TAIPEI: Taiwan's most revered local goddess Matsu (or Mazu) will be given a higher standing, as there are plans to designate a day in her honor and include her in "national day" celebrations, head of the Executive Yuan, Wu Deng-yih, said yesterday.

During a hearing at the Legislative Yuan, Wu said he will ask the internal affairs department to study whether the birthday of Matsu - known as the guardian of fishermen and sailors and the most popular folk deity in Taiwan - should be included as one of the memorial days in the official calendar.

There are also plans to include the worship and culture surrounding the legendary maiden in "national day" celebrations in 2011, Wu said.

Quoting Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou, Wu said Matsu-worship originated on the mainland and has been popular in Taiwan's grass-roots communities, particularly townships located near the sea.

It has been fully localized with a strong Taiwan essence, Wu said.

He was responding to Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Yen Ching-piao, who said that Matsu worship has been recently approved as an intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding by the UNESCO's intangible heritage committee.

Yen asked whether the government could consider listing Matsu's birthday, March 23 on the lunar calendar, as a memorial day in Taiwan.

Yen, currently chairman of the Taichung-based Jenn Lann Temple, which is one of the pivotal temples in Taiwan for worshipping Matsu, said Matsu worship and culture, stemming from fishing communities near the Chinese southeastern coasts more than 1,000 years ago, has spread around the world, with the number of followers exceeding hundreds of millions.

The annual procession to honor Matsu has been held for over a century in Taiwan and usually starts from Jenn Lann Temple, drawing thousands of followers.

Matsu followers in Taiwan have also regularly made pilgrimages to Meizhou Island of Fujian province, which has for long been considered the "home" of Matsu.

According to legend, Matsu was a young woman who was born into a fisherman's family in Meizhou, in 960 AD (during the early Northern Song Dynasty). She was deified later for sacrificing her life to save her father and brothers.

Besides being revered in Taiwan and the coastal regions of the mainland, especially Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, she is also worshipped in Hong Kong and neighboring areas in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 10/21/2009 page2)