mòniáng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Be̍k-niû / Lîm Bia̍k-niû / Lîm Be̍k-niô͘), a shamaness from Fujian who is said to have lived in the late 10th century. After her death, she became revered as a tutelary deity of Chinese seafarers, including fishermen and sailors. Her worship spread throughout China's coastal regions and overseas Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia, where some Mazuist temples are affiliated with famous Taiwanese temples. Mazu was traditionally thought to roam the seas, protecting her believers through miraculous interventions. She is now generally regarded by her believers as a powerful and benevolent Queen of Heaven.
Mazu worship is popular in Taiwan because many early Chinese settlers in Taiwan were Hoklo people from Fujian. Her temple festival is a major event in Taiwan, with the largest celebrations occurring in and around her temples at Dajia and Beigang.