Destiny and Origin – Traditional Architecture and Historical Connections between Fujian and Taiwan

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Features: Minnan-Taiwanese culture began with the dispatch of General Wei Wen and Zhuge Liang by Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms to explore Yizhou and develop the southeastern coastal region. However, as a regional cultural system with distinct characteristics, it ultimately took shape around the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods of the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Taiwan became a major area for migration from the mainland, particularly for Minnan people. Based on their shared cultural background, this was the fundamental reason for the formation of Minnan-Taiwanese regional culture, as well as the result of maritime cultural influence. For a long time, immigrants who crossed the Taiwan Strait to settle in Taiwan continued to organize themselves according to their original geographical ties. When immigrants first arrived in an unfamiliar place and chose a location to build their homes, they would place the guardian deities they carried inside the house or hang them on trees for worship, thus sowing the seeds of religious belief in Taiwan. As they cleared land and farmed, temples related to agriculture, grain, epidemics, and land gradually emerged. Meanwhile, deities worshipped by clans or regional communities were built by fellow villagers and developed over time from family and ethnic worship to village and urban worship. Additionally, organizations such as clan associations based on blood ties (surnames), hometown associations based on geographical ties, and trade associations based on professional ties were established, each with their own deities of worship.
After settling into a sedentary society, the immigrants faced threats from epidemics, natural disasters, and conflicts between Minnan and Cantonese people, as well as among the four major ethnic groups. They increasingly relied on religious power to achieve peace and prosperity. To maintain family unity and strengthen family cohesion, the worship of deities and ancestors became an important spiritual pillar. The people of Minnan and Taiwan regarded religious belief as a tool for life, and the sacred or personified saints they revered were the virtuous ancestors and sages who had benefited the people, who were worshipped with incense and blood offerings and revered by all. The rulers also leveraged the long-standing worship of deities and ancestors among the people of Minnan and Taiwan, vigorously promoting and continuously "bestowing titles" to elevate them in stages to align with public sentiment. For example, the sea goddess Mazu, a shared deity of Minnan and Taiwan, was originally a local folk deity of Putian, Xian, and the coastal areas of Fujian. Through successive imperial bestowals, she was elevated to a national maritime protector goddess, from "Lady of Quanzhou" to consort, princess, Tianfei (Heavenly Empress), and finally to Tianhou (Heavenly Mother). Through maritime trade, Mazu's influence spread across the seas and overseas. Mazu worship falls within the realm of folk culture, but its influence extends far beyond Minnan and Taiwan. It is an important part of maritime culture and exists in almost every major navigable river in China.
Before Mazu worship became dominant, many other sea god cults had emerged, such as the Yanyu deity of Xinghua, the Lingxian Hou of Hanjiang in Putian, the Daxian Shen of Beidaxian in Putian, the Qingshan Shen of Huian in Quanzhou, and the Tongyuan Wang of Quanzhou. These deities emerged successively and coexisted because of the accumulation and overlap of various levels of religious and cultural influences.
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