The Legend of Tin Hau

A Smart Woman to Say Words in Gold

Tin Hau was a human who was born in Putian, Fujian in Song Dynasty. Her surname was Lam (Lin; 林). She was very weird since she never cried in her childhood. When grown up, she was not talk a lot too. So, people used to give her a name Mak Noeng (Moniang; 默娘). She met a Taoist priest at the age of 13 who taught her how to predict the future and help those who were sick and weak. She was able to be a Taoist member when 16; and, she only used 3 years to learn the methods of Taoism.

It was said that her spirit traveled about the sea on a mattress made of reed to save the people who were being drowned. In one day, her father and brother trapped in the sea. Her limited ability was able to save either on of them. Finally, she saved her father due to her filial piety (xiao; 孝) to her father; then, people praised her action. People, therefore, looked upon her as the goddess for safety on the sea. Her legend was spread oversea by the officer Cheng Wo ( Zheng He; 鄭和), who was also rescued by her while traveled to Fujian. Finally, she went to the Heaven when 28; and, was entiled as Tin Hau. Later on, due to the rise of oversea business, more and more people had known her legend and built temples for her.

As Hong Kong was once a fishing village, many fishermen built temples to pray for protection from Tin Hau. Nowadays, over 100 Tin Hau Temples are built in Hong Kong, which make up the largest number of temples honored in her name among other deities (Chinese Temple Committee, 2016).

#TinHau #Temple #Legend #Goddess #Chinese