The Legend of Tianfei Empress (A Must-Read to Understand Mazu Culture)

"The Legend of Concubine Tianma" is a novel written by Wu Huanchu in the Ming Dynasty. It was written during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. It is a complete account of Mazu's miracles. The storyline of "The Legend of Tian Fei" is intertwined with two main lines. One is that Tian Fei was born to help the world, and the main source of the material comes from folklore; the other main line is about the monkey and crocodile spirits who were causing trouble in the northwest and southeast respectively during the Han Ming Dynasty, trying to subvert the country, and Tian Fei helped her brother Lin Erlang subdue the monkey spirit, and Tian Fei was conferred the title of Imperial Sacrifice. Then, Tianfei personally subdued the crocodile spirits that harmed the southeastern sea, thus completely eliminating the two major scourges from the north and the south that endangered national security. In shaping the image of Mazu, the novel adopts the method of historical differentiation and legend evolution, sublimating and integrating historical records and legends to highlight Mazu's achievements in protecting the country and the people. At the same time, it absorbs the artistic essence of novels from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, uses vivid language, and uses the environment to create an image of a goddess. "The Legend of Concubine Tianma" is the first written work that fully narrates Mazu's miracles. It systematically and completely shapes Mazu's plump image and noble qualities, and reflects the status of Mazu's beliefs in the Ming Dynasty. With the wide dissemination of the book among the people, coupled with the praise from the emperors of the Ming Dynasty and the expansion of overseas trade, Mazu belief has been widely spread among the official, private and even overseas. Not only that, the novel also had a profound impact on the creation of later chronicles.