Worshippers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asian countries came to An'xi, Southeast China's Fujian province, to participate in the first Cross-Straits Master Qingshui Cultural Festival on Wednesday. Master Shi Miaojiang, executive vice-president of the Buddhist Association of China, hosted a ceremony to unveil the statue of Qingshui, a Buddhist monk from the region of Anxi county in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The statue is 15 meters high and made of granite. Taking three years to construct, it is the largest statue of Qingshui in the Chinese mainland.

The cultural festival also launched the Anxi Master Qingshui Charitable Foundation, which will utilize 31.5 million yuan ($5.2 million) raised during its preparation period on social welfare activities including education, road and funding needy families.

During the festival, a symposium on global Master Qingshui's faith culture issued the Research on Master Qingshui Culture, which incorporated papers written by 70 scholars from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Singapore and the United States. It also published the new version of the Records of Qingshuiyan, which was completed in 2012 based on the original edition from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

There were about 1,000 participants from Taiwan, accounting for two-thirds of the total attendees. "More than 300 years ago, the beliefs for Master Qingshui spread in Taiwan. Taiwan now has almost 500 temples to worship Master Qingshui. There are nearly 10,000 worshippers in Taiwan thanks to Master Qingshui's blessing and care,” said Ji Guodong, a worshipper from Taiwan, at the opening ceremony of the festival.

Qingshui, also known as Chor Soo Kong, born Chen Zhaoyin, was a Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) Chan Buddhist monk from the region of Anxi county in Quanzhou, China. He was regarded as one of the four most popular folk beliefs along with Mazu, the Baosheng god and Guangze king in Fujian and Taiwan.

Themed "A 1,000-Year-Old Master Blesses People in Qingshui," the first Cross-Straits Mater Qingshui Cultural Festival was co-hosted by the Quanzhou municipal people's government, the Fujian Mintai Communication Association and the Fujian Minnan Cultural Development Foundation.

Edited by Zhao Qian and Michael Thai