| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立屏東大學 === 中國語文學系碩士班 === 103 === Taiwan’s localization, also known as Taiwanisation, is a hot topic that is widely debated each year. Local culture has steadily developed through fostering by government offices, civic groups and the media. It has sprouted in everyone’s heart. Under Taiwan’s diverse array of traditional religions, the belief and worship of Mazu is especially important and representative.
Coming from Pingtung county in southern Taiwan, my understanding of my hometown helped form my sense of identity and bonding with the local community. So my understanding of local Pingtung culture comes from personal experience. As an “insider” with real direct experiences in the area, I’d like to share Pingtung’s unique culture of worshipping Mazu and use Pingtung as a guidepost for Taiwan.
This essay looks at the influence of the Mazu religion on local culture. In 2009, the belief in Mazuwas recognized as an intangible World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. This illustrates that the traditional beliefs of us ethnic Chinese people have achieved international-level fame.
Traditional Mazu cultural activities have deep religious and culture meanings. This essay takes the most representative temple: Pingtung’s“Ci Feng Temple” and Wandan township’s “Wanhui Temple” as evidence. We hope that through Mazu belief and religious culture, the temple’s construction, carvings, religious ceremonies, celebration activities, tourism, cultural creativity, etc. that we can deeply understand the local culture, including the origin of Pingtung county’s communities, the history of the construction of temples, local people’s activities, religious beliefs and the transferring of such traditions to a younger generation. We hope this will help us more deeply understand the culture of our two places, build historical roots and pass on the cultural significance of the Mazu belief to future generations.
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