Mazu / Tianhou temple network (mainstream)
Major Chinese folk religion temple network venerating Mazu / Tianhou (sea goddess). Concentrated in coastal China and Taiwan.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — major Chinese folk religion temple network; mainstream low-control.
Profile facts
In context
Mazu veneration is one of the largest Chinese folk religion temple networks, with thousands of temples across Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and diaspora communities. Mainstream low-control voluntary tradition.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Evidence by BITE axis
- mainstream low-control
Timeline
- 960Lin Moniang's birth; Mazu tradition begins
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
Sources
- Various Chinese folk-religion studies search ↗
- 13. Multiple Religious and National Identities: Mazu Pilgrimages across the Taiwan Strait after 1987 — Religion and Nationalism in Chinese Societies (2017) — https://doi.org/10.1515%2F9789048535057-015 open ↗
- j.ctt1zkjzkd.17 — https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1zkjzkd.17 open ↗
- China’s influence on Taiwan’s religions — China’s influence and the Center-periphery Tug of War in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indo-Pacific (2020) — https://doi.org/10.4324%2F9781003088431-19 open ↗
- China hopes Mazu, a sea goddess, can help it win over Taiwan — https://www.economist.com/china/2023/06/15/china-hopes-mazu-a-sea-goddess-can-help-it-win-over-taiwan open ↗
- China's atheist Communist Party encourages folk religion — https://www.economist.com/china/2019/09/19/chinas-atheist-communist-party-encourages-folk-religion open ↗
- China wields Mazu 'peace goddess' religion as weapon in Taiwan election — https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-wields-peace-goddess-religion-weapon-taiwan-election-2023-12-21/ open ↗
- The worshippers caught between China and Taiwan — https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67779220 open ↗
- In Homage to T'ien-fei — Journal of the American Oriental Society (1986) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F602373 open ↗
- The True Dates of the Chinese Maritime Expeditions in the Early Fifteenth Century1) — T'oung Pao (1938) — https://doi.org/10.1163%2F156853238X00171 open ↗
- Divinity and Salvation: The Great Goddesses of China — Asian Folklore Studies (1990) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1177949 open ↗
- Mazu, the Patroness of Sailors, in Chinese Pictorial Art — Artibus Asiae (1999) — https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3250021 open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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