@article{Pan_2025, title={The Spread of Mazu Belief in Taiwan}, volume={5}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijllc.5.3.11}, DOI={10.22161/ijllc.5.3.11}, abstractNote={<jats:p>In the process of Han Chinese migration and settlement in Taiwan, seeking spiritual comfort and support was a primary concern when living in unfamiliar areas. Therefore, once the immigrant community stabilized to a certain stage, they would collectively initiate the construction of village temples based on the consciousness of their village community as a center for faith and a means of communication with the main social groups. Depending on their different life experiences, such as ancestral beliefs or miraculous events, people worshipped different deities. As the settled society progressed to a more advanced stage, it required greater cohesion among the population and stability within society. Consequently, inter-village “lianzhuang” organizations (associations) emerged to meet these needs. Based on actual field research experience in Taiwan, the core spirit of Mazu worship—the great sentiment of “establishing virtue, doing good deeds, and loving greatly”—as well as official titles from “Heavenly Empress” to “Heavenly Queen,” even colloquially known as “Mother of Heaven,” are more likely to become effective media for uniting people across ancestral origins and beliefs, thus becoming regional contact points beyond the village level. Therefore, many regions in Taiwan choose to build Mazu temples together as a way to connect villages, which is one of the most important basic social structures in Taiwanese society. This article takes the Shun-Tien Mazu Temple in Tuku Town in central and southern Taiwan as an example to illustrate how Mazu worship can unite inter-village lianzhuang organizations for operation. Under the awareness of the village life community gathered by the lianzhuang Mazu Temple, the group could defend against invasions of the village and subsequently built public facilities such as cemeteries and water conservancy projects like the Tongji Canal, Zhonggang Bridge, Anlv Bridge, and Yizhu, all aimed at seeking greater welfare for the village community. In addition to spiritual comfort through belief, the interaction and development of Mazu worship with Taiwanese social organizations have brought various benefits to the people of Taiwan; hence, Mazu worship has been long cherished by the majority of the Taiwanese population.</jats:p>}, number={3}, journal={International Journal of Language, Literature and Culture}, publisher={AI Publications}, author={Pan, Shi-Hui}, year={2025}, pages={69–81} }