Kult bohyně Māzǔ na Táiwānu – lidové náboženství v kultuře a politice
The Cult of the Goddess Māzŭ in Taiwan – Popular Religion in Culture and Politics

Summary/Abstract: This article introduces the goddess Māzŭ 媽祖 and her cult, and tries to present both deity and cult as a cultural phenomenon with the emphasis on the position of popular religion in culture and politics on different levels. The goddess Māzŭ plays an important role in Taiwanese religious life, and temples of this goddess can be found over the whole island. The goddess is not part of either the Taoist or Buddhist pantheon; she is a part of so-called popular religion, the cult of this goddess has no special scripts or codified rules, therefore it is very tolerant and flexible. The most important characteristic of deities in popular religion is their efficacy. Māzŭ reached Taiwan with Chinese immigrants as a protector of those who travel across the sea. Over time, she slowly evolved into a goddess able to help believers in nearly all areas of their life, heal diseases, solve personal problems, and protect whole communities at times of natural disasters. The goddess is worshipped locally; large and popular temples with many believers and festivals attracting many people might generate significant income, which is used mainly for charity in that particular locality. Heads of administrative boards of famous temples might gain substantial influence in local politics, and employ the popularity of a temple for their own aims. The popularity of the cult and religious festivals attracts not only local politicians, but politicians on the national level as well. Showing their support for the cult of Māzŭ, they demonstrate positive attitude to traditional Taiwanese religion and culture, and – as Māzŭ has her place in Taiwanese identity – to Taiwan as their home too. When the taiwanisation movement brought a revival and new development of Taiwanese traditional culture – and religion as one aspect of culture – at the end of the 20th century, the goddess Māzŭ became a part of newly constructed Taiwanese identity as well, and has often been presented as the mother of Taiwan. Considering that the goddess originates in mainland China, many problems and diverging interpretations of this deity and its cult emerge. The origin in mainland China is really apparent during the biggest festival of the goddess in third month of the traditional Chinese calendar, i.e. the time of Māzŭ’s birthday. The most important event of the deity’s birthday is the pilgrimage during which a deity from a particular temple returns to its “mother temple” which houses the older deity. The oldest temple of Māzŭ is in the PRC, in Meizhōu 湄洲 and in 1989, the Taiwanese believers began to go on pilgrimages there. These pilgrimages brought more popularity for the organizing temple, but on the other hand, they seem to support the views in the PRC that see Māzŭ as evidence of the necessary unity of Taiwan and PRC.

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