In a din of firecrackers, cymbals and horns, a workforce of devotees carried the shrouded picket statue of a serene-faced girl, holding her aloft on a brightly embellished litter as they navigated by tens of hundreds of onlookers.
Because the carriers nudged ahead, a whole bunch of individuals had been lined up forward of them, kneeling on the street and ready for the second when the statue would cross over their heads.
Some wept after it did; many smiled and snapped selfies. “I like Mazu, and Mazu loves me,” the group shouted.
Mazu, typically referred to as the Goddess of the Sea, is the most generally commemorated of dozens of folks deities that many individuals in Taiwan flip to for solace, steering and success. The large annual processions to honor her are noisy and gaudy. And but for a lot of, they’re additionally deeply non secular occasions, acts of religion exhibiting that Mazu and different spirits stay vibrant presences right here, alongside Buddhism and Christianity.
Taiwan’s two greatest pilgrimages for Mazu — named Baishatun and Dajia after the temples that pilgrims set out from yearly — not too long ago have been drawing document numbers of members. And a hanging variety of them are youthful Taiwanese, of their teenagers or 20s, drawn to experiencing the traditions of Mazu, like throwing crescent-shaped items of wooden in a ritual to divine their futures.
“I didn’t count on there’d be so many youthful individuals taking the pilgrimage like this,” mentioned Chou Chia-liang, 28, a dressmaker who had traveled from Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, for the Dajia pilgrimage, which begins in Taichung on the west-central coast. “Folks used to suppose the Mazu religion was for outdated individuals from the countryside. Go searching right here — it doesn’t look like that.”
Like fairly just a few different pilgrims, Mr. Chou, in a present of reverence, was pushing alongside a cart carrying his personal small statue of Mazu, often stored on the temple in Taipei the place he usually prays.
“This can be a bit totally different from my household’s faith,” he mentioned. “Most Taiwanese persons are very tolerant. They don’t have the concept ‘that is my religion and that’s your religion, and so they can’t go collectively’.”
Many Taiwanese individuals say they’re happy with their proper to select from an abundance of faiths, particularly in distinction to the tight controls on faith in neighboring China. Taiwan’s non secular variety and vitality types a type of subsoil of the self-governed island’s identification and values.
About one-fifth of Taiwan’s 23 million individuals rely themselves as Buddhist, one other 5 % are Christian, and over half participate in Taoism and a variety of associated folks religions, together with worshiping Mazu, additionally spelt Matsu. In follow, many individuals combine Buddhist and folks traditions as they pray for a wholesome delivery or a excessive rating on an examination.
“Native religions have re-emerged strongly for the reason that ’80s and ’90s,” mentioned Ting Jen-chieh, who research religions at Academia Sinica, a high analysis institute in Taiwan. “Earlier than, they had been discovered extra within the villages, however now it’s throughout middle-class society too.”
The most important temples for Mazu and different deities are highly effective, rich establishments that generate income from donations and companies, together with memorials for the useless. At election occasions, candidates pay their respects right here, in addition to at Buddhist temples and Christian church buildings, aware of the sway that non secular organizations can have with voters.
Beijing additionally tries to exert affect.
For many years, the Chinese language authorities, which claims Taiwan as its misplaced territory, has invoked shared non secular traditions, together with Mazu, to strive enchantment to Taiwanese individuals. Mazu additionally has followers in coastal jap China the place, the story goes, she was born round 960 A.D. in Fujian Province, and used her particular powers to avoid wasting seafarers from drowning.
No matter Beijing’s efforts, many pilgrims spoke of Mazu as a distinctly Taiwanese goddess, who occurred to have been born on the opposite aspect of the strait. Some brushed away the politics, and mentioned they had been anxious that the pilgrimages had been being sullied by an excessive amount of glitz, together with the troupes of dancers and pop songs blaring over loudspeakers.
“Many individuals just like the noise and sound and light-weight results,” mentioned Lin Ting-yi, 20, an expert non secular medium who participated in Mazu’s pilgrimage in March. However, he added, “Each time I wish to speak to deities, I wish to really feel and pray quietly, alone.”
For generations, the pilgrimages concerned principally farmers and fishermen who carried Mazu statues by close by rice paddies and alongside grime paths.
Now, the pilgrimages mirror a a lot wealthier, extra urbanized Taiwan. The Mazu processions cross by factories and expressways, the place the chanting and fireworks compete with the roar of passing vans.
In the course of the processions, the Mazu statues have been identified to cease at colleges, navy barracks, and, one 12 months, a automobile dealership show room, whose workers hurriedly moved a car from the spot the place, the carriers instructed them, the goddess wished to relaxation.
Alongside the annual routes, native temples, residents, outlets and firms arrange stalls to supply pilgrims (principally) free meals and drinks — watermelon, stewed tofu, cookies, candy drinks and water.
Regardless of the hubbub, some pilgrims described how, as they fell right into a meditative strolling rhythm, the noise of the firecrackers and loudspeakers fell away, and so they typically struck up deep conversations, and friendships, with strangers strolling beside them.
“When you’re strolling, you can provide your self extra time and area to suppose deeply about stuff you haven’t considered earlier than,” mentioned Hung Yu-fang, a 40-year outdated insurance coverage firm worker who was doing the Dajia pilgrimage for a fourth 12 months.
Whereas the nine-day Dajia pilgrimage follows a preset route, the Baishatun pilgrimage is extra fluid. It doesn’t set a exact path upfront, leaving followers to intuit which turns within the roads the Mazu statue will take and the place she might cease.
When her carriers reached an intersection this 12 months, a tense air settled over the pilgrims, ready whereas the statue bearers shuffled and turned this manner and that — by their account, ready for Mazu to determine which path she needed to take. They cheered when Mazu headed off once more.
At night time, the carriers rested the Mazu statue in a temple, and hardier pilgrims slept within the temple or on the close by streets. unrolling skinny rubber mattresses.
As Taiwan industrialized, it appeared doable that such rituals may survive solely as symbols of the island’s fading rustic roots.
“For a while, it was for the decrease rungs of society. Only a few hundred individuals would participate within the pilgrimages,” mentioned Professor Ting, the faith researcher. “Now it’s well-liked, however quite a lot of the brand new, youthful members solely stroll for just a few days — not the entire journey — to expertise it as Taiwanese tradition.”
In recent times, the surge of members has been spurred by media consideration (Taiwanese TV covers the pilgrimages like they had been main sporting occasions), on-line fanatics (Mazu’s progress might be adopted on the temples’ cellphone apps), and ease of journey (trains are quick and environment friendly).
In 2010, the Baishatun pilgrimage drew round 5,000 registered members; this 12 months, practically 180,000 pilgrims signed up, a determine that doesn’t embody the tens of hundreds who joined informally alongside the way in which.
When the pilgrimage reached the Beigang Chaotian temple in southern Taiwan — its major vacation spot earlier than turning residence — Mazu was greeted by an eruption of fireworks and gongs, and overwhelming crowds. Almost 500,000 individuals turned up that day, a document, mentioned organizers.
Regardless of the warmth and crowds, individuals lined up for hours to squeeze contained in the temple and catch a glimpse of Mazu, sporting an embroidered headdress draped with pearls.
“I couldn’t squeeze contained in the temple,” mentioned Mr. Chou, the garments designer, who this 12 months managed to stroll a part of each main pilgrimages. “However that didn’t matter. This time I additionally invited mates alongside so they may additionally get a style of extra conventional tradition.”
