About The Story
Most popular number one goddess for sea
Over one thousand years ago in China, during the Northern Song Dynasty, Lin Moniang was born close to the sea. Each morning her father and brothers took to the waves, to catch fish for the family. As she grew, the young girl began a ritual of rising with the sun, dressing in bright red, and standing on the rocks above the crashing waves. From here, Lin Moniang would watch her family as they sailed into the rising sun.
As the years passed, Lin Moniang grew closer to the sea. She felt the moon tugging the tides and heard the breath of distant winds blowing in a storm. As she dreamed one night, Lin Moniang had a vision of her father and brothers caught in a gale. She reached out with her spirit and pulled her brothers to safety, but her father was out of her to grasp. She woke to find her brothers safely home, but her father lost to the sea.
For the next 16 years Lin Moniang kept a vigil on the mountains at the edge the sea, protecting local fishermen and always hoping to see her father returning home. Her spirit became so strong that it lifted her body to the heavens, where she was known as the goddess Mazu. Although she was no longer part of the physical world, travelers continue to ask Mazu for guidance and safety as they embark on their journeys.
