Matsu (
Interestingly enough, those involved swore that they were acting under Matsu's instruc-tions; that she had indicated July 16 (in the Chinese lunar calendar) as the designated day for a trip to China. Oddly enough, Chao-tien Temple
Chen-lan Temple chairman Yen Ching-piao
Chen-lan Temple leaders angrily responded to Yen's comments, with a vow never to make a pilgrimage to Chao-tien Temple again. Representatives from both temples went separately to China to discuss with Chinese officials the possibility of a direct "religious link," only to have their pilgrimage plans rejected by the Beijing government.
As it turns out, the PRC, which was founded on atheism, is the government politicizing religion, not the Taiwan government. However, have our politicians and the vast number of Matsu believers come to their senses after their setback?
Over the past 10 years, I have visited China one to two times a year to attend cross-strait and international conferences. I have visited many temples and shrines there. Between 1990 and 1992, almost all of the major temples were rundown and near ruin. However, since about 1993 or 1994, many temples have been restored as a result of generous donations by Taiwanese visitors and businessmen.
Such donations and the opening up of travel between Taiwan and China by the Taiwan government caused the Beijing government to begin keeping one eye shut and allowing Taiwanese visitors and local residents to worship at the temples.
But this does not mean that the Beijing government is allowing its people freedom of religion. Beijing acted this way because temples and religion were generating money for China, bring prosperity to the country. Virtually all of the leaders of the major religions and temples in China, however, are mere puppets of the Beijing government.
My poor fellow Taiwanese countrymen! Every year, they have given enormous amounts of money in donations and offerings to famous temples in China. Little did they know that the real Matsu emigrated to Taiwan long ago, along with the large crowd of early immigrants who worshipped her. Must her faithful believers sail through the stormy weather and waves of the Taiwan Strait to worship her in an atheist country where religious freedom is forbidden?
When our politicians play the game of religious politics, have they given any consideration to the integrity of our government and the safety of the vast number of Matsu believers in Taiwan? Given the destruction of the Cultural Revolution, Matsu, along with the other Chinese gods, was eradicated long ago in China. How can anyone not think Matsu emigrated to Taiwan long ago, along with her faithful believers?
Yang Ping-shih is a professor in the College of Agriculture at National Taiwan University.
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