A Study on Social-Cultural Faith Interaction in South China 第2页1General Introduction of Long Mu Faith in South China
As the old saying goes, “different places have different customs. Social customs vary greatly from country to country”. In China, all the ethnic groups have their customs. Custom is an instrument of enhancing ethnic cohesion, but not for the other groups. Besides, custom is required that people should be in compliance with in the same ethnic group, and be respect by the other groups. Long Mu Cultural Faith is remained till today by oral tales and actives in South China.
1.1Long Mu Image and Its Legend
There are so many ancient books kicked Long Mu legend around, and despite some differences in details, they ran essentially the same plotline.
As recorded in some historical documents, Nan Yue chorography, Xiao Tong Ancestral Temple Chorography, Ling Biao Guai Yi, New Canton Chorography, Teng District Chorography, etc., the historic name of Long Mu is Wen Shi［[ Note: In ancient China, many females were not given a formal name, and were referred to outside of their family as "[Surname] Shi", meaning "of the [Surname] family".]］, she was born in the 8th day of the fifth Chinese lunar month, 290BC (during the Reign of Chu Huai Emperor of the Warring States Period) in Teng District ( Cang Wu, name in antiquity), Guang Xi province, near the Xi River, and died in the 15th day of the eighth Chinese lunar month, 211BC (during the Qin Dynasty) and buried in Yue Cheng, De Qing County, Guang Dong province. In Chinese mythology, Long Mu was a Chinese woman of noble nature and unsullied character, who was deified as a goddess after raising five infant Loongs. Long Mu and her Loongs developed a strong bond for each other, and have thus become an example of filial devotion and parental love, an important virtue in Chinese culture, and remains a popular deity throughout China.
According to the old legend, Wen Shi was born in an impoverished family that her parents could not afford and abandoned her to Xi River within a big wooden tray. She was carried by the current and floated to Shui Kou (Yue Cheng, name in present). It just so happens that a fisherman by the name of Liang San was catching over the confluence of the Xi River and the Yue Cheng River and found a baby in the wooden tray, he didn’t notice Wen Shi in the first time and went on fishing. But he caught nothing after casting several nets, he turned back and saw Wen Shi again, and he sighed, “Alas! Alas! Do you see, I have been fishing all morning but hadn't a single bite, I am poor, how could I adopt you, there was no more food. You have better go.” Liang San went on fishing. After a while, the big wooden tray was moving round his fishing boat, and then he said, “If you bless me catch three nets of fish, just three, I take you home.” He tried, miraculously, he caught many fish in every net, and finally, he adopted Wen Shi and brought her up.
When Wen Shi was in her teens, she frequently went to the Xi River to fish and wash clothes for her family. On one such errand, she found a large smooth white stone along the banks of the river. She took the beautiful stone home, but later discovered that the stone was actually an egg, from which hatched out five baby snakes (an alternate version says one). Wen Shi's family was poor, but Wen Shi saved the best food she had for her baby snakes and fed them by hand. As the snakes grew, they helped Wen Shi catch fish at the Xi River. The snakes were natural swimmers and became very good at catching fish.
The snakes eventually matured into five powerful Loongs. In Chinese culture, Loongs are considered spirits of water, and have the power to control the weather. Wen Shi is affectionate and her sons are dutiful, so five Loongs assisted Long Mu dispense its streams to the people. During a drought, therefore, Wen Shi asked her Loong children to summon the rain for her village. Rain came and ended the drought. Wen Shi also got that uncanny ability in farming and weaving, fishery and husbandry, curing disease. She diligently devoted herself to coping with floods, escorting boats travelling in rivers, and she carried out poetical justice, and philanthropic work, which shows woman’s virtues of Long Mu who loves people, helps people, protects people, and brings forth significant values, therefore, the grateful people gave Wen Shi the name "Long Mu" or "Divine Human".
Qin Shihuang, the Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, received word of Wen Shi and her five Loongs. The Emperor sent her gifts of gold and jade and requested her presence at Xian Yang, the imperial capital city near the Yellow River, far to the north. By this time, Wen Shi was an elderly woman in frail health. Her adult Loongs feared for her safety and did not want her to travel so far from Yue Cheng. Wen Shi boarded a boat to comply with the Emperor's commandment, but her Loongs hid under the boat and dragged the boat backward so that the boat could never pass Gui Lin. Eventually, the frustrated imperial officials relented and allowed Wen Shi to remain home.
After Wen Shi died, the Loongs were overwhelmed by sadness and took human form, becoming known as the Five Scholars, who buried her on the northern side of Zhu Mountain in Yue Cheng.
Some historians believe that Long Mu was a clan leader during the matriarchal clan society, and the primogenitor of “the offspring of the Loong" in the Xi River Area. But anyway, Long Mu is a meritorious great woman, the incarnation of beauty, the symbol of good and the embodiment of power in the minds of people.
Long Mu legend and influence are far-reaching; she could be on a par with the Southern Goddess of the Sea, having a large following not only in the Pearl River Area, but also in Hong Kong and Macao regions, Hu Nan, Jiang Su and Zhe Jiang provinces and as far as overseas Chinese.
1.2History and Current Status of Long Mu Faith——Take Yue Cheng Long Mu Ancestral Temple
Everyone who heard the story of Long Mu was touched by the filial devotion of the Loongs. During the early Han Dynasty, the Xiao Tong Temple, later known as Long Mu Ancestral Temple, was built in her honor. The temple is in Yue Cheng in De Qing County of Guang Dong province. It features calligraphy dedicated to the goddess written by the Emperor Hong Wu of the Ming Dynasty. The temple remains very popular and has been renovated 13 times over the centuries, most recently in 1905-1912 and 1985. And Long Mu Birthday's Festival is in the first week of the fifth Chinese lunar month.
As recorded in the historical document of the Song Dynasty, Imperial Tablet Largess Record, at the latest, high-ranking officials were permitted to build ancestral hall to sacrifice Long Mu in her memory in 830A.D. After the ruin of Tang Dynasty (618-907), Long Mu was conferred upon the title of “Feng Bo Quan Shen Ri Long Mu Madam” in 966A.D. (the South Han Dynasty).
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