Yangkou Town Maritime Museum

Yangkou Town Maritime Museum

The Yangkou Town Maritime Museum is a national AA-level tourist attraction.

The Maritime Museum (a national AA-level tourist attraction) was originally named Tianfei Temple. Tianfei, commonly referred to as "Mazu" or "Niangma" in Fujian, Taiwan, and the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, is an ancient Chinese deity of maritime protection. The worship of Tianfei originated in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, initially as a regional folk belief in a sea goddess, but later spread rapidly due to social, economic, political, and cultural influences. Its influence not only extended across the coastal regions of both northern and southern China, but also reached Southeast Asia and even Europe and America through overseas trade and the diaspora of Chinese communities.

Yangjiaogou is bordered by the Xiaoqing River to the north and the sea to the east. Fishermen and merchants interacted with water year-round, and incidents of people falling into the water were not uncommon. Under the conditions of the time, people were relatively ignorant and backward, placing their trust in divine protection for the safety of life and property, which led local fishermen and merchants to believe in ghosts and deities. In the 19th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1893), a new Tianfei Temple was built in Yangjiaogou. To its left was the Guan Yu Temple, and to its right was the Dragon King Temple. In the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), it was renovated again. By the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), the dilapidated structure with broken tiles and crumbling walls had become dangerously unstable, prompting merchants to initiate another renovation, resulting in a splendid and renewed temple. On ordinary days, when fishing boats or merchant vessels encountered dangers at sea but managed to escape unharmed, the crews would visit the temple to drape robes on the goddess, burn incense, offer wine, and fulfill vows. Every Lunar New Year’s Day, after performing family ancestral worship, the community would visit the temple in a noisy procession accompanied by drums, gongs, and fireworks to pay homage.

After the liberation, with the spread of materialist thought and the advancement of scientific knowledge, superstitious beliefs in ghosts and deities were gradually replaced by materialism, and the two idols in Yangjiaogou turned to dust, never to be mentioned again. On January 1, 2006, the Preparatory Committee of the Maritime Museum issued an initiative titled “Prosperous Times Call for Restoration of Temples and Scriptures, a Harmonious Society Built and Shared by All,” calling on all industries in town, entrepreneurs, individual business owners, and fishermen to donate funds for the construction of a new temple for the Sea Goddess, to recast her golden statue, and to allow her to enjoy the incense offerings of the people of Yangkou, so she may continue to bless the fishermen of Yangkou in achieving everlasting greatness.