WelcometoMeizhouIsland,knownas"MeccaintheEast,PotalaPalaceonthesea".I'mXiaoLi,thetourguide.Now,pleasefollowmetopayavisittothegoddessMazuandtheancestraltemple.
InordertoletyouknowmoreaboutMeizhouIslandduringyourtour,I'dliketointroducethegeneralsituationofMeizhouIslandbyboat:itcoversanareaof14.3squarekilometers.Becauseit'sshapedlikeahumaneyebrowandembeddedinthousandsofbluewaves,it'snamed"Meizhou".It'snotonlytheplacewhereMazulivedsincechildhood,butalsotheplacewhereMazutemplesarefamousathomeandabroad.Myfriends,MeizhouIslandhasarrived.Pleasetakeyourluggageandbelongingswithyouandfollowmetogetofftheship.Pleasebecarefulatyourfeetandpayattentiontosafety!
Lookingahead,therearegroupsofpilgrims.TheyincludeTaiwancompatriotsandoverseasChinesefromacrossthesea,aswellaspilgrimsfromthemainland.HaveyounoticedthatthereisastatueofMazuinfrontoftheseteams?Areyourfriendsverycurious?Infact,thesestatuesweresentoutfromtheancestraltemplebefore.Nowtheysendherback,alsocalled"Mazubacktohermother'shome".Thisphenomenonisoftenseenhere,whichprovesthatthefragranceofMeizhouIslandisverystrong.
Pleaselookatthismagnificentbuildinginfrontofus.DoesitlooklikethePotalaPalaceinTibet?ThisisMazutemple.Nowweareatthefirstgateoftheancestraltemple,themountaingate.BecauseMazuisthe"goddessinthesky"andthesupremegoddess,itsspecificationsarebuiltaccordingtotheroyalpalace.Inthemountaingate,therearetwogods,Qianliyanandshunfenger.ItissaidthatQianliyanandshunfengerwereseamonstersrecoveredbyMazu.
Wewalkedupthestonestepsandsawthesecondgateoftheancestraltemple,Yimen.Yousee,thereisaplaqueonthetopofthisinstrumentdoor,whichsays"imperialedict",soitisalsocalled"imperialedictdoor".Thesquareweseenowistheplacewherelarge-scalemusicanddanceperformancesareperformedateverymemorialceremony.Onmyleftandrightarethebelltowerandthedrumtower.Friends,let'skeepgoing.Nowwecometothe"Princehall",whichwasbuiltbyYaoQisheng,governorofFujianProvince.YoumaywonderwhythereisaprincehallinMazutemple.ItissaidthatYaoQishengwasshelteredbyMazuandsuccessfullycompletedthetaskassignedtohimbytheemperor.YaoQishengwasnamed"PrinceShaobao"bytheemperor.InordertothankMazu,The"Princehall"wasbuilthere.Atthebeginningoftheconstructionofthishall,itwasintendedtobecomethemainhall,butthefolkcustomisstillwillingtofollowtheancientsystem.Ionlythinkthatthebuildingnexttomeisthemostprimitivemainhall.Nowlet'svisitthemainhallwithme.