While South Korean pop stars, TV shows and movies continue to enthrall Taiwan, one Korean woman living in Taoyuan County is in the process of building a Matsu temple. Ground was recently broken on the project which is believed to be the first time a foreign woman has attempted to build a Matsu Temple in Taiwan.
When Pu Chieh-yu, 43, decided to build the Temple of the Loving Mother in Taoyuan County’s Lujhu Township, she only had NT$30 to her name. Pu said she first came to Taiwan to study Chinese in 1988, the same year as the Seoul Olympics. Soon after arriving she started having a recurring dream in which an old woman of about 70 or 80 years of age guided her down a lane with small sesame oil factories on either side. The old lady stopped at each factory and asked the owners whether everything was alright.
In a dream on one particular evening, after walking to the end of the lane the old lady stopped in front of a temple. In Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), she said, “This is Beigang Chao-tian Temple. It’s a Matsu temple.” At the time, Pu’s language skills weren’t good enough to understand what the old woman meant, but after having the same dream for many years, she realized Matsu was trying to tell her, “You are here to serve Matsu.”
Ten years ago, Pu finally realized that the woman in her dreams was Matsu, the popular goddess. Then eight years ago, Pu was involved in a serious traffic accident but emerged unscathed and thanks Matsu for protecting her. After the accident she began following the will of the gods and set the ball rolling on building the Matsu temple.
Matsu only ever spoke to Pu in Hoklo or Chinese, and never in Korean. Pu believes that’s because Matsu wanted her to figure out the meaning for herself, and then spread the word to others.
Pu traveled extensively in order to find out about building her temple. She even joined the Matsu Temple Association in Taichung County’s Tachia Township. She said Matsu wants everyone to put effort into the project, and says that Avalokiteshvara, the God of Mercy, told her that, “A temple is built not because you have enough money. It must be built with the effort of each worshipper, gathering every brick, roof tile and fixing even the smallest detail. Only a temple built like this can release all living creatures from suffering, pacify people’s hearts, and lead them to righteousness.”
In one of her dreams, the God of Mercy took Pu to a cave with the words “loving mother” written on the walls. Because of this, she rented a property and set up a shrine to the Loving Mother. Three years later she set up a temporary shrine on a plot of land and enlisted fellow worshippers in activities such as weeding, digging, spreading cement and varnishing. She still only had NT$30, however, and as she worried about the temple’s prospects, Matsu once again came to her and said, “You have nothing to worry about. Just take the first step and you will find the way.” With the support of other believers, she raised enough money to buy a 1,200 ping (3,967m2) plot of land on which to build the Temple of the Loving Mother. Pu is confident that within five years she can raise the remaining NT$150 million (US$4.9 million) needed to complete the temple.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATION AND ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TAIJING WU)
正當台灣吹起一股韓國炫風，桃園縣一位由韓國婦人籌備建造的媽祖廟，近日悄悄地動工了，這也是第一座由外籍女子發願興建的媽祖廟。
四十三歲的朴婕瑀開始籌建桃園縣蘆竹鄉慈母宮時，只有新台幣三十元。她接受採訪時表示，一九八八首爾奧運那年初次來台學中文，就一直夢到一位七八十歲的老婆婆，帶著她走過一條小巷子，巷子兩旁都是製作麻油的小工廠，老婆婆還很和藹地關心每間工廠是否狀況都好。
直到有天晚上，走完小巷後，阿婆在一間廟門口停下腳步，以台語告訴她，「這裡是北港朝天宮，這是媽祖廟。」但當時語言不好的朴婕瑀並不了解意思。她說，長年以來做同樣的夢，媽祖就是要告訴她，「妳就是要為媽祖服務。」
她到了十年前，才了解夢中的老婆婆就是人人口中的媽祖。直到八年前，在台南的一場大車禍，她感到媽祖的保護，使她安然無恙度過危機，才開始接受神明指示，籌備建造媽祖廟。
她說夢中的媽祖說話時，只講台語跟國語，但未曾以韓國話跟她溝通。她說這就是媽祖希望她自己領悟，而領悟後才能跟其他人傳達神明的話。
她表示，為了籌建媽祖廟四處奔走，甚至聽從指示，加入台中大甲的媽祖聯誼會。她說媽祖需要大家的力量，還強調觀世音菩薩曾於夢中告訴她，「廟不是有錢才來蓋的，而是每一塊磚、每一片瓦、每一個細節，都要集信徒的力量共同來完成，這樣才能真正地普度眾生，撫慰人心、引導人心向善。」
由於夢中觀世音菩薩帶她到一個石洞，旁邊寫著「慈母」兩個字，因此七年前先租屋設立「慈母宮」，三年多前搭建現有媽祖臨時行館，並率眾除草、整地、抹水泥、刷油漆等，而當時她只有三十元積蓄。正感到極度煩惱時，媽祖現身告訴她：「妳不要怕，妳只要踏出去，自然會有妳的辦法。」就這樣，有了信眾的捐款支持，買下約一千兩百坪的慈母宮基地，面對一億五千萬元造價，她信心滿滿預計五年完工。
（自由時報記者李容萍，台北時報吳岱璟）
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